Mitch Williams Vs MLB Newtwork testimony
The first witness called by Mitch Williams was an adverse party; namely former President of the MLB Network Anthony Petitti, who is currently the COO of Major League Baseball. (The Network is a subsidiary of Major League Baseball). Mr. Petitti, who succeeded Rob Manfred in the COO position, was the man who hired Williams in 2009 and who also terminated him on June 26th, 2014. Williams' lawyer successfully endeavored to narrow down the specific provision of the morals clause that was deemed worthy of termination of the contract. That provision allowed for termination if the artist(Williams):" committed an act(s)
that brought Williams into public disrepute, scandal, or offended a substantial group of the community, or reflected unfavorably on any party to the agreement." Then counsel for Williams went through the allegations individually with Petitti and suggested that they were based on hearsay, unnamed sources, and not reliable factual accounts of the events of the May 10 and 11 ball games in the tournament for 10 year old youngsters. Counsel also got Pettiti to admit that he had not waited for Williams to produce statements of individuals in his defense.
But Petitti retorted in a soft and barely audible tones that he had seen a photograph, which was also shown to the jury, of Williams chin to chin with an umpire. That he had thereafter been given a video of the games on Saturday and Sunday by Billy Ripken(current MLB Network analyst and former player) which confirmed that Williams had been ejected and that he had continued to argue with the umpires for seven minutes, including an alleged profanity filled rant, before he left the game. Pettiti admitted he had no direct knowledge of the "acts" but that he had spoken to Williams by phone after the first incident and yet again after Sunday's incident. He said he found Williams' explanation "not credible" when compared with the video and accounts from Deadspin(a sports website that published two articles about the "acts" alleged. Williams told him he had his back turned to the umpire and yelled into the crowd with a shrug that we will just have to get us some new umpires which resulted in his ejection. (The attorney for MLB Network had argued in his opening that turning one's back to an umpire and pretending to talk to the crowd was a ruse used to avoid ejection.) Testimony also revealed that one umpire had challenged Williams to a fight in the future during the episode. Pettiti also said he disbelieved Williams' account of the alleged instruction by Williams to his team's catcher(the catcher is the son of Williams) to tell his own pitcher to bean the opposing batter. (the other team's pitcher) The video which Petitti saw after the Sunday game show Williams talking to his son between innings. Then the son(catcher) is seen walking to the mound and talks to the pitcher. On the very first pitch the batter is struck with the pitched ball. Petitti quotes Williams' as saying that he merely told the catcher to tell the pitcher to "knock the batter off the plate" and not to throw at his head or hit him. Petitti said he felt even by his own admission Williams acted at least recklessly for telling a 10 year old to "knock him off the plate" because such tender years children don't have the necessary control to pin point where the ball will go.
Petitti said he felt Williams did not display in that conversation an understanding of the quality and nature of his inappropriate acts. Those acts also included an allegation by the child who was hit by the pitch that he was called "pussy" by Williams in hearing of many players.
Counsel for Williams primary examination was to suggest that Petitti had no real proof upon which to fire her client and that he had fired Williams in retaliation when Williams retained a lawyer. The examination revealed that Petitti had been willing, even after a commercial sponsor cancelled a Dove television spot with Williams, to try and save Williams' job based on the above conditions. Pettiti said he had been negotiating with Williams' agent Russ Spielman from May 16th, when Williams began his suspension, for an amended contract for several weeks about conditions which also included anger management and an admission of wrong doing. Spielman, according to MLB Network's lawyer, urged Williams to accept the offer and told Williams that if he didn't, he was looking at "scorched earth".
Negotiations continued until Williams retained a lawyer who wrote to Pettiti and said that MLB Network had breached the contract by not paying, that Williams denied any wrong doing, and that counsel wanted to negotiate a settlement. The next day Pettiti fired Willimas. Counsel for Williams suggested by her questioning that Petitti fired her client not because of any proof of wrong doing, but rather because he had hired a lawyer to defend his contractual rights. Pettiti denied that and said he fired Williams at that point because he had tried to reach out to Spielman and got no response for three weeks. When he got a letter from a different lawyer( not one who had negotiated the original contract) which denied any wrong doing, Pettiti felt he had no recourse but to terminate Williams. He also said another incident bolstered his opinion that Williams was unrepentant. During that interim, Williams had been in the office of a female publicity relations staffer and Williams had brought the woman to tears in the public office by cursing and pounding his hand on her desk. Testimony ended as the video of the games were about to be shown. Earlier Judge Kassel had ruled that MLB Network was not permitted to argue that the umpires had smelled alcohol on Williams' breath and that his eyes were red and his speech slurred. The basis was a discovery violation in that MLB Network did not specify that as a factor pre-trial.
