Coates charged with
assaulting girlfriend
The Pro Bowl tight end
for the New England
Patriots was released on
bail Sunday night
By Howard Ulman
The Associated Press
WRENTHAM, Mass. — Ben
Coates of the New England Patri
ots pleaded innocent today to
charges he threw his girlfriend
against a car and threatened, to
beat her.
The 28-year-old tight end was
arrested at his Franklin home
Sunday night. Jennifer Marshall,
27, of Norton, was treated and re
leased from the hospital,
Franklin police said.
Coates was released on $1,000
cash bail after Judge Gilbert
Nadeau ordered the amount in
creased from the $500 bail set at
his arrest.
“He is absolutely innocent,”
said defense lawyer Peter Bar
low. "I’m certain that at the end
of this ... legal process, it will be
clear that Ben did nothing wrong.
He wants to get back to practice.”
Coates, 6-foot-5 and 245
pounds, told police he pushed
Marshall to defend himself. He
said they were not dating any
more.
Police said Marshall — who
has a child with Coates — went
to Coates’ home because she sus
pected he was having an affair
and spotted an unknown car in
his driveway.
Coates is said to have become
enraged and they began arguing.
Coates then shoved Marshall sev
eral times, slammed her against
the hood of a car and said, “I’ll
knock you out,” according to a
statement she gave to police.
Coates is married and has three
children, but they live in North
Carolina during training camp
and the regular season, said Patri
ots vice president Don Lowery,
who attended the court appear
ance.
Coach Pete Carroll was expect
ed to comment later in the day at
training camp in Smithfield, R.I.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft de
clined comment on the incident.
Coates, an All-Pro each of his
last two seasons and a Pro Bowl
player each of his last four sea
sons, is the highest-paid tight end
in the NFL. In 1994, he set an
NFL record for receptions by a
tight end with 96. He is entering
his eighth season with the Patri
ots.
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A-Rod: Part of stellar 90s class
■ Continued from Page 5
101 homers in his career, a mark
Rodriguez should match in three
years if he stays on pace in 1998.
Wagner also stole 720 bases in
his career. At his current pace,
A-Rod should approach around
500 career thefts. However, he is
the fastest player on the
Mariners, and his SB totals have
jumped from 15 in 1996 to 29
last year to a projected 44 this
season. Should he keep improv
ing his steals totals, Rodriguez
could also set the career record
for thefts by a shortstop.
One other thing to consider
about Wagner, typically consid
ered the best ever at short, is that
he played at the turn of the cen
tury, when league-wide statistics
were higher than today’s. Also,
he played in the days of segrega
tion. More likely than not, Wag
ner was the fifth- or sixth-best
shortstop in organized baseball
in his day. Those above him just
happened to play in the Negro
Leagues, and thus received less
acclaim. Add to that the lack of
talented pitchers the Negro
Leagues would have supplied,
and Wagner’s numbers begin to
lose their luster.
And that doesn’t even consid
er Latin players, who weren’t in
the majors in those days but ac
count for some of the most ath
letic position players in the
league now, as well as the
game’s most dominating pitcher,
Pedro Martinez.
Finally, the most convincing
argument for A-Rod’s not being
considered the best ever: his de
fense.
Rodriguez has a career field
ing percentage of .968. His best
year was 1996, when it was .977,
but he led AL shortstops in er
rors with 24 last season. This
year he’s fielding at a .975 clip
and is on pace to commit 18 er
rors.
The two guys considered the
best in the league defensively
are Vizquel and Ordonez.
Vizquel has a career fielding per
centage of .981, including .994
with just three errors so far this
season. Does that overcome his
.267 career average and 27 career
homers? I think not.
Ordonez has a career fielding
percentage of just .973 and made
27 errors in 1996. He’s on pace
to commit 15 this season. Not
much better than A-Rod, and Or
donez is hitting .245 with two
homers in his three-year career.
Yes, Vizquel and Ordonez
make the spectacular plays, but I
would argue that’s only because
they have to. Both are relatively
little men, while Rodriguez is 6
foot-3. Consider their total num
ber of chances at short this sea
sons and it’s obvious A-Rod is
not missing plays the other two
would make. Vizquel has han
dled 478 chances in 98 games
for the Indians, Ordonez 432 in
98 games for the Mets and A
Rod 487 in 104 games with the
Mariners. Yes, the other two
make dazzling stops and throws,
but only because they have to.
Of course, I’m assuming Ro
driguez is even the best short
stop of his generation, which
when considering guys like No
mar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter
is arguable as well, I know. 1
don’t have the space to prove it
numerically, but a quick check
of career and season stats for all
three should suffice as evidence
enough.
And one other thing: Sorry,
Jeter, but Rodriguez is probably
the best-looking shortstop ever,
as well.
Rob Moseley is an associate editor
for the Emerald. He can be reached
Ida e-mail at dodgtfan lad
stone. uoregon edu
Sports Briefs
Wilcox signs with
New Orleans Saints
Former Oregon Duck tight
end Josh Wilcox was signed to
a one-year contract by the
NFL’s New Orleans Saints on
Friday. Terms of the deal were
not announced.
The Portland Forest Dragons
of the Arena Football League,
which Wilcox had signed with
earlier this season, placed him
on the exempt list on Monday.
Wilcox was in camp last
summer with the Minnesota
Vikings after leaving Oregon in
1996 following a career in
which he was key in the Ducks’
1995 trip to the Rose Bowl.
Wilcox was cut one day after
the Vikings attempted to move
him to linebacker.
The 6-foot-2, 238-pound
Wilcox caught 11 passes for 135
yards and a touchdown in the
Ducks’ 38-20 loss to the Nittany
Lions in the Rose Bowl.
Former Oregon assistant
men’s track and field coach
John Gillespie accepted the
head men’s cross country and
track and field coaching posi
tions at South Eugene High
School after he was not offered
a staff position under new
men’s head track and field
coach Martin Smith.
Gillespie was beaten out by
Smith for the job formerly filled
by Oregon track legend Bill
Dellinger. The 52-year-old
Gillespie previously led the Ax
emen to four state titles in five
years of coaching cross country
and track before serving as an
assistant under Dellinger for 16
years.
One advantage of moving to
South for Gillespie will be the
opportunity to coach his son
K.C., a sprinter at South who
will be a junior in the fall.
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