Chapter 21

Baltimore is one of those cities where you could get mugged if you get off the beaten path. Running in the morning was the safest time to be out on the streets, so I was stretching out on the sidewalk when Loney came out. He began stretching, and Andrew Friedman came out to begin loosening up. One more guy came out, shocking me, but I somehow knew the background. Scott asked, "Do you mind of I run with you guys. The girl I'm dating said that Matt runs every morning and I want to get fit like he is."

Andy said, "I guess we're going to have a morning running club when we're on the road. Stretch out so you don't hurt yourself running, Scott."

We were walking fast and began jogging when a Baltimore police car began pacing us. The car stayed with us as we moved up to a run, and followed us as we made a circle back toward the hotel. It was while we were running that Andrew told me, "I bought the condo on the end, Matt. I have an architect, contractor, and interior designer working together. I'm going to have a real bachelor pad."

Loney said, "So you're the one who got that one so fast. Nadia and I looked at a condo on the second floor. We might get that as Nadia and our daughter love the beach."

Scott said, "I'll never be able to afford a place like that, but I know of several places that are nice although not on the beach."

I told Scott, "Wait a while, Scott. A new relationship always has surprises. Let everything settle down, and then discuss where someone might want to live. You also have to allow for your current contract and how you're progressing toward your goal of being a coach."

Andrew was paying attention and I'm sure he had stuffed this information in his mental file cabinet.

Back at the hotel, I went to the desk and told the concierge, "I'm not used to trains waking me up all night long. Can I get a higher room or one on another side of the hotel?"

The man was a little huffy over my complaint, but said he would look into it. My reply was, "Look, I will not stay in your hotel if I have to live with trains going by every fifteen minutes. You should use those rooms for conventions or something else where people won't be sleeping in them."'

"And just where would you go if we didn't give you a different room?" The man was pissing me off.

"I'll ask a taxi driver for where a better hotel is and have him take me. If I don't get enough sleep at night, I can't do my job. Now, get me a better room before I tell the team management."

The man grumbled, "You baseball players think you should have choice rooms when all of you are nobody's that will not even be on the team next year."

I smiled at the man and said, "Find me another room that isn't next door to the train track."

Loney and Scott were standing there and Loney told the Concierge, "Do that for us too. That's the worst night's sleep I've had on the road. If you can't fix it, by noon, I'm going to find another hotel."

I told the guys, "Let's meet down here for breakfast in 20 minutes. We'll ask then if he's found better rooms. If you have clothes and toiletries out, pack them so you can either move to another room or another hotel."

Scott said, "Hey, I don't make that much money and depend on the team for a room and food. I'll have to live with it if they don't change the rooms."

With a smile, I told Scott, "We'll get you a better room. We'll advise management. They will take care of it."

Joe Maddon came in while we were eating, and I waved for him to join us. He ordered and was drinking coffee when I asked, "How do you like the trains that came by all night long?"

"That was bad, wasn't it? I mentioned something to the Concierge out front and he wasn't very happy about it."

"Joe, I told the man that he would move us or I would go to a different hotel. I'm sure the upper rooms aren't as noisy. They could put us on the other side of hotel and that would do it as well. You're not alone if you didn't get a good night's sleep. I'm going to take a nap, but it may not be in the team hotel."

"I'll take care of it," Joe said, as he began eating his breakfast. Andrew Friedman came in before we finished, and Joe asked him to join us. He asked Andy, "How did you sleep last night. Did you hear the trains?"

"No kidding. It sounded like they were coming into the room. I just asked the Concierge if I could have a different room. He was a little testy but I told him I would move the team if he didn't do anything about it. His response was that we had contracted for the rooms and he was going to charge us for them anyway. I've called the team's legal counsel and they are going to talk to the hotel's corporate office."

I told Andrew, "Meanwhile, I think half the team is probably thinking of going to a different hotel so they can get some rest."

