Read it here Seems she put an exaggerated spin on the whole story. She should be brought up on some kind of charges for exaggerating or lying about what really happened. Even the prosecutor seems to be at a loss about this testimony. Julio didn't even ever hit her. She was coming at him and pushing his buttons. I would be very surprised if Lugo is found guilty of anything. As much as the Astros organization claims there were other factors in letting Julio go, that is a bunch of bs. In my opinion, they assumed he was guilty of beating his wife and let him go because of it. Or, they just felt it tarnished the reputation of their organization before the verdict was even in. I don't really mind that Lugo is with a different team now because I like our new shortstop better and believe him to be a better all around player. But, I was kind of amazed at how quickly the Astros turned on Lugo and removed him without giving him even a chance.
I don't know what to believe...her "new" story sounds like the kid who goes to school with a black eye and bruises and says, "ummmm..yeah..i just fell down the stairs..no big deal." There's something called the "battered wife syndrome" where women lie to protect the husbands who beat them...they even lie under oath. Quite sad. They Astros had every right in the world to rely on that police report and release the guy...they still payed him his money. They just didn't want the association...in one way or another, this man assaulted his wife...and my understanding is that this was not the first time.
It is not uncommon for women to change their stories even if the original story is closer to the truth than the revised story. According to her new story he reached to move her hand away from the radio and struck her in the mouth in the process, hard enough to hit her lip into her braces. Explain to me how you can go from pushing away someones arm to hitting them in the mouth.
With all the Shortstop prospects the Astros have in the minors - including Burke, Bruntlett, Everett, and one more I believe - I'm sure they were looking for any excuse possible to let Julio go.
BSW, are you sure about Burke. I could have swore he was now playing 2nd base instead of shortstop. I believe i read this in connection with the futures game he was participating in. I could be wrong?
I would be inclined to believe that if they were still together but their divorcing so...I dunno. It still could be a case of BWS. I would almost be more inclined to believe she overreacted to get him back "real good", though. I didn't hear about Lugo abusing his wife before?
I'm pretty sure they said Burke was a natural SS whom they had been playing at 2nd because the SS position was so deep.
Went to the Round Rock / Frisco game the other night in Frisco and Whiteman is playing 3B and Burke is playing SS. It was also in the Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bb/1993006 It said... The only problem has been where to play Burke. The Astros envisioned him as a shortstop on draft day but quickly shifted him to second at a time when they had Adam Everett, Eric Bruntlett and Tommy Whiteman at shortstop. Burke has been adequate but nothing special at second. Now, he is back at shortstop for at least the remainder of this season. "I don't think we gave him a fair enough look at shortstop to make an evaluation," Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker said. "One of the mistakes we make is judging a player too quickly on what he can and can't do instead of letting him settle in and show us. Between now and the end of the year, we'll take a look at it again. He's come a long way. He has really settled in offensively. He has made great strides."
I hate to say I told you so, but I *did*. When these allegations first came out, I was one of the few to take Julio's side and proclaim him innocent until proven guilty. I also brought up the fact that women, in an emotional state, have a tendency to exaggeration and even lie when it benefits them. This is exactly what happened here. Not that there was be any doubt, but my theory was proven to be correct.
This is exactly why I was one of the few people who actually cheered for him when the d-rays played in houston, and exactly why we were wrong at realeasing him.
the astros weren't wrong in releasing him. Perhaps their reason was wrong but the actual move was not. He was terrible, actually terrible is too much of a complement. Defensively he was a liability and offensively he wasn't much better than ausmus. He was the fastest player on the roster not named Brian Hunter and yet he couldn't steal bases or get on base period. Thank god he's gone.
Thought this was interesting .......................... http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/72103_local_lugo.html