that brought Williams into public disrepute, scandal, or offended a substantial group of the community, or reflected unfavorably on any party to the agreement." Then counsel for Williams went through the allegations individually with Petitti and suggested that they were based on hearsay, unnamed sources, and not reliable factual accounts of the events of the May 10 and 11 ball games in the tournament for 10 year old youngsters. Counsel also got Pettiti to admit that he had not waited for Williams to produce statements of individuals in his defense.
But Petitti retorted in a soft and barely audible tones that he had seen a photograph, which was also shown to the jury, of Williams chin to chin with an umpire. That he had thereafter been given a video of the games on Saturday and Sunday by Billy Ripken(current MLB Network analyst and former player) which confirmed that Williams had been ejected and that he had continued to argue with the umpires for seven minutes, including an alleged profanity filled rant, before he left the game. Pettiti admitted he had no direct knowledge of the "acts" but that he had spoken to Williams by phone after the first incident and yet again after Sunday's incident. He said he found Williams' explanation "not credible" when compared with the video and accounts from Deadspin(a sports website that published two articles about the "acts" alleged. Williams told him he had his back turned to the umpire and yelled into the crowd with a shrug that we will just have to get us some new umpires which resulted in his ejection. (The attorney for MLB Network had argued in his opening that turning one's back to an umpire and pretending to talk to the crowd was a ruse used to avoid ejection.) Testimony also revealed that one umpire had challenged Williams to a fight in the future during the episode. Pettiti also said he disbelieved Williams' account of the alleged instruction by Williams to his team's catcher(the catcher is the son of Williams) to tell his own pitcher to bean the opposing batter. (the other team's pitcher) The video which Petitti saw after the Sunday game show Williams talking to his son between innings. Then the son(catcher) is seen walking to the mound and talks to the pitcher. On the very first pitch the batter is struck with the pitched ball. Petitti quotes Williams' as saying that he merely told the catcher to tell the pitcher to "knock the batter off the plate" and not to throw at his head or hit him. Petitti said he felt even by his own admission Williams acted at least recklessly for telling a 10 year old to "knock him off the plate" because such tender years children don't have the necessary control to pin point where the ball will go.
Petitti said he felt Williams did not display in that conversation an understanding of the quality and nature of his inappropriate acts. Those acts also included an allegation by the child who was hit by the pitch that he was called "pussy" by Williams in hearing of many players.
Counsel for Williams primary examination was to suggest that Petitti had no real proof upon which to fire her client and that he had fired Williams in retaliation when Williams retained a lawyer. The examination revealed that Petitti had been willing, even after a commercial sponsor cancelled a Dove television spot with Williams, to try and save Williams' job based on the above conditions. Pettiti said he had been negotiating with Williams' agent Russ Spielman from May 16th, when Williams began his suspension, for an amended contract for several weeks about conditions which also included anger management and an admission of wrong doing. Spielman, according to MLB Network's lawyer, urged Williams to accept the offer and told Williams that if he didn't, he was looking at "scorched earth".
Negotiations continued until Williams retained a lawyer who wrote to Pettiti and said that MLB Network had breached the contract by not paying, that Williams denied any wrong doing, and that counsel wanted to negotiate a settlement. The next day Pettiti fired Willimas. Counsel for Williams suggested by her questioning that Petitti fired her client not because of any proof of wrong doing, but rather because he had hired a lawyer to defend his contractual rights. Pettiti denied that and said he fired Williams at that point because he had tried to reach out to Spielman and got no response for three weeks. When he got a letter from a different lawyer( not one who had negotiated the original contract) which denied any wrong doing, Pettiti felt he had no recourse but to terminate Williams. He also said another incident bolstered his opinion that Williams was unrepentant. During that interim, Williams had been in the office of a female publicity relations staffer and Williams had brought the woman to tears in the public office by cursing and pounding his hand on her desk. Testimony ended as the video of the games were about to be shown. Earlier Judge Kassel had ruled that MLB Network was not permitted to argue that the umpires had smelled alcohol on Williams' breath and that his eyes were red and his speech slurred. The basis was a discovery violation in that MLB Network did not specify that as a factor pre-trial.
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