Crowbar attack on softballer<\/strong>
\nThe Dominion Post | Tuesday, 23 January 2007
\nCRAIG SIMCOX\/Dominion Post<\/p>\nUNEVEN MATCH: Former Black Sox pitcher Paul Algar tried to defend himself with a stick as a man attacked him with a crowbar after a dispute over a pool table.<\/p>\n
Former champion Black Sox pitcher Paul Algar tried in vain to dodge blows from a crowbar-wielding attacker who set upon him after a dispute over a pool table.<\/p>\n
Algar, a member of the 2000 World Series-winning team who now plays in the United States, is recovering in Wellington Hospital with a fractured skull and severe cuts and bruising to his head.<\/p>\n
He needed brain surgery after the brutal attack in Titahi Bay early on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Despite his injuries, Mr Algar, 42, is already looking forward to resuming his softball career and will not let the attack ruin his view of his homeland.<\/p>\n
Algar plays and coaches softball in Wisconsin and was back in New Zealand for Christmas to see family in Porirua.<\/p>\n
He went to the Mariner bar for a “few nightcappers” last Friday night.<\/p>\n
A man playing pool had asked him to watch the table and became angry and abusive when he returned to find others using it, Algar said.<\/p>\n
“He just kept on being an idiot, calling me names. Childish stuff really.”<\/p>\n
The man went away and about 2am Algar decided to leave, as he was planning a dive trip with friends later that day.<\/p>\n
As he left the tavern, he spotted the man and, concerned for his safety, pointed him out to a bouncer.<\/p>\n
“He obviously heard that and popped his boot and grabbed a crowbar.”<\/p>\n
Algar said he panicked and tried to grab a stick to protect himself as the man approached – and began beating him with the crowbar.<\/p>\n
“I do remember trying to get away from the blows.”<\/p>\n
Algar collapsed and remembered nothing till he woke up in hospital.<\/p>\n
Witnesses told police that after Algar fell to the ground, the man struck him several times with the crowbar then jumped on him and punched him.<\/p>\n
The man stopped only after an onlooker yelled at him.<\/p>\n
The attacker, who was seen driving away, is described as Maori, aged 35 to 40, about 1.8 metres tall, with black dreadlocks and a distinctive tattoo around his neck.<\/p>\n
He was wearing dark jeans and a top and a necklace.<\/p>\n
The man was seen drinking in the Mariner earlier on Friday and police want to hear from anyone who may have seen him.<\/p>\n
Algar said he expected to make a complete recovery and to resume playing and coaching within a few months.<\/p>\n
Though he was unsure what had prompted the violent attack, Algar would not let it sour his view of New Zealand. “You can’t judge everyone on something little like this.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Click here for the local newspaper story, with photo.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sorry to have to post this one —Fortunately, as Al Doran notes: “Fans and friends of Paul will be pleased to hear that he is OK” From Al’s Fastball: Crowbar attack on softballer The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 23 January 2007 CRAIG SIMCOX\/Dominion Post UNEVEN MATCH: Former Black Sox pitcher Paul Algar tried to defend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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