Bronx News Sports: Home coming for two Bronx all-stars as Giants visi...

Bronx News Sports: Home coming for two Bronx all-stars as Giants visi...: By Rich Mancuso BRONX, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 20- Picture two ballplayers from the Bronx on the baseball diamond and in opposite dugouts. Both ...

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Home coming for two Bronx all-stars as Giants visi...

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Home coming for two Bronx all-stars as Giants visi...: By Rich Mancuso BRONX, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 20- Picture two ballplayers from the Bronx on the baseball diamond and in opposite dugouts. Both ...

Home coming for two Bronx all-stars as Giants visit the Yankees

By Rich Mancuso

BRONX, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 20- Picture two ballplayers from the Bronx on the baseball diamond and in opposite dugouts. Both are all-city stars and dreaming of the day when they could be a part of a Major league Baseball franchise. It can happen, and with the San Francisco Giants it is a reality.

Thursday afternoon at Citi Field, after the Giants 2-1 series finale win over the New York Mets, Juan Perez and Johnny Monell were in the visitor’s clubhouse packing their bags for their next series. A trip across the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge to the Bronx and a meeting with the New York Yankees is also a part of the reality.

Yes, Yankee Stadium, the venue where every ballplayer from the Bronx hopes to be one day. Just like a fighter who dreams of fighting at the “Meca” known as Madison Square Garden.

Perez played high school ball at Dewitt Clinton, and Monell a few minutes away at Christopher Columbus. They opposed each other more than once in PSAL league games and were eventually drafted as first round picks by the Giants.

It is a story of success and a chapter taking place in two big league ballparks this week, Citi Field and Yankee Stadium. It is the first time the Giants are playing two New York teams in the same week.

 But it used to be that way all the time. Back in the old days when the Giants were a New York team, they played the Yankees and Dodgers all the time in New York at the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field and Yankee Stadium. Perez and Monell were not around to see that, but they have heard the stories.

Now they have their own story. It is success and they can share that with family, friends and the kids of New York City who play on the same baseball fields that they once occupied.

“This has been awesome, something I always thought about,” said Perez who started in left field Thursday afternoon and batted seventh in the lineup of manager Bruce Bochy.

Perez did not disappoint the many family and friends that were in the Citi Field crowd of 22,897.  He had a career high three hits for the Giants, walked, and drove in a run. A majority cheered, obvious rooting for the Giants with orange shirts and jerseys.

Monell came off the bench Wednesday night. In the series at Citi Field, he went hitless in two at bats. Before their major home coming against the Yankees, three games in the Bronx beginning Friday night, Monell was getting ready for an annual rookie ritual, something all teams do on the big league level to their rookies in September.

It was another script, this time wearing outfits as “Naked Cowboys” and walking out of the Giants’ clubhouse with other rookies, and wearing similar gear that had nothing to do with baseball.

They were now in the big leagues, and loving every minute of it. Perez, the 26-year old who came to the Bronx from Santiago, Dominican Republic was a 13th round draft pick of the Giants in 2008. That year, at Western Oklahoma Junior College, he hit .465 with 37 home runs and knocked in 102 runs.

“We will play him more and get him a start against the Yankees,” said Bochy. That certainly will make his parents, family and friends proud. Perez said he does not know how he will handle the demand for tickets. Yankee Stadium is home and more so than Citi Field.

On this final road trip of the season for the Giants, Perez is staying with his wife, daughter and sister in the University Heights section of the Bronx, a few minutes from the Stadium.

But the ticket demand will be easy. Ballplayers, even from the inner city have a way of handling the pressure. After all, getting to the big leagues requires adjustment and has its share of pressure that is more demanding.

“It has been a major adjustment for me,” said Perez. “Getting here, different pitching, and not making many mistakes… It has been amazing,” he said about the five year journey to get where he is now.

But more amazing is the script, and how his teammate Monell is sharing the same experience. How they will have a similar homecoming in the Bronx makes this a better story. When asked, Bochy would not commit to having both of his rookies on the field at the same time in the Bronx.

Monell, the 27-year old left- handed hitter was also a teammate with Perez last year at double-A Richmond where he led the club with a .449 slugging percentage. He tied Perez for the most home runs with 11.

The script and amazing journey will resume in the Bronx tomorrow night. And, more importantly Perez, Monell, and the Giants may have a major impact as to the Yankees post season chances.

COMMENT RICH MANCUSO: Ring786@aol.com  Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Foot Freak Attacked Women for a Sniff

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Foot Freak Attacked Women for a Sniff: Perverts Sought After Recent Attacks By David Greene BRONX, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 18- Police from at least two area precincts were on the ...

