- Created on 03 June 2013
Vehicular Homicide, Other Charges Announced For 'Mookie' Blaylock
While he remains in serious condition at the Atlanta Medical center, news continues to worsen for former NBA and Hawks star Daron “Mookie” Blaylock. Monday the Clayton County Solicitor announced that Blaylock has been charged with second-degree vehicular homicide for allegedly causing the wreck that killed a 40-year-old woman, according to Channel 2 Action News.
The outlet reported that Blaylock, 46, was also charged with improper lane change, driving on the wrong side of the road, driving on a suspended license and crossing into the median for the Friday afternoon wreck in Jonesboro. Those charges are all misdemeanors.
Earlier it was reported that Blaylock, the former NBA All-Star who played for the Atlanta Hawks through most of the 1990s, would face two charges of driving on a suspended license and failing to stay in his lane after the fatal crash in suburban Atlanta that killed 43-year-old Monica Murphy. Murphy’s husband, Frankie, was driving the van.
Blaylock is accused of crossing the center of Tara Boulevard, causing a head-on wreck that killed Murphy, a front-seat passenger in the other vehicle, according to police.
The AP reports that Blaylock lives on a six-acre property near Zebulon, Ga., about 30 miles south of the accident scene. Blaylock’s brother-in-law Bryan Bennett, who was at the house Saturday taking care of two of Blaylock’s youngest children, said doctors operated over the weekend on Blaylock’s broken ankle.
The two oldest of his five children, twin sons, play football for the University of Kentucky. Blaylock, at present, does not have a full-time job, Bennett said, but is living comfortably off savings from his NBA days.
- Created on 03 June 2013
Former Hawks All Star 'Mookie' Blaylock Faces At Least 2 Charges in Fatal Crash
(AP) — Daron “Mookie” Blaylock, the former NBA All-Star who played for the Atlanta Hawks through most of the 1990s, remains hospitalized and faces two charges after a fatal crash in suburban Atlanta, police said Sunday.
Jonesboro (Ga.) Police Chief Franklin Allen said 46-year-old Blaylock is charged with driving on a
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- Created on 02 June 2013
Atlanta Black Crackers Beat Homestead Grays to Push Lead to 6 Games in NL East
It was a fine evening for baseball as the Homestead Grays (28-28) from Washington came barnstorming into Turner Field on Saturday, looking to knock off the NL East leading Atlanta Black Crackers (33-22). It was an extra innings thriller for the ages that had everything the 46,910 in attendance could ask for – drama, excitement and redemption for the much maligned Melvin Emanuel "Bossman Junior" Upton.
The game was ripe with acrobatic plays, fantastic base running, hot weather and even hotter tempers. Black Crackers manager Fredi Gonzalez even got himself tossed in the fourth inning arguing balls and strikes with the ump.
Before the start of the game, Atlanta paid tribute to the Negro Leagues, honoring the legendary members of the Black Crackers, Indianapolis Clowns, Kansas City Monarchs, Philadelphia Stars, Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons and Detroit Stars for the team's Heritage Weekend celebration.
One the field, PA announcers introduced the crowd to legends like Charlie Dees of the Louisville Black Clippers, Ernest Fann of the Raleigh Tigers and Roosevelt Jackson of the Miami Globetrotters and Hollywood Redbirds. Jackson, who at 95 years old is the oldest living member of the Negro Leagues, was a cut up and danced around the diamond for 30 seconds after his introduction.
In honor of the weekend, both teams wore Negro League throwback uniforms.
The celebration of the players and teams of the Negro Leagues along with a flyover from a P51 Mustang propeller-powered Red Tail jet to honor the Tuskegee Airmen were just a small part of the Heritage celebration that has been going on throughout the weekend.
On the field the fans got a treat as well. Black Crackers' ace Tim Hudson, who's been struggling this season with an ERA above 5 coming into the game, pitched a doozie and took the Gray's Gio Gonzalez as far as he could go.
"It was a great baseball game all around," said Hudson. "A fun game for a real baseball fan to be a part of."
Hudson threw 7 1/3 innings, allowing only three hits and one run in his longest outing of the season. His high-minded efforts weren't quite enough to get the win, though, as the game was a 1-1 tie when he bowed out in the eighth. Luis Avilan got 'em to the ninth and closer Craig Kimbrel worked himself out of a runners-on-second-and-third jam in the ninth to send the game to extras.
