BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Former major league player Jose Offerman is appealing a federal court order that he pay $940,000 to a catcher injured during a minor league brawl in 2007.
A jury last month awarded the money to former Bridgeport Bluefish catcher Johnathan Nathans, who says he suffered career-ending injuries when Offerman hit him in the head with a bat. Photos show a bat-wielding Offerman charging the mound after being hit by a pitch. But he denies swinging it at anybody.
Offerman's lawyers argue in court papers filed Tuesday that the jury improperly found his client liable for assault because he charged the mound, after determining he was not guilty of battery on the catcher.
Nathan's lawyers also are appealing, seeking damages from the Long Island Ducks, for whom Offerman was playing.