03x01 - Baseball Brawl

[bunniefuu]

-You are an umpire.
-Yes, ma'am.

[Francisco] He said,
"You guys were cheating."

That's when I got upset.

He just grabbed me like this and...

and his fist was coming at me.

You can't put your hands on him.

-I did not throw a punch, Your Honor.
-Well, then how did he get assaulted?

[narrator] This is Judy Justice.

[opening theme music plays]

Calvin Green is suing
youth baseball coach Francisco Bagues

for lost wages
and damages from an as*ault.

[Kevin] Court come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Case number 3012, Green versus Bagues.

-Thank you very much.
-You're welcome.

[Judy] Okay, so today we're gonna
learn a little bit about junior baseball.

-Yes, ma'am.
-I don't know a lot about it...

but I do have one grandchild
who plays that sport very well.

Been to a couple of those games,
I know how hot everybody gets.

You, Mr. Green, according
to what I read in your papers,

-are an umpire.
-Yes, ma'am.

And you've been doing that work
for, I think, 15 years.

-Is that right?
-It has been 15 years.

Tell me about the league
that you umpire for.

I work for an organization,

and I'm pretty much
an independent person,

but they call me,
let me know what games I have.

So, it's up to me, so I can take
as many games as I want.

I usually average
about ten games on the weekend.

I usually only do it on the weekend.

-Do you get paid for it?
-Yes, I do.

How much do get paid for umping?

-Um... piring?
-[Calvin] Umpiring.

Umpiring a game?

[Calvin]
It depends on the age division.

So, normally, if you do anywhere
from nine to 12 youth, you'll get...

Nine to 12 years of the players?

That's the players. That's the players,
that plan, you'll get $56.

And if you do the older children,

that goes from 13 up to,
I think we do up to 17,

you get $61 a game.

Okay. Nice supplemental income,

and have some fun, and you're outside.

Yeah, that's my supplemental income.
I actually have a regular fulltime job.

-I assume you did.
-Yeah.

And you have a team?

[Francisco]
Correct. I manage the team.

I've been managing high school
baseball players for about six years now.

[Judy] So you manage
the 13- to 17-year-olds?

Correct.

-And what's the name of your team?
-The Bruins.

[Judy] This particular game
that's at issue today

took place on what date, sir?

October the 16th of last year.

Now, Mr. Bagues,
on October 16th of 2022,

what I'm gathering from the papers

is that one or so of your players
was over the age of 17.

-Correct.
-That you knew was against the rules.

How many players were over 17?

So, there were a total
of two players that were over.

Two?

So they weren't over 17,
they were 17 at the time.

They were beyond the age
where they were supposed to be playing?

-You knew that was against the rules?
-Correct.

Just curious. Clear that you knew it.

You've given me honest answers,

Why'd you do that?

Because there's a stipulation
that it goes on,

the way that the sanctioning body goes by,

if they're in the grade level
that is of the current year,

they can still play.

There is a limit of one player, I had two.

-That is why we were...
-Okay.

What you're saying is
you didn't know about the second rule?

I knew about the second rule,
I-I misinterpreted it.

I-I thought there was...
we were allowed up to three players.

Turns out that
for this particular sanctioning body,

there was only one allowed.

At some point during that game,
something happened.

'Cause this case involves an as*ault.

It is your claim, Mr. Green,

that the defendant assaulted you

-and injured you.
-Yeah.

And it was about the players
who were playing

against the rules from his team.

-Yes, ma'am.
-Okay. So let's start with you, sir.

You're on the field,
you're doing your business.

Somebody advises you
that there's an issue.

Who tells you that there's an issue?

[Francisco] I went up to the director
and asked him myself.

The were some chatter in the stands
saying, hey, you have two players.

-[Judy] Some chatter where?
-From the stands.

-So, some of my parents...
-Oh, from the stands.

From the stands.
Some of my parents asked me,

hey, you might wanna check that

because the other team is saying
that we're ill*gal players.

So there was already a kerfuffle
because people who were watching the game,

I assume that there were regulars
watching this game.

First of all, you have all the mothers,
fathers, grandparents,

siblings of all these players

-watching the game.
-Correct.

And they don't just come out for one game.

I know this from grandson Colby.
They come out for every game.

And so I assume that everybody knows
how old these players are

'cause they've been following them,
they all go to the same school.

Okay. So there was chatter from the team
that was opposing your Bruins

that, hey, two of these players
shouldn't be playing.

-Correct.
-They're too old. It's not fair.

Had the game gotten underway yet?

