A former MLB pitcher has had the last laugh after an encounter with a man on drugs helped end his baseball career.
Greg Reynolds was awarded $2 million on Monday, more than two years after he punched a would-be home intruder in an incident he says effectively ended his Major League dreams.
‘The biggest problem was that I broke my index finger knuckle, the most important finger for throwing the ball,’ the right-hander, now 32, told Mercury News. ‘It affected all my pitches.’
Greg Reynolds was awarded $2million on Monday, more than two years after he broke his knuckles when he punched a would-be home intruder
Domenic Pintarelli was 19 when he went on a naked, LSD-induced rampage in Reynolds’ northern California gated community in January 2016
Domenic Pintarelli was 19 when he went on a naked, LSD-induced rampage in Reynolds’ northern California gated community in January 2016.
The former pro had just returned from Japan and was trying to get signed on an Major League team.
He reportedly noticed the man cursing at residents of the neighborhood and trying to knock over a mailbox before he confronted him, asking if he was alright.
Pintarelli responded by attacking Reynolds and punching him several times, according to court records.
When Reynolds retreated to his home to get away, Pintarelli ran after him and tried forcing his way inside the house by throwing his body against the door in an attempt to break it down.
That’s when Reynolds stepped back outside and delivered a single punch, fracturing his knuckles, his lawyer claims.
‘I only hit him one time, and it was bad enough to where I knew immediately it was broken,’ Reynolds told the Mercury News.
‘It all happened so quickly, you don’t have time to think about it. We were definitely in fear for our lives.’
Shortly being punched, Pintarelli attacked deputy sheriffs near the front gate of the community. He was eventually convicted on assault charges.
‘The biggest problem was that I broke my index finger knuckle, the most important finger for throwing the ball,’ said the right-hander, now 32
The pitcher also played for the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds
Now, both he and the neighbor who invited him over, Connor Pope, will have to pay the substantial financial reward to Reynolds.
They will also have to pay Reynold’s wife, who says she is now afraid of strangers because of the incident, an additional $300,000 for her pain and suffering.
Reynolds argued in court that Pope, who was also under the influence of LSD at the time of the incident, is also to blame for the demise of his MLB career.
He was signed by the San Diego Padres to a minor league contract shortly after his hand injury but was released three months later.
It was the end of a career that started on a high note for the Stanford grad, who was chosen by the Colorado Rockies as the second overall pick in the first round of the 2006 Draft.
The pitcher also played for the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds.
After the end of his pitching career, Reynolds went back to Stanford, got an economics degree and now works in finance.
Both Pintarelli and the neighbor who invited him over will also have to pay Reynolds’ wife $300,000 for her pain and suffering