Heads up..........

Sports Center is doing a story this morning involving Morgan Ensberg.

Its the story about how Ensberg and some of his minor league teamates were held hostage in their hotel room back in 2000.

Should be on around 10 am.

 

Here is the AP article:

Astros Minor Leaguers Tied, Robbed

By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press Writer

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — It was approaching curfew for the Houston Astros' minor leaguers when two gunmen burst into a hotel room where five players were watching TV with a female friend.

The gunmen tied up the players and the women at gunpoint and took their cash. Then they moved to an adjacent room, where a sixth minor leaguer, Aaron Miles, was by himself Sunday night.

By then, the five players managed to free their hands and call 911. When a police officer arrived, one of the gunmen fled by jumping from a second-floor balcony.

The other suspect held Miles at gunpoint as more police arrived. Miles then made his move, lurching for the gunman.

As they struggled, police officers knocked out the hotel room's glass window and ordered the suspect to surrender. They shot him when he refused.

None of the players was hurt, but it was a harrowing few minutes for Miles; Morgan Ensberg, 24; Derek Nicholson, 23; Keith Ginter, 23; Michael Rose, 23; and Eric Cole, 24. The woman was identified as Alicia Szczerba, 23.

The armed robbery took place at a Holiday Inn in Kissimmee, where the Astros' minor leaguers stay during spring training.

``Certainly they're shaken up right now, but overall they handled themselves well,'' Astros assistant general manager Tim Purpura said.

The wounded gunman was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center. He was listed Monday in stable but critical condition with wounds to his face, shoulders and stomach. Police were unable to identify him because he had no identification and was still unconscious.

A Canadian woman staying with her husband and son in the room underneath the ballplayers' room said she heard yelling and screaming, the shattering of the hotel room's glass window and three shots fired.

``It sounded like it was raining when the glass shattered,'' said Gail Wolkowski, of Thunder Bay, Ontario. ``You saw police running everywhere.''

Later in the morning, maintenance workers washed away blood from the walkway in front of the hotel room and covered the shattered window with a wood plank.

The Astros have no intention of moving the minor leaguers out of the hotel, but were meeting with security officials from the commissioner's office.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, following its routine, was investigating the police shooting.

 

Yeah, Ill post a summary.

BTW, on the Stros game/BBS at your house. I am not sure if the Sunday game will work for us. If only, because you are over an hour away. My mom usually babysits for us, but Monday is a work day, so I cant ask her to stay with the baby until late Sunday night.

I figured the game would be over by 4, at to your house by 5. That wouldnt leave us much time to eat, drink and still be home by a decent hour.

 

OK.

Sports Center said the Ensberg story will be on coming up next (right before 11 am).

will try to recap

 

Wow. Great story. ESPN even added in their typical "tragic" theme music to make it that much more dramatic.

Here is the recap:

Ensberg, Aaron Miles and Mike Rose were all best friends and were trying to make the Astros in the Spring of 2000.

They were staying at the Holiday Inn. After practice, Miles went out to dinner and Ensberg and Rose, along with 3 other teamates went back to the hotel to watch p*rn .....errrr.......TV.

They had left the door unlocked. They were about to go to bed at 8:30-9:00. Then, two masked men, with 9mms entered their room. Ensberg said he sat there in complete fear and couldn't believe this was happening and that he knew they were in deep trouble. The gunmen used plastic ties to bound their hands and feet (hogtied). The whole time, Ensberg had a gun right to his head.

The gunmen duct taped their mouths and made them all lay down on the bead and threw the covers over all of them. Rose thought that the only reason they covered them up is because they were going to shoot/kill all of them.

The gunmen took 45 mins ransacking their hotel room, and stole their cell phones, credit cards, money and jewelry.

Ensberg said that he made a point to make sure that part of his head was sticking out from underneath the covers because he wanted to gunmen to know that they would be killing a human being and not just shooting into a bunch of blankets.

The gunmen then left their room and went into Miles room next store and made him get face down on the bed. They ransacked his room too.

Back in Ensberg's room. they were still under blankets and weren't sure what to do. After hearing nothing for about a minute, they took a chance. They were able to get themselves free and saw that the gunmen were gone.

They knew that Miles was next door and wanted to try and warn him. They called his room and the gunmen answered, not knowing the call was coming from the room they just robbed. They asked "is Miles there?". The gunmen said "hes in the bathroom" and hung up the phone.

Ensberg realized the gunsmen were in the room with Miles and thought he was already dead. The police were called.

The police showed up, but one of the gunmen jumped off the second floor balcony and escaped. The other gunmen was still alone in the room with Miles. The gunmen put the gun to the back of Miles head and made him tell the police that everything was fine in his room and that there was no gunmen there. The police asked him to open the door and Miles said "no, i can't".

Miles then offered the gunmen his Astros uniform to use as a disguise to escape. The gunman didn't go for it. He kept saying that he wasn't going back to jail and it was unsettling for Miles because he thought the gunman would go out in a shooting blaze and use him as a shield. He had visions of himself getting shot and starting thinking of his family.

Miles then started waiting for an opportunity to make a move. Then gunman asked him to pull back the curtains so he could see waht was going on outside. While he did that, the gunman turned his head, and Miles reached around to grab the gun. They started wrestling on the floor for control of the gun.

The police outside heard Miles scream "help help get in here now!!". they felt there was a life and death struggle going on so they broke the glass with a shotgun and came into the room. Miles was laying on top of the suspect and both their arms was straight up in the air, fighting for the gun. The gun waived into the direction of one of the officers, so he fired 6 times. Not one bullet his Miles. All 6 hit the gunman, whose arm went limp. The gunman was partially paralyzed from one of the bullets. Miles got up with the gun and gave it to the officers.

When Rose and Ensberg heard the shots, that thought Miles was "done" and that he had been killed.

The gunman who was shot, is serving a life sentence. He declined to be interviewed, but sent a letter to ESPN saying that it wasn't a robbery, but a drug deal gone bad and that all the players involved were into heavy drubs.

The other gunman, who escaped, was arrested a month later. He too claims that this was a drug deal gone bad and that the players were into drugs. He says he wasn't their the night of the robbery and that he was only arrested because he was "black and in the area". He said the only contact he ever had with th eplayers was when they came to his hotel room and bought drugs.

Ensberg and the others deny that. Ensberg says that the memory of the incident is constantly on his mind and that he thinks about it every day, all day long.