[Francisco] It was
in the bottom of the first...

or the start of the first inning.

Okay, so you heard the kerfuffle
that was starting in the stands,

you figured the better part of valor
was to go over

and address the issue yourself

with the director of the... league?

The tournament director, correct.

[Judy] Okay.
How did you identify him there?

He's the one we check in to
at the beginning.

When we show up as a team,
there's a booth where we check in.

[Judy] So you went down
to speak to the director.

Did you hear any of this chatter?

[Calvin] Your Honor,
the story that he's telling you

is obviously not true.

How we found out, or they found out,
that the player was too old,

the player actually played
for the opposing team before,

and the coach knew him.

I was standing there when the coach
passed by him and spoke to him.

And then the coach informed
one of his parents

that the kid that was the catcher
was too old to be on the team.

And they went
and told the tournament director.

He didn't go to the tournament director.
He was on the field.

-The tournament...
-Okay, just a second.

So, your story,
which actually is interesting

and has more subtlety to it,
so sounds more real.

This older player used to play
for the opposing team.

Yes, ma'am.

So the team members and that coach
knew how old he was.

Yes, ma'am. Exactly.

[Judy] They went over
to the director to complain.

[Calvin]
The parents went to the director

and told the director
that he was using an ill*gal player,

that the player was too old.

They checked the record
to find out if it was true.

They never went to the director.

The director came on the field
and stopped the game.

He came to me and said,
"Stop the game."

-Okay. So the director came up to you...
-Yes, ma'am.

-...and said, "Stop the game."
-Stop the game.

And you're standing at home plate?

Yes, ma'am. Exactly.

-See that?
-[Calvin] You got that. You're right.

[Judy] Why do you look so amazed?

Because I was surprised that
you would know about baseball.

That I would know about home plate?

[Calvin] Yeah, okay.
That's home plate...

They're not talking football here.

-Baseball I know.
-Okay.

-See?
-Ah, okay.

So everybody, sort of, was around you.

You had the director, you had yourself.
Were any of the players there?

Yes, ma'am.
Everybody was still on the field.

Any players up at home plate?

The player, the catcher,
the one that was too old, and the batter.

So he waited until the game started

because if he said anything
before the game started,

then they would just take the players out.

So he was waiting for the players to play.

So the...

They would have to forfeit the game.
That they would have to forfeit the game.

-There you go. That's what happened.
-Got it.

So now I'm getting the rules,
'cause these rules I didn't know.

So if the game hadn't started yet

and that one player was taken out
before anything happened,

then you would just take the player out

-and continue the game.
-Yeah. And continue the game.

But once the game starts
with his ill*gal player,

-then their team had to forfeit the game.
-Exactly. The other team...

So the other team strategically, I assume,

but the other team waited until

the first ball was thrown, or whatever,

and then came out to complain,
or went to the director to complain,

-that there was an ill*gal player.
-Exactly.

-Therefore the game had to be forfeited.
-Exactly.

-But they lost the game.
-Ah, now it's...

-So they lost the game before it started.
-Right.

Right, they lost the game before it ended.

It was on a Sunday,
and Sunday, we call it elimination day.

If you lose on Sunday, you go home,

and the other team that won
go on to the next game.

He didn't go to the next game
'cause he was eliminated,

but the other team did.

So that's why the other team waited
so they can go to the next game.

Now, Mr. Bagues, I have to tell you
that sounds more reasonable to me.

-He's absolutely right.
-Okay. Good.

Other than the fact that I did go up
to the tournament director myself.

Because we, at that point in time,
they approved my roster,

and I had an approved roster.

So when I called the higher-up
of the tournament director, he said,

"If you guys leave the field,
you forfeit the game,

I will refund you the tournament fee.

If you do not, and it gets out of hand,
then you will not get a refund."

I talked to my parents,
I talked to my players,

I explained to them the situation,

and that was it.
And we walked off the field.

Well, that didn't happen just that way.

That's exactly how it happened.

Then how did he get assaulted?

He had this look in his eye,
and he just grabbed me like this,

and his fist was coming at me.

And that's pretty much all I remember

'cause I can remember
another fist coming over my shoulder,

which I later found out
was my son coming to my defense.

'Cause he just grabbed me.

[narrator] Calvin Green claims
youth baseball coach Francisco Bagues

owes for lost wages and damages

after Francisco assaulted him.

[Judy] Now, his version of the events

sounds much more plausible to me

now that I know that you crafted
your participation initially

in a certain way.

But that sounds right.
Now I understand it. Okay.

So now, they're all out on the field.

