Simon suspended after taking swing at sausage

HOUSTON -- Randall Simon was suspended for three games and fined $2,000 by major league baseball Friday for hitting one of the Milwaukee Brewers' sausage mascots with his bat.

The Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman did not play Thursday against Milwaukee, so that game will count as one of the three games, a club spokesman said.

Simon chose not to appeal the fine or suspension, which he continued serving Friday night against the Houston Astros.

Simon hit a 19-year-old woman in an Italian sausage costume during the Brewers' popular costume race Wednesday night at Miller Park. A 21-year-old woman in a hot dog costume also fell, and both women were treated for scraped knees.

After the game, Simon was arrested and booked for misdemeanor battery, and told to show up at the district attorney's office the next day.

Simon and one of the women met with prosecutors, but Simon was not charged with a crime. He said he did not mean to knock the women down.

Still, Simon was cited by the sheriff's department for disorderly conduct and fined $432.

The 19-year-old woman, Mandy Block, was among four team employees dressed as an oversized bratwurst, a hot dog and Italian and Polish sausages racing past the Pirates' dugout between the sixth and seventh innings at Miller Park when Simon hit Block with a half-swing.

Block and Veronica Piech, the 21-year-old woman, asked for an apology and an autographed bat from Simon. He gave the Brewers two autographed bats for the women.

Simon said Thursday attempts were made to contact the two women and messages of apology were left for both.

"His agent called and left a message," Block said Friday. "He hasn't called yet. I understand that. He's traveling, he has games. I'm sure I'll talk to him."

A Brewers spokesman said the women would be given their bats after Friday night's game against Cincinnati.

Block did not want to have Simon charged with a crime.

"It was just a few scratches," she said Friday. "I'm fine. I think the whole thing is funny."