Having used all but one reserve batter, the Black Crackers turned to "Bossman Junior" Upton with one out in the bottom of the 10th. Batting just .145 this season and having gone 1-3 in the game with his only hit on a silly bounce up the middle, fans had booed him twice on the evening. But as he came to the plate the whole crowd was chanting his name and he delivered.
"It was pretty cool," admitted Upton. "But at that point you gotta block it out and that's what I did."
He hit a shallow shot into right field that dropped and drove in Jordan Schafer, who was pinch running for Evan Gattis, for the 2-1 win.
It was a perfect end to a great game and Black Crackers fans are hoping it'll be just what Upton needs to get his game going again at a high level.
"At big moments in the game you forget all about the past," said Upton.
Gonzalez, who watched from the team's clubhouse, understood what the RBI meant for the Black Crackers big offseason acquisition who has been held out of the team's past two starts.
"That was big for a guy who's been getting beat up," said Gonzalez. "Hopefully that catapults him for two or three more months."
After the game hip hop legends RUN DMC performed a medley of hits for fans who stuck around. It was a fitting end to what Gonzalez called "a good win in front of a great crowd."
- Created on 02 June 2013
Braves Win Over Nationals Gives Fans Good Reason to Believe the Upton Brothers Are Back
When Braves center fielder BJ Upton took his first at bat Sunday at Turner Field there was a radically different reaction from the Atlanta faithful than when he'd stepped to the plate just a day before. After struggling mightily through the Braves first 54 games, the center fielder struck out twice over the course of what was a 1-1 game and was booed loudly. Twice. Then with one swing of the bat everything changed.
Upton's RBI walkoff single to right field Saturday brought the Braves a big win over division rival Washington and bought the elder Upton a break from Braves fans. He kept it going on Sunday, with a homerun in the second inning against the Nationals, his first at bat of the game. Upton went 1-4, but looked like he was starting to find his way.
His brother, Justin, found his swing on Sunday as well, after a disappointing outing the day before, and the two are beginning to look like the daunting outfield duo Braves fans were expecting when the two were signed in the offseason.
Justin Upton was 3-4 with three singles, a steal, a walk and a run scored off of a Brian McCann single. His performance led the Braves to a 6-3 over the Nationals and increased their lead in the National League East to seven games. Upton has been knocking the cover off the ball this season, but his consistency has been questionable. Sunday afternoon's performance showed he really is capable of doing it all.
Ramiro Pena and Andrelton Simmons also played well. Simmons singled and Pena homered in the first inning to give the Braves a 2-0 lead right off the bat. The Bravos got a great pitching performance from Paul Maholm, who went six innings and got the win – his seventh of the year.
After BJ's homer in the second made it 3-0, Atlanta was able to fight off a comeback attempt from the Nats, who scored two runs of their own in the second and added another in the sixth. The Braves got consistent scoring from the top and bottom of their lineup and never trailed in the game.
In fact, they could have scored more. Freddie Freeman's long bomb to left field looked like a homerun to almost everyone in the stadium, but was ruled a double by the umpires during the game, a call that was upheld after replay. Freeman still managed to score Simmons and Reed Johnson to pack in two more runs, giving closer Craig Kimbrel a nice cushion to finish out the game.
- Created on 31 May 2013
Former Hawks Star Mookie Blaylock In Critical Condition After Car Crash
Three people, including former Atlanta Hawks star point guard Daron "Mookie" Blaylock are in critical condition after a crash that shut down traffic on a Clayton County highway Friday, according to the Clayton County police chief.
Officers say an SUV involved in the crash went into oncoming traffic on Tara Boulevard near North Avenue after 1 p.m. Police still do not know why.
Jonesboro police said the driver was traveling northbound on Tara Boulevard when the vehicle went through the median and crashed head-on into a van carrying a husband and wife. The couple and the SUV driver were taken to Atlanta Medical Center in critical condition.
Another driver on the road said she barely missed the SUV.
"He crossed over the median directly in front of me. I swerved in a split second and he hit them on the side of me, and he flipped over in the ditch," Nicoby Williams told WSB. "He hit them because I swerved out of the way."
Officers said the van had been damaged so badly that it was difficult for emergency responders to get one of the injured passengers out of it. She was airlifted to the hospital.