[Calvin] What happened next
is that they actually left the field.

-He didn't say anything about the game.
-So they left the field.

-They left the field, and his team left.
-All his players left the field.

So what I did is I returned to,
we call it the director's table,

but it's like an E-Z UP setup,

so I returned to the director's table
where all the umpires hang out.

We do, like, five games a day,
so in between games we go there

and get our new scorecard
and a new baseball,

and everything that we'd need
for our next game.

So I was standing there,
just kinda talking with other umpires.

My son Cam was there, he's an umpire also.

And on his way
out of the particular facility I was in,

the director's table is right there.

Him and some of his parents,

that's when they stopped
by the director's table

to ask the director
about why they were disqualified.

They were saying that they knew
they were using an ill*gal player.

The director was saying, no we didn't,

'cause you never checked in
with your roster.

And so they started demanding a refund.

We were kinda,
we wasn't even involved in it.

So they started demanding a refund,

and so one of the moms...

-How much money are we talking about?
-I have no idea.

How much money is the refund?

It's $8 per person.

That's the refund
that my parents were requesting.

We weren't requesting the tournament fee

because we had already squared that away
with the tournament director.

You expected an $8 per person refund.
Why?

[Francisco] Because
the game didn't conclude,

and we were the ones that stopped the game
prior to this whole scenario.

But actually, you didn't stop the game.
Whatever.

Aside from the $8 a person,
what other fee is there?

There's a tournament fee.

-Well, give me the amount.
-It was $895.

-Go ahead, sir.
-He was asking for his money back.

He didn't get a refund back because
he was disqualified for the tournament.

He got upset and yelled,
"I'll show you disqualified!"

And then he was coming
around the director's,

like, table setup, six-foot table,

he was coming around the table
in an angry manner.

All I did was say, "Coach, calm down.

Why are you acting like this
in front of your children?"

He didn't say a word.

He had this look in his eye,
and he grabbed me like this and...

and his fist was coming at me.

And that's pretty much all I remember

'cause I can remember
another fist coming over my shoulder,

which I later found out
was my son coming to my defense.

'Cause he just grabbed me. I mean...
That's all I can say.

He just pretty much
grabbed me like this and...

Could you stand up?

Tell me your name, please.

-Camerhon Green.
-Camerhon.

You were down with your father
near the director's table?

Yes.

I want you to tell me what you saw.

Your father took me up to a point,

and I want you to start at the point
where there was any contact

between your father and the defendant.

Yes, as the defendant was charging
after the tournament director,

after verbally threatening him...

-Was that person seated?
-He was seated.

Yes, go ahead.

[Camerhon] As he got around
a barricade of tables,

me and my dad were there
to stop him and calm him down.

-Tell me exactly how you tried...
-We were standing here.

Obviously, you don't wanna make contact
with the person unneeded.

He had his hands up
and said, "Hey, your kids are all here."

And he just got, like,
the miss of the deflection,

'cause he was going to probably
as*ault the tournament director,

instead he assaulted my dad.

Tell me how he did that.

After my dad told him to calm down
'cause the kids were there,

he then grabbed my dad
by his chest protector

and lifted him up.

And once he had did that, um,
then I had to defend my dad.

-How did you do that?
-By punching him.

How did your father end up unconscious?

So, once again, he had him.

So he would grab my dad
by his chest protector

and shoved his fist in his face
to basically threaten him.

I assume after I hit him,
he probably just threw him down.

-He... he threw your father down?
-Correct.

Were you hospitalized, sir?
Were you...

[Calvin] I went to the doctor
the next day.

We went home after it all happened,
and then the next day I woke up

I had all these really bad pains
in my face and stuff,

so I went to the doctor,

and the next day
I went to urgent care on the 17th.

Do you have any pictures of any injuries?

I have the pictures
and also the doctor's report.

[Judy] Yeah, I'd like to see it.

These are pictures of my injuries
and the original doctor's report

when I first went to the doctor.

Pretty bad black-eye areas,
that was shown.

Did you file a police report, sir?

The facility, the director,
they filed a police report

-on the 18th.
-Do you have a copy of that?

Were you able to get
a copy of the police report?

They didn't give it back to me.

[Judy] Okay.
Was there a complaint filed by you

with the police department, sir?

Yes, there was a complaint filed by me
with the Riverside County Sheriff.

-Were you ever contacted by the police?
-I was.

-Were you arrested?
-No.

Did Mr. Green caused to be served on you
an application for a protective order?

Correct.

-And was there a hearing on that?
-Yes, there was.

