Simon Is Suspended for Hitting Brewer Mascot

First baseman Randall Simon of the Pittsburgh Pirates 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 during Wednesday night’s game.

Simon did not play Thursday against the Brewers, so that game will count as one of the three games, a club spokesman said. He 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 at Miller Park. A 21-year-old woman in a hot dog costume also fell. 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, who said he did not mean to knock the woman down, was not charged with a crime. He 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 Pirate dugout between the sixth and seventh innings when Simon hit Block with a half-swing.

Block and Veronica Piech, the 21-year-old, asked for an apology and an autographed bat from Simon. He gave the Brewers two autographed bats for the women. Simon said that attempts were made to contact them and that he left them both messages of apology.

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The Florida Marlins acquired right-hander Ugueth Urbina, who leads the American League in saves with 26, from the Texas Rangers for three minor leaguers.

Florida gave up first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2000 amateur draft, outfielder Will Smith and left-handed pitcher Ryan Snare, the only one of the three on the Marlins’ 40-man roster. All three are playing at double-A Carolina.

Urbina will bolster the bullpen as the Marlins try to make a surprising push for the National League wild card.

Florida is three games above .500 and only 4 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot.

Braden Looper leads the Marlins with 16 saves.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates extended Manager Lloyd McClendon’s contract through 2004, General Manager Dave Littlefield announced.