Foot Freak Attacked Women for a Sniff

Perverts Sought After Recent Attacks

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 18- Police from at least two area precincts were on the hunt for two individuals wanted for a series of sexual assaults or attempts against women walking alone.

The NYPD released a video of a man wanted in connection with an attempted assault of a 20-year-old student from Fordham University, who was attacked inside her off-campus building at 1 a.m. on August 21.

Police say that the victim was approached from behind, but resisted when the attacker fled.

Officers from the 48th Precinct are actively searching for the suspect, described as a male, 5 foot 7 in height and 145 pounds.

In the video he appears to be black or Latin. At the time of the incident, the suspect was wearing blue jean shorts, a black T-shirt and white sneakers.

Detectives from the Special Victims Unit working with investigators from the 46th Precinct, have released a sketch and a series of photos of a suspect wanted for attacking two women in under an hour.

Police say this heavy-set Latino, seen wearing a NY Yankees baseball cap first struck at 1 a.m. on August 30, when he approached an 18-year-old female from behind at the intersection of Sedgwick Avenue and Bailey Avenue in University Heights.

According to the wanted flyer sent out by the NYPD, "the above subject approached a female victim from behind and choked her with a gloved hand, rendering her unconscious and preceded to assault her."

Published accounts say the suspect removed the young woman's shoes so he could smell her feet, before running off.

Police say the same individual approached a 24-year old woman at 1:30 a.m., when he choked the woman walking along Park View Place. He reportedly attempted to undress the woman, who resisted, sending the attacker running.

Police describe this individual as a 30-year old heavyset Latino, 5 foot 8 tall and 200-pounds.

Police officers from the 47th Precinct were called to Bronx Park, between Burke and Adee Avenue's, after a woman reported to police she had been sexually assaulted at 3 a.m., on Thursday, September 12.

The victim, believed to be in her late 30's, was transported to a local hospital by a private ambulance company.

At the time, police were looking for the suspect who was described as a male, 5 foot 9 tall, shirtless and wearing black and white shorts. The individual reportedly fled in a red SUV.

However, one police source now says of the case, "Right now it's still being investigated, but the victim is not being cooperative in our investigation." The investigator added, "Just letting you know the victim and the suspect are known to one another."

Anyone with any information on any of the mentioned crimes are asked to call CRIMESTOPPERS at (800) 577-TIPS.   

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Bad Teacher Sold Assault Weapons to Cops

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Bad Teacher Sold Assault Weapons to Cops: BRONX, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 18- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced the conviction of a 51-year-old teacher on charges of selli...

Bad Teacher Sold Assault Weapons to Cops

BRONX, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 18- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced the conviction of a 51-year-old teacher on charges of selling illegal firearms, including assault rifles to undercover detectives and untaxed cigarettes to store owners during a year-long sting operation.

Theophilis Burroughs pled guilty to one count of criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree, one count of money laundering in the first degree, one count of criminal tax fraud in the first degree, one count of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the third degree, one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree, and one count of Tax Law 1814(c) (2) Evasion of the NYS Cigarette Tax.

Burroughs, (aka Mike) of Newark, New Jersey, pled guilty before Acting State Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett who set sentencing for Monday, October 28, 2013 in Part 60. The judge has indicated that Burroughs will be sentenced to 10 years in prison with five years of post-release supervision. Justice Barrett also signed a $9,000,000 judgment against Burroughs representing taxes and penalties owed to New York State. Burroughs has been fired from his job as a music teacher at Stuyvesant High School and has surrendered his license to teach in New York State.

The conviction was the result of a joint investigation, beginning in July 2009, by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. During the course of the investigation Burroughs arranged the sale of 12 firearms and ammunition to undercover detectives. The transactions were negotiated in the Bronx with the undercover detectives taking physical possession of all but one of the firearms at a storage facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The weapons were sold between October 20, 2009 and May 19, 2010. Burroughs also conspired to make additional sales after the completion of the May transaction and also sold the narcotic pain killer, Oxycodone, to undercover detectives during the course of the investigation.

The nerve center of the sting operation was a Bronx warehouse at 2605 Halperin Avenue, which was leased by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and equipped with audio and visual surveillance technology. Between August 11, 2009 and July 20, 2010 Burroughs bought and re-sold more than 36,000 cartons of cigarettes and thereby evaded more than one $1.75 million in New York State Taxes. The cigarettes that were sold either had no tax stamp or a tax stamp that was purported to be counterfeit. It was during the repeated transactions involving what Burroughs believed to be untaxed cigarettes that he offered to broker the sale of guns and ammunition to the undercover detectives.