-Did you testify?
-Yes.

Did you have any witnesses?

No, I just had witness statements
and the pictures I showed you.

-Did you have any witnesses?
-No.

What was the result of that hearing?

I was granted a restraining order
for a year.

[Judy] And was the story
that you told to the court

at that hearing consistent
with what you've told me today?

Yes, it is, Your Honor.
I actually have the transcript...

I'd like to take a look at it.

I'm gonna ask you the same question,
Mr. Bagues.

Was the testimony you gave me today

consistent with what you told
the court on that day?

Absolutely.

You did, in fact, put your hands
on the plaintiff?

Correct.

I'm actually gonna go in
a little bit further.

How many parents were with you at the time
you came to the director's chair?

There was a few.

There was about five, six there
that were standing next to me.

Did you see the parents
of Mr. Bagues's team with him?

Yes.

-How many were there?
-At least five or six parents.

And they all
had their kids with them as well.

Now, when Mr. Bagues, when you said,
"came around the table"

and put his hands on your father,

where were the parents?

They were behind him.

And due to the progressive heating
of the argument,

everybody on his side
was being very aggressive.

That's why, when he charged
after the tournament director,

no one cared to stop him.

And after I had defended my dad,

I was then jumped
by about five of the parents.

Okay. So, he was the first one
who went around the table.

Correct.

The parents and the other players
followed after him?

They were aggressive,
but they stayed put.

And after I had defended him,
that's when they got involved.

Now when you say you defended
your father, what did you do?

As he had my dad grabbed by his
chest protector, I then punched him.

-Punched the defendant?
-The defendant, yes.

And after you punched the defendant,
what happened?

I was then jumped
by about five of the parents.

So I saw three running at me,
and one running at me full speed,

so I engaged with them, with the first guy
that was coming at me.

Right there I got tangled up,
and I was thrown to the floor immediately.

-And then jumped by about five parents.
-Who broke it up?

Uh, actually,
a by-standing coach ran in

about, like, six seconds into the jumping

and picked me up off the ground
and separated me from the crowd.

I almost had it, though.

[Calvin] Then I got it.
When I got up off the ground,

I pulled one of the parents off of him.
'Cause when I got up off the ground...

-Off of your son?
-Off of my son.

I was looking for my hearing A*DS
and glasses.

And then, when I picked him up,
I noticed three guys fighting my son,

so I pulled the parent off of him,
and then somebody else came around

and punched me again.
I couldn't see who that was.

[Judy] I got it.

You got punched because you put
your hands on his father.

And you're a big guy.

-How old are you, sir?
-Sixty-two.

-How old are you?
-Thirty-eight.

He's old enough to be your father.

How dare you put your hands on him?

[narrator] Calvin Green has accused
youth baseball coach Francisco Bagues

of assaulting him
at a baseball tournament.

Francisco claims Calvin's son
punched him in the face.

[Judy] So, Mr. Bagues,

I'm going to go one further

from the judge who heard the application
for an order of protection.

It was a very limited hearing.

And what the judge based his opinion on

to give the plaintiff
a protective order for a year,

which merely says that you may not
as*ault, menace, threaten, or harass him.

Is he allowed to be at a game
where you're umpiring?

No, ma'am.

He's not allowed to have his team
at a game where you're umpiring?

No, he's not allowed to be around.

He's not allowed to be
within a hundred feet of me.

We didn't put down the team

because it was more about him
and not the team.

Okay. I'm going to tell you, sir,

that if your conduct
precipitated a course of events

where other people were injured,

your conduct, you're responsible.

I'm gonna let you tell me
your version of the events.

You're out there.

Now, I heard their version
of the events of that day.

You're out there with five or six parents,

and you're demanding
that while you forfeited the game fee,

which was over $800,

it was your position

that your players were entitled
to their $8 a person back.

Which is why you went with the parents
over to the director

to ask for the $8 per person back
for your players.

That's what you told me.

No, you asked me what the sum was.
It was $8 a person to get in.

That's not what we were arguing about.

-What were you arguing about?
-Can I explain my side of the story?

As we were walking out,

I was talking to the tournament,
to the female tournament director.

We had already got
our... our situation squared away.

There was a male tournament director
who was sitting at his chair,

and one of my parents approached him.

And they were arguing back and forth.

He made a comment, and he said,

"You shouldn't even get a refund back
for your tournament fee

because you were cheating."

That's when I got upset because
I had already squared away with his boss

and the female tournament director
that was onsite.

What did you do when you got upset?

I told him, "Do you even know
what's going on?

