Counseling to Be Sought for Odom

John (Blue Moon) Odom, arraigned Wednesday on five misdemeanor counts, said he would begin a counseling program after Christmas and also would field job offers.

“I’m going to relax and go to Georgia for Christmas,” the former pitcher said from his Fountain Valley apartment. “I’ll take it from there when I get back. I plan to talk to whoever calls and see what is the best job for me.”

On Dec. 10, Odom held his wife hostage at gunpoint for an hour in their one-bedroom apartment. He then held off a police SWAT team for another six hours before he was coaxed out of the apartment with tear gas. No shots were fired, and Odom was arrested without further incident.

Odom, 40, was released after nearly a weeklong stay at the Orange County Jail late Tuesday when Westminster Municipal Judge Michael Beecher said that a psychiatric evaluation showed Odom not to be dangerous.

He is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on the five counts on Jan. 16, but prosecutor Arnold Westra said that the case may never reach trial.

“In a case like this, the primary concern is the safety of the wife and the community, and that this won’t happen again,” Westra said. “If the doctors indicate the prognosis is good, we’d be less likely to vigorously prosecute the case.”

Odom said he would get counseling jointly with his wife, Gayle, 32, who was with her husband at every court appearance since last week.

Odom, who played in three World Series while a member of the Oakland A’s, said he was despondent because of his failure to get work after losing his job at a Xerox computer plant in Irvine six months ago. He was suspended after he was arrested for allegedly selling a gram of cocaine to a fellow worker. Odom denies the charge, which is pending.