Sidney Ponson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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|---|---|
| Texas Rangers — No. 35 | |
| Starting pitcher | |
| Born: November 2, 1976 | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| April 19, 1998 for the Baltimore Orioles | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through April 28, 2008) |
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| Earned run average | 4.93 |
| Win-Loss | 82-101 |
| Strikeouts | 945 |
| Teams | |
Sir Sidney Alton Ponson (born November 2, 1976 in Noord, Aruba) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Texas Rangers.
Ponson has played most of his career with the Baltimore Orioles. When he made his debut for the Orioles in 1998, he became the third player from Aruba to play in the major leagues.
Ponson attended Maria College high school in Aruba. He was picked up by the Orioles as an amateur in 1993.
After the 2003 season, he was made a knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, along with fellow baseball players Eugene Kingsale and Calvin Maduro. (Aruba is part of the kingdom of the Netherlands.)
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[edit] 2003
In 2003, he went 14-6 with a 3.77 ERA for the Orioles. Because Baltimore was not in contention for a playoff spot and Ponson was in the last year of his contract, the Orioles traded Ponson to the San Francisco Giants at the trading deadline for three Giants players: Kurt Ainsworth, Damian Moss, and prospect Ryan Hannaman. At the end of the 2003 season, Ponson resigned with the Orioles for a 3 year, 22.5 million dollar contract.
[edit] 2004
In 2004, Ponson was the opening day starter for Baltimore. However, he started off disastrously; his record was 3-12 by the All-Star Break. He rebounded for a strong second half, going 8-3. He finished with an 11-15 record and a 5.30 ERA.
[edit] Controversies
On December 25, 2004, Ponson was arrested in Aruba and charged with assaulting an Aruban judge following an incident about a complaint of Ponson's handling of his powerboat. He spent 11 days in jail, but the charges were dropped after he reached a settlement that included restitution, community service, and contributions to local charities on the island. In January 2005, he was charged with driving under the influence in Broward County, Florida. Because of these activities, it was thought that he would not be able to enter Canada to pitch in a series against the Toronto Blue Jays in May 2005. However, a visa was later granted, and he was able to make his scheduled start.
Baltimore attempted to trade Ponson to San Diego for first baseman Phil Nevin shortly before the 2005 trade deadline, but the deal was cancelled when Nevin invoked his no-trade clause. Nevin eventually was traded to Texas.
Early on the morning of August 25, 2005, Ponson was arrested for driving under the influence and driving while impaired on southbound Interstate 95 near downtown Baltimore, Maryland. He was stopped for following too closely and was subsequently arrested for the traffic violation, DUI, and DWI; he was later released. This was his second drunk-driving incident of 2005.
On September 1, 2005, the Orioles released Ponson and voided his contract, saying that his infractions with the law went against a morals clause in Major League Baseball contracts. A week later, on September 8, the Major League Baseball Players Association filed a grievance on Ponson's behalf.
On December 12, 2005, Ponson was sentenced to five days in the Baltimore city jail after he was found guilty of driving while impaired. He was also fined $535. He was released from jail on December 19.
On June 6, 2008, despite having a 4-1 record and 3.88 ERA for the season, the Texas Rangers abruptly cut Ponson. Rangers general manager John Daniels explained, "We don't feel Sidney deserves to be here or wants to be here. We're not going to get into details other than to say we're clearly trying to put together a team here, in a true sense of the word. Based on some recent comments and other such things, it was pretty clear that he did not want to be part of that, and it's something we're not going to tolerate."[1]
[edit] 2005 and beyond
On December 21, 2005, Ponson signed a one-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals calling for a $1 million salary with the ability to earn an additional $1.5 million in incentives. Although his season started promisingly, Ponson struggled with stamina and rarely went more than five innings in his starts. On July 7, 2006, the Cardinals designated Ponson for assignment, ending his stint with the Cardinals.
On July 14, 2006, he signed on with the New York Yankees. The Yankees won his first game, lost the second game, and he was subsequently sent to the bullpen when the Yankees acquired Cory Lidle from the Philadelphia Phillies. Reportedly, Brian Cashman asked Ponson if he would be amenable to being placed in the pen before going ahead with the trade (which also involved acquiring Bobby Abreu). If Ponson had refused, he would have been released and the trade that sent Shawn Chacon to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Craig Wilson would have fallen through. [2]
After a poor pitching performance on August 18, 2006, The Yankees released Ponson, making him a free agent.
In January 2007, he signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins and on March 31, 2007, his contract was purchased by the Twins and he was added to their 25-man roster as the fifth starter. He got off to a relatively slow start, having only a couple quality starts while hovering at an ERA around 7. On May 13, the Twins designated him for assignment [3] and he was later released.
On March 9, 2008, Ponson signed a minor league contract with an invite to spring training with the Texas Rangers. Ponson began the 2008 season with the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks. On April 26, his contract was purchased. On June 6, he was designated for assignment.
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
- ESPN - daily profile and stats
- Ponson released
- Union grievance filed
- Sidney Ponson Uncut (Minnesota Public Radio)