I've already explained it.

This whole situation
has nothing to do with the team.

She's asking for her $8 back

because they paid, they just got here,
and they're not watching a game."

Oh, you mean their fee
to get into the stadium?

What were you involved with that for?

Uh, exactly, Your Honor.

What were you involved with that for?
They wanted their money back.

How many games
were gonna be played that day?

It could've been, you know,
three, four, five games.

They could've sat
and watched the rest of the five games.

At that point in time the argument started
with the tournament director.

Mr. Green was coming over from the field,
and he did see when we were arguing.

He did get in front of me. He says,
"Hey, relax, your kids are around."

My whole thing was the director
was still talking back to me, you know.

So what if he was talking back to you?

The truth is he was saying the truth.

That director was saying nothing
that was untruthful.

All this started because you put
two ill*gal players on your team.

-That they approved, Your Honor.
-What?

They approved...
The sanctioning body approved my roster

-before I showed up.
-I have to tell you something, sir.

You've been doing this,
according to you, for a long time.

And you know all the rules.

And you had two ill*gal players
on your team.

That's what happened.

But you had no business going over there
and getting them a refund

for entrance to the park.

That's where you're wrong.
I was not asking for a refund.

-The parents were.
-So what were you involved for?

Because the director told them
to come talk to me about it.

I go, "Listen,
it's your job to deescalate.

As a director, it's your responsibility
to deescalate the situation."

So, wh... I don't understand
why you put your hands on him?

I grabbed him by the chest protector
to move him out of the way.

'Cause my argument
was with the tournament director.

-It didn't involve Mr. Green at all.
-You can't put your hands on him.

At that point, that's when I got punched.

-Then I was pulled back by the parents.
-Just a second.

You got punched because you
put your hands on his father.

Aggressively.

And you're a big guy.
And you were aggressive.

-How old are you, sir?
-Sixty-two.

-How old are you?
-Thirty-eight.

He's old enough to be your father.

How dare you put your hands on him!

Okay. Anything else
you wanna tell me, sir?

[Calvin] I just wanna say
one other thing, Your Honor,

that this was mainly about him
and other parents

that come out to youth sports
and behave badly.

I wanna send a message to him
and all the other parents out there.

When you come, come to support your kid.

We're human, we make mistakes.

We're out there
for the same reason they are.

It's not about the money,
we're out there because we love the game

and we love the kids.

Violence, there's no place
in baseball for violence.

And he and all the other parents
has to know that.

When you come,
you're supposed to support your kid,

not harass the umpires
or get into it with the directors.

If you know you cheated,
take your lumps and go home. But...

-Couldn't have said it better myself.
-Yeah.

-And that's the message...
-And I won't say it better myself.

He's right.

-Right?
-Yep.

Did you lose any work, sir,
as a result of this?

I missed a month of work,
and I missed a month of umpiring.

Judgement for the plaintiff
in the amount requested

in your petition, $10,000.

Thank you, Your Honor.

[Kevin] This court is adjourned.

I think it was a little unfair.

I think the judge made the right decision.

I never punched anybody,
which, that's the reason we're here.

The judge saw right through the lies
that he was trying to tell her.

The sanctioning body approved my roster,
so that was on them.

From my understanding, he bypassed
the director's table on Saturday.

He didn't turn in his roster,

so they didn't even know
he had those players on his team.

I have no ill will against Mr. Green.

Like I said, at the end of the day,
I never punched him.

I did touch his chest protector,
but I never threw a punch.

Get the message out to the other parents

that when you come
to a youth sporting event,

you're not gonna behave badly.

If you do, we're gonna prosecute you
to the limit of the law.

[Sarah] Plaintiff took the words
right out of my mouth.

The grand message that we usually have
for people after the cases,

I almost liked it better coming from him,

seeing firsthand how crazy some of these
youth sports games have gotten.

I usually see them secondhand
on Twitter or clips on social media

of outraged parents
or siblings, even, of players

absolutely losing their mind
at these youth sports games.

He said it perfect, and all the parents
should really listen up.

It takes a certain type
to really get so angry...

That you get physical.

At... at someone like an umpire,
who's getting paid $60 a game.

They're obviously not in it for the money.

He has some heartfelt reason
for wanting to be engaged...

He had a son.
His son probably played.

Exactly. And they're not trying
to make bad calls.

They're trying to do the best they can,
but everyone's gotta keep their cool.

It's baseball.

It's supposed to be a fun sport.

-America's pastime.
-Yeah.

[narrator] Have you been cheated?



[end theme music plays]