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League suspends Frank Francisco for the rest of season

Texas Rangers pitcher Frank Francisco was suspended for the rest of the season and fined on Friday for throwing a chair that hit a woman and broke her nose during a game at Oakland this week.

Francisco appealed the suspension, which will last no less than 16 regular-season games if upheld, said Bob Watson, major league baseball's vice president in charge of discipline. Lawyers were discussing whether Francisco would start serving the penalty while the appeal is pending, which would be unusual for a baseball discipline case.

The suspension is among the harshest assessed by the commissioner's office for on-field conduct in recent decades, trailing only the 30-day suspension given Cincinnati manager Pete Rose in 1988 for pushing umpire Dave Pallone.

"I don't feel good about it, but whatever they say, I have to take it. I really don't want to talk about it," said Francisco, who pitched an inning of relief against the Anaheim Angels and gave up a solo homer by Vladimir Guerrero.

Pitcher Doug Brocail was suspended for seven games, and reliever Carlos Almanzar and hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo were each suspended for five games, and all were fined. Brocail and Almanzer appealed, meaning the penalties cannot start until after a hearing before Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer.

Jaramillo's suspension was scheduled to begin on Friday night against Anaheim. Almanzar declined comment.

Francisco, who was fined about US$10,000 by Watson, threw the chair into the right-field box seats and hit two spectators in the head on Monday during Texas' 7-6, 10-inning loss. With two outs in the ninth inning, the Rangers' Alfonso Soriano tied the game 5-5 with his second homer of the night. Moments later, with Hank Blalock at the plate, the Texas bench and bullpen cleared.

Francisco was arrested and taken from the stadium to jail, where he was booked and his mug shot was taken. He was released about two hours later on US$15,000 bail.

"Obviously, I'm upset about it," Brocail said. "I'll take it up with Bob and, hopefully, it will be looked at a little closer, and we'll go from there.

"I regret that there was a chair thrown and I regret that there was a lady that was hurt. There were no intentions on my part that that happened."

Jennifer Bueno, whose nose was broken, said on Wednesday she plans to seek compensation for her injuries once prosecutors complete their investigation.

Francisco, 25, was the American League rookie of the month for August, when he was 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA.
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