Morning Roundup: Brian Stow Says Play Ball as Giants Rout Royals

((ht: mlb.com))

With all the college football action Saturday, you may have missed game 4 of the World Series.

And if you did, you missed another great game in a series that may not be highly rated on TV, but has been genuinely fun to watch.

The San Francisco Giants rallied from an early 4-1 deficit, to come back and beat the Kansas City Royals 11-4.

The game featured the Giants hammering the seemingly invulnerable Royals bullpen for 8 runs without hitting a home run the entire game.

Hunter Pence had 3 hits and 3 RBI's and Pablo Sandoval and Joe Panik drove in 2 runs apiece.

But perhaps the biggest highlight of the night came before the game started. Brian Stow, a Giants fan seriously injured and nearly killed a couple of years ago after being attacked by a couple of Los Angeles Dodger fans in L.A, surprised Giants fans by rolling out in a wheelchair and telling everyone it was time to "Play Ball"



Game 5 is Sunday night in the city by the Bay. It looks like this may very well be a 7 game series.

Here are Saturday nights highlights---or at least some of them starting with the 5 runs they got off Royals rookie reliever Brandon Finnegan:

Lunatic Fringe Raises Money For Brian Stow

It's not the first time, but it's still a cool thing to see...

3rd Base Coach Tim Flannery of the San Francisco Giants, along with his band Lunatic Fringe, held a series of benefit concerts for former EMT and Giants fan Brian Stow who was injured in a beating outside Dodger Stadium on Opening Day 2011.

The four concerts Fringe held yielded $96,000 as Stow continues his extensive rehab and recovery from brain damage.

It's not the first year that Fringe has held benefits...
Here's highlights from a concert with Fringe and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead...
((HT: BAM Magazine))


In another cool gesture, the proceeds from Fringe's new album will go to Stow's recovery as well...

Another Fan Violence Story Out Of San Francisco

((HT: KGO-TV))

Two men have been arrested after a fatal stabbing near AT&T Park following last night's Dodgers-Giants game.

An argument between two groups of Giants and Dodgers fans broke out, and a verbal disagreement led to an incident involving a knife. Jonathan Denver was stabbed during the fight and died at hospital.

San Francisco police said Denver's father and brother were wearing Dodger gear. Denver himself, however, was not wearing Dodgers gear. The two men under arrest were described by police as Giants fans.

A teenager was attacked at Candlestick Park over the weekend during the 49ers loss to the Colts. There were other incidents as well- despite an increase in security.

Here's the story from AT&T Park


Stadium security and fan behavior has been under the microscope in Northern and Southern California since the Brian Stow beating during the season opener for the Giants in the 2011 season. Stow suffered a traumatic brain injury after being beaten by two men dressed in Dodgers gear. He spent several months in hospital and has had to undergo extensive rehab since...

2 More Arrest In Stow Beating, Ramirez Exonerated...?

((HT: KTLA-TV))

2 months after the arrest of Giovanni Ramirez in the opening weekend beating of San Fran paramedic Bryan Stow at a Dodger game, LA authorities are now admitting Ramirez was not responsible, a law enforcement source told The L.A. Times.

Another source told KABC-TV in Los Angeles that a male and a female suspect were arrested- believed to be the female driver who witnessed the beating suspects by two other male suspects.

Jose Romero -- an attorney for Ramirez -- has always stood by his client, saying he was innocent.

After the news was released, Romero said, "I think now, the world understands what I've known from day one, looking at my client eye to eye, that Giovanni Ramirez is and always has been innocent."


More when we know more...

Girlfriend Of Baseball Beating Suspect Busted In Vegas

((HT: KTLA-TV))

The girlfriend of the guy currently being held as the prime suspect in the Bryan Stow beating Opening Day weekend was arrested in Las Vegas.

Denise Piccione was arrested by police on charges of possession and trafficking of methamphetamine and possessing a dangerous weapon.

Lovely...

The LAPD are referring to Piccione as "a person of interest" after Giovanni Ramirez was arrested in May and said they wanted to talk to her about the case. Ramirez has not been officially charged with the attack, but was sentenced to 10 months for a parole violation following his arrest. A gun was found inside his apartment when officers took him into custody.

Piccione pleaded not guilty to the drug charges and is being held on $1,000 bail.

Here's Rick Chambers report on the new twist...
 

Video surfaces in Stow beating

((ht: tmz.com/ktla.com))

Video has now surfaced showing a confrontation between San Francisco Giants fan Brian Stow, who was brutally beaten after watching the L.A Dodgers home opener on March 31st and an un-identified Dodger fan during the game.

The video, which seems to have been shot on a cellphone isn't incredibly clear and the audio is in Spanish, but you can see Stow and the Dodger fan, who doesn't appear to be Giovanni Ramirez the guy ID'd by LAPD as the main suspect in the beating. Ramirez has repeatedly said he wasn't at the game.

Stow, who was beaten so badly that he's been in and out of a coma since the incident is in a San Francisco hospital in serious condition.

The video is...at the moment not embeddable, so you'll have to click on the link HERE, in order to see it.