It was Joe who probably made the most sense. "The guys are really trying hard and if you noticed, I don't think there were but four or five who went out last night and two of those were coaches. Get this taken care of for us, Andrew. We want to try to be the comeback team again this year."

We went to the Concierge's stand en masse. Andrew Friedman asked to speak to the hotel manager and was given the excuse the manager wasn't available. That doesn't work with a man like Andrew so he said, "Produce your manager, or get him on the phone within the next three minutes or the team will sue this hotel for considerably more than what the room rates are."

The guy's face turned red and he picked up his phone and I noticed he dialed only four numbers meaning the manager was in house. He had to finally say firmly that he had a serious problem and perhaps he could resolve it.

When he hung up the phone, the Concierge said, "The manager will be out in a few minutes. May I get you some coffee?"

Andrew told him we'd wait without the coffee. He pulled his cell phone and made a call. We heard him say, "Prepare for legal proceedings against the hotel chain. When I advise the commissioner how we have been treated, I'm sure he will ban the use of this hotel group."

The Concierge was now alarmed and attempted to have Mr. Friedman cancel that directive.

After over five minutes, Andy made another call and asked the team's travel coordinator to find us another hotel and to make sure the rooms were quiet. He then turned to the Concierge and said, "When your manager manages to show, advise him we are relocating. You must not need the business or you would have responded better to a team member with a complaint. Here is my card. You may have your manager contact me for information as to how to contact our legal group."

Andrew Friedman turned to Joe and told him, "Have the travel secretary contact everyone and have them downstairs ready to relocate immediately. I'm sure she has found quiet rooms and has ordered buses for the relocation."

I went for my bags as did the others in the lobby at the time. By the time I was back downstairs there were buses in front of the hotel. I stopped a second to adjust my bags when I saw police cars stop in front of the buses. Two uniformed policemen and two men in suits holding up their badges hollered, "Is Matthew Williams here?"

Like a dummy I held up my hand and said, "I'm Matt Williams."

The one detective came over to me and pushed me down to the floor banging my head and pulling my arms behind my back. As he was cuffing me he began telling me that I was under arrest for child molestation and sexual contact with minors. When I protested, the man slapped me hard enough on the back of my head my nose smashed into the marble floor. "Shut up you child molester." He then recited my Miranda rights. He picked me up when he was finished, using the handcuffs which pulled my arms and shoulders back and up.

Andrew Friedman came up to the four policemen and said, "There must be some mistake here. You obviously have the wrong Matthew Williams." The big detective swung at Andy, hitting him on the shoulder, knocking him to his knees on the floor.

The detective said, "Say another word and I'll haul you in for obstruction. Now get the ff ... ah, heck out of my way."

I was pushed and half-carried to a police car where I was literally thrown into the back seat of the car. So far I was under control but I was near panic. I could hear Andrew yelling he would have an attorney at the precinct in minutes. He also yelled he would call my girls.

The whole time I was being carried and pushed outside there were multiple TV cameras and as many news people trying to push microphones in my face yelling questions. This was more coverage than my rookie no hitter.

In just a few minutes the big detective was pulling me from the rear of the car and again half carrying me by my wrists and arms and pushing me, we went into the station where they put me into an interrogation room and pushed me down into a chair.

The two detectives began asking me stupid questions about the kids I've been abusing. I had to lean forward to get the pressure off my wrists, arms, and shoulders but every time I did, the big detective would slam me back into the chair.

The big guy was really rude and foul. He kept saying how he was going to make sure I was butt fucked all night long and that I would never pitch against his Orioles. He emphasized they were his Orioles. This kept on for almost a half-hour before the two men left the room.

Wow, my arms hurt and I could tell my wrists were going to be sore. This wasn't good and I didn't know how I could prove I didn't do anything when I haven't done anything remotely like messing with kids.

It must have been about thirty to forty minutes later when I heard a lot of yelling outside the door to the interrogation room. The door opened and the two detectives and two other people entered the room. The man in a suit offered his hand then realized I was cuffed and said, "I'm Max Carwell of Borgen, Montgomery, and Lemon. This is Georgia Curet also an attorney for the firm. We are your attorneys and will be looking out for you."

