Mayor Michael Bloomberg tossed a beanball at Pedro Martinez, saying the Boston Red Sox flamethrower should be arrested for roughing up 72-year-old Yankee coach Don Zimmer.
"If that happened in New York we would have arrested the perpetrator," said the mayor, speaking before a Columbus Day parade in the Bronx Sunday.
"Nobody should throw a 70–year old man to the ground, period," he said. "You just cannot assault people even if it's on a baseball field."
Bloomberg, raised in a Boston suburb and reared a Boston Braves fan, has been lavishing praise on the Yankees in recent days, trying to avoid accusations he's a secret Bosox booster.
The mayor has seldom been seen without some item of Yankees apparel on his person since the Boston-New York championship series began last week. But Bloomberg's feet betrayed him yesterday -- he was wearing red socks. Bloomberg said he wore red in solidarity with Italy, whose national colors are red, white and green.
"It's the culture of the day," he said. "You should not read anything [into it]. Make no mistake about it, I'm a Yankee fan."
But by the time he showed up for a second parade in Manhattan, the mayoral socks had been quietly swapped for beige replacements.
The 61-year-old Bloomberg said he was sticking up for Zimmer -- who charged at Martinez before being tossed to the turf -- to protect current and future senior citizens. "You start doing that, pretty soon you're going to start throwing 61-year-old men to the ground," he added. "I have a big vested interest in that."
http://www.nynewsday.com/nyc-bloom1013,0,6132062.story?coll=nyc-topheadlines-left
"If that happened in New York we would have arrested the perpetrator," said the mayor, speaking before a Columbus Day parade in the Bronx Sunday.
"Nobody should throw a 70–year old man to the ground, period," he said. "You just cannot assault people even if it's on a baseball field."
Bloomberg, raised in a Boston suburb and reared a Boston Braves fan, has been lavishing praise on the Yankees in recent days, trying to avoid accusations he's a secret Bosox booster.
The mayor has seldom been seen without some item of Yankees apparel on his person since the Boston-New York championship series began last week. But Bloomberg's feet betrayed him yesterday -- he was wearing red socks. Bloomberg said he wore red in solidarity with Italy, whose national colors are red, white and green.
"It's the culture of the day," he said. "You should not read anything [into it]. Make no mistake about it, I'm a Yankee fan."
But by the time he showed up for a second parade in Manhattan, the mayoral socks had been quietly swapped for beige replacements.
The 61-year-old Bloomberg said he was sticking up for Zimmer -- who charged at Martinez before being tossed to the turf -- to protect current and future senior citizens. "You start doing that, pretty soon you're going to start throwing 61-year-old men to the ground," he added. "I have a big vested interest in that."
http://www.nynewsday.com/nyc-bloom1013,0,6132062.story?coll=nyc-topheadlines-left
