Robservations: Baseball, TV — Your tickets to freedom
If there are two things that will keep your friendly neighborhood sports editor’s attention, they’re a good baseball game and a good TV show.
Now, I could take the next 15 inches of column space and try to convince you how you should enjoy those two pastimes. But instead, I can sum it up in one sentence.
Baseball, and TV, might keep you from the Big House.
Don’t believe me? Ask Juan Catalan, who was released earlier this year from jail, and a possible date with the death penalty.
Juan was arrested on murder charges last year, stemming from the May, 2003 slaying of a 16-year-old girl.
From the time of his arrest, and while he sat in jail awaiting trial, Juan contended he was nowhere near the scene of the crime. He insisted he was with his daughter that night, at Dodger Stadium, watching the Braves beat L.A.
Ticket stubs from the game, along with testimony from Juan’s family, were produced, but no one believed his alibi — until the life-saving producers of one of cable TV’s hottest comedies came to his aid.
Juan’s attorney scanned hour after hour of footage from the game, provided by the Dodgers and Fox Networks, hoping to catch a glimpse of his client in the crowd. But his efforts were all in vain, until he learned that HBO had also been filming at Chavez Ravine that night, working on an episode of the Larry David comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
In footage that wound up edited out of the show’s final cut, Melnik found the evidence that potentially saved Juan from the hot seat.
“I got to one of the scenes, and there is my client sitting in a corner of the frame eating a hot dog with his daughter,” the attorney told the Associated Press. “I nearly jumped out of my chair and said, ‘There he is!'”
Time codes on the footage convinced a judge that it would have been impossible for Juan to attend the game, and be at the crime scene at the time of the murder. With no evidence to support his arrest, a relieved Juan was released from jail.
I don’t know about Juan, but if that had been me, I would’ve gone right out and picked up the deluxe premium channel package from my local cable provider as a show of gratitude.
I tell you that story, so I can offer this bit of advice.
You might be bored by baseball games, and let’s face it — sometimes they kind of drag on.
But the next time you have the opportunity to come across some tickets, take advantage of it. Head to the game, and wear something that really distinguishes you from the rest of the crowd — like a T-shirt with your name across it in 18-inch letters.
Bring a sign, hopefully something with a clever phrase that spells out the name of a major network — like, “Can’t Beat Sosa” or “Feel Our X-citement.” Or, there’s always the old standard — “Sportscenter: Next.”
If you see a camera, jump up in front of it, act the fool, do whatever you can to make someone film, and keep, footage of you.
You never know. One day that footage might just save your life.