Setting Record Straight on Pettis and Moseby

On Oct. 28, The Times reported that Gary Pettis of the Angels and Lloyd Moseby of the Toronto Blue Jays had been involved in an altercation with a group of Cahuilla Indians in Palm Springs. The story (implied) that Gary and Lloyd may have provoked the incident by taking a wrong turn and refusing to leave when asked. As a great admirer of these gentlemen, I’d like to set the record straight. Gary and Lloyd were in Palm Springs to participate in a baseball skills competition which raised over $100,000 for the Special Olympics. My company produced the event which will be broadcast in the spring.

One of the event’s off-hour activities was a road rally through the outskirts of the city. Even though we had applied for and had been granted permission to enter the tribal lands by the Agua Caliente Tribal Council, apparently some of the local residents felt otherwise. Without warning and without cause, Pettis, Moseby and several other members of the rally were attacked by a group of rock-throwing hooligans who damaged several vehicles, and, after stopping a few of them, began to batter the occupants.

It was fortunate no one was seriously hurt. However, I wanted to go on record stating that Gary and Lloyd were not in any way responsible for the incident and further expressing my appreciation for the contribution of their time and talents to help the Special Olympics. In this day and age of tarnished heroes and role models, it is a pleasure to be associated with these two gentlemen who have been wrongly portrayed as possibly causing this incident.

DONNY OSMOND

Santa Ana