Rays Prospect Guilty Of Vehicular Manslaughter
Andrew Bellatti October 21st. 2010, 8:00am
Andrew Bellatti, the Rays 12th round pick in 2009, pled guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter in connection to an accident that left the driver of another car dead (10News.com via St. Pete Times)…
According to testimony in a previous hearing, Bellatti was rushing his girlfriend to a high school basketball game when he lost control of his car, which crashed head-on into a van…Witnesses testified that they saw Bellatti’s Ford Mustang approach the Steele Canyon High campus at a high rate of speed, cross into the opposite left-turn lanes to avoid a car exiting the school parking lot, and return to his lane before the car spun out on rain-slick pavement.
According to NBC San Diego, Bellatti had a history of reckless driving,
Bellatti was spotted driving around stopped cars at a stopped sign during the previous week and was also seen running red lights, according to prosecutors.
Bellatti faces probation and up to one year in jail, although it is unclear at this time what the prosecution will recommend. Bellatti faced up to seven years had he been found guilty by a jury.
Bellatti showed flashes of brilliance as a starting pitcher this past season for Princeton, the Rays rookie-level club. He finished the season 2-5 with a 4.04 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 64 innings.
It will be interesting to see if the Rays discipline or cut ties with Bellatti. For all the crappy things Elijah Dukes did, he never actually killed anybody.
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I think the difference here between Dukes, and Bellatti is that Dukes went after people, intentionally threatened, and assaulted them, this kid as wreckless and stupid as what he did was, he wasn’t trying to kill anyone, the murder was a misfortune of dumbass decisions to drive like a maniac. I guess only time will tell if Bellatti shows a continued lack of judgement, or if this tragedy evokes remorse and acts as some kind of proverbial wake up call.
At what point in one’s life does one take responsibility for his/her actions and start to live with respect and conscience? Sad story. The Rays should carefully examine this young man’s history and decide if he is the kind of player they want on their team and whether or not his contribution would be a positive one? Generally in professional sports, I think player selection is often myopic, i.e., not considering the whole person.
F__ that stupid bastard…baseball is no longer a consideration….20-30 years in prison with the big boys is his biggest concern right now!