"You ain't looking out for nobody. This guy's going to jail and will be arraigned tomorrow morning. His bail is going to be so high that he couldn't raise it with a key to Fort Knox."

Good ole' Max said, "Would you like to show me any evidence that my client has actually done something wrong?"

"Screw you. I don't have to show you anything." He then slammed me back in the chair again.

Georgia spoke up and said, "You know morning arraignment court is in session. Let's go up there right now and put Mr. Williams on the docket. It's an open docket."

"Get out of here while we process this scum. We'll take our time doing him and then we won't worry about any open court. He's ours for probably forever."

Georgia whipped out a paper and said, "This is a writ for discovery of evidence against our client signed by a judge. I demand you have the prosecuting attorney come here right now or I will file charges of criminal abuse."

The man was about to open his mouth again when the other detective said, "Don't say it. There's a cameraman and news reporter on the other side of the glass and they are recording everything. I'm getting the prosecutor."

The big detective tried to stop the other man when he went out the door but was pushed aside. The detective came back a minute later with a man in shirtsleeves and suspenders who looked at me, the attorneys representing me, and then the other detective. "Where's this court order these people have?"

The big detective pointed at the wadded up paper in the corner of the room and said, "For what it's worth, it's over there."

Georgia whipped out another paper and said, "I figured we would need more than one. We want to see the evidence now and we want to go up to the open court for arraignment now as well."

The prosecutor read the paper and said, "Go get what you have to show the probable cause you had to arrest the man. That will quiet them down and keep the law on our side."

The big detective took the prosecutor to the side of the room and was whispering to him. The longer the detective talked, the redder the prosecutor's face became. He pushed away from the detective and said, "You'd best take those cuffs off now while I get the Captain."

The prosecutor rushed from the room and returned less than a minute later with another older man with a badge hung on a lanyard around his neck. The Captain said, "If any of what the prosecutor has just told me is true, I want your badges, IDs, and sidearms on the table right now."

The two detectives were getting very nervous and were shifting around until the Captain said, "Try anything and you will spend what you hoped to be your retirement up in state prison with all the men you sent up there. Now remove those cuffs and get this man out of here."

Georgia asked the police Captain, "We need statements from these two men that our client has not molested any children or anyone. That statement needs to say they did this on their own and the reason it was done. You might get lucky and our client won't sue you and your city for a few years of your tax money."

The prosecutor was standing over the two men observing their written statements. Max asked the Captain, "I would think you might want to place these two men into custody for a few charges, including abuse of someone in custody. You could even miss the morning open docket if this takes much longer and they will have to wait until tomorrow morning to be arraigned."

The Captain said, "I hope it doesn't drag on for that long. We don't have segregated cells for guys like this."

I was rubbing my wrists when I asked the two attorneys, "If I'm arrested, how do I get un-arrested? Do they just cancel the arrest or is there a formal something to drop the charges?"

Max, the attorney, answered, "Charges were never filed, so you won't have a record of an arrest. That's just another strike against these guys. Let's get you back to your hotel and with your team. The reporting of this can get very ugly unless we can get the right coverage."

When we went out the front door of the precinct there were several cameramen and newscasters attempting to ask questions. Max held up his hand and said, "The Detectives who brought Matt in have admitted they did this to keep him from playing. They were planning on dropping the charges when there was no possibility of him playing here. They were caught by their own Captain so you can ask him about it. Let us get Mr. Williams away from here and to his hotel."

We rode in a limo to a different hotel than the one where I was arrested. I was greeted in the lobby by Joe and Andrew. They were firing questions at me faster than the news people, until I held my hand up and asked, "Please, one question at a time. If you haven't heard, I'm free and not charged with any crime. The charges were false and the arrest was only to keep me from playing. I can't imagine a city is afraid of one player and not a whole team. I suppose we should all be careful when we're out of the hotel or away from the others."