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Florida Marlins pitcher Jose Ceda's accidental shooting finally revealed to team
JUPITER -- Jose Ceda brought a painful secret with him when he showed up to spring training last season with the Marlins, fresh off a trade from the Chicago Cubs. Ceda -- unbeknown by the Marlins until Sunday -- had shot his best friend with a handgun in the Dominican Republic.
The friend survived, and the shooting was ruled an accident, according to the 23-year-old pitcher and his agent, Paul Kinzer. Details of the shooting are fuzzy.
But Ceda was scarred emotionally.
``It took the wind out of his sails,'' Kinzer said.
Ceda revealed the 2008 incident to The Miami Herald on Sunday when he was asked about his weight loss. Ceda, whom the Marlins obtained from the Cubs for Kevin Gregg after the 2008 season, expressed pride that he had reduced his weight from 300 pounds to 273.
The reason?
According to Ceda, he worked out and received instruction from a nutritionist -- something he was unable to do the previous winter when authorities confined him to his home briefly in the aftermath of the shooting.
``I didn't leave my house last [winter],'' Ceda said.
Kinzer said the heavy-set pitcher was shaken up by the shooting but was not charged with any wrongdoing.
The agent said he encountered an emotional scene when he flew down to the Dominican Republic to console his client following the incident.
Kinzer said Ceda was so upset that both he and the injured friend were crying over what happened.
``It was pretty emotional over there,'' Kinzer said. ``Everybody was crying and hugging. We just wanted for [the shooting victim] to be taken care of properly and not lying there in pain. It had to be mentally exhausting for Jose. It was a long recovery.''
Kinzer said that there were initial fears that the friend, who was shot in the stomach, might be paralyzed.
Kinzer said the bullet penetrated the spine.
``Thankfully, he is doing better now,'' Kinzer said.
Ceda said he paid all of the victim's medical expenses -- more than $11,000.
The Marlins said they were never informed. Neither manager Fredi Gonzalez nor Larry Beinfest, the Marlins president of baseball operations, were aware of the incident until informed of it by a reporter for The Miami Herald on Sunday.
``It just seems a little weird,'' Beinfest said.
Ceda is a large, hard-throwing reliever who the Marlins are counting on for the future. But when he showed up for spring training last February, not long after the trade with the Cubs, Ceda was carrying an emotional burden.
Unable to work out over the winter in the aftermath of the shooting, Ceda said he weighed 288 pounds when he arrived for spring training.
Beinfest said the Marlins agreed that Ceda needed to lose weight, but that ``there was nothing else alarming.''
But other problems set in almost immediately.
After throwing just one routine bullpen session that February, Ceda complained of stiffness in his right (throwing) shoulder. That led to shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum, and Ceda did not pitch at all last season.
Now Ceda said he is back on track -- emotionally and physically.
Ceda said Sunday that he reported to camp weighing 273 pounds. And he said he felt even better because of the emotional burden that had been lifted.
``I'm sure it's on his mind right now,'' Kinzer said. ``It's changed everything about him.'
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/02/2...ose-cedas.html
JUPITER -- Jose Ceda brought a painful secret with him when he showed up to spring training last season with the Marlins, fresh off a trade from the Chicago Cubs. Ceda -- unbeknown by the Marlins until Sunday -- had shot his best friend with a handgun in the Dominican Republic.
The friend survived, and the shooting was ruled an accident, according to the 23-year-old pitcher and his agent, Paul Kinzer. Details of the shooting are fuzzy.
But Ceda was scarred emotionally.
``It took the wind out of his sails,'' Kinzer said.
Ceda revealed the 2008 incident to The Miami Herald on Sunday when he was asked about his weight loss. Ceda, whom the Marlins obtained from the Cubs for Kevin Gregg after the 2008 season, expressed pride that he had reduced his weight from 300 pounds to 273.
The reason?
According to Ceda, he worked out and received instruction from a nutritionist -- something he was unable to do the previous winter when authorities confined him to his home briefly in the aftermath of the shooting.
``I didn't leave my house last [winter],'' Ceda said.
Kinzer said the heavy-set pitcher was shaken up by the shooting but was not charged with any wrongdoing.
The agent said he encountered an emotional scene when he flew down to the Dominican Republic to console his client following the incident.
Kinzer said Ceda was so upset that both he and the injured friend were crying over what happened.
``It was pretty emotional over there,'' Kinzer said. ``Everybody was crying and hugging. We just wanted for [the shooting victim] to be taken care of properly and not lying there in pain. It had to be mentally exhausting for Jose. It was a long recovery.''
Kinzer said that there were initial fears that the friend, who was shot in the stomach, might be paralyzed.
Kinzer said the bullet penetrated the spine.
``Thankfully, he is doing better now,'' Kinzer said.
Ceda said he paid all of the victim's medical expenses -- more than $11,000.
The Marlins said they were never informed. Neither manager Fredi Gonzalez nor Larry Beinfest, the Marlins president of baseball operations, were aware of the incident until informed of it by a reporter for The Miami Herald on Sunday.
``It just seems a little weird,'' Beinfest said.
Ceda is a large, hard-throwing reliever who the Marlins are counting on for the future. But when he showed up for spring training last February, not long after the trade with the Cubs, Ceda was carrying an emotional burden.
Unable to work out over the winter in the aftermath of the shooting, Ceda said he weighed 288 pounds when he arrived for spring training.
Beinfest said the Marlins agreed that Ceda needed to lose weight, but that ``there was nothing else alarming.''
But other problems set in almost immediately.
After throwing just one routine bullpen session that February, Ceda complained of stiffness in his right (throwing) shoulder. That led to shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum, and Ceda did not pitch at all last season.
Now Ceda said he is back on track -- emotionally and physically.
Ceda said Sunday that he reported to camp weighing 273 pounds. And he said he felt even better because of the emotional burden that had been lifted.
``I'm sure it's on his mind right now,'' Kinzer said. ``It's changed everything about him.'
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/02/2...ose-cedas.html
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