BRIDGEPORT -- It was time for the seventh-inning stretch and Tommy John was only up to the 1970s in the retelling of his illustrious baseball career Thursday.

Across the courtroom Jose Offerman was shaking his head. He too had once had a promising career in pro ball, that is until he took a bat to the pitcher and catcher of the rival Bluefish seven years ago, ending any hope of a return to the New York Mets or Boston Red Sox where he had shined in the 1990s.

But instead of a field of dreams he was in U.S. District Court trying to defend himself and pro baseball.

"It's not good," he said in heavy-accented English during a break.

Jonathan Nathans, a former catcher for the Bridgeport Bluefish, is suing Offerman and the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League claiming his injuries in a "charging the mound" incident in 2007 are the product of professional baseball's failure to prevent violence during baseball games. Nathans is now a marathoner who practices law in his native Maine.

Jose Offerman, a two-time Major League all star, charged the mound with bat in hand after being hit by a pitch thrown by Matt Beech of the Bridgeport Bluefish. Now, years after the incident, Nathans is in court suing Offerman and the Long Island Ducks for $4.8 million. His lawsuit claims he suffers from inner ear problems, dizziness, headaches and post traumatic stress, in addition to concussion syndrome.

Nathan's lawyer, Craig Smith, was born to disparage Major League Baseball.

"Where I come from (South Carolina) we have two sports, college football and NASCAR," he drawled to the jury. "The ugly side of the so-called civility of baseball is retaliation and some kind of physical violence," he continued. Charging the mound happens in the game. To baseball it is connected to the employment of a baseball player."

As the lawyer for the Long Island Ducks, it was Eileen Becker's job to defend Major League Baseball and she promptly did that Thursday by throwing Offerman under the bus.

"Mr. Offerman's conduct was not within the scope of his employment," she argued before the jury. "When he charged the mound with a bat in his hand he was not acting for professional baseball."

Offerman's lawyer, Frank Riccio Jr., who was sharing a table with Becker moved away from her when she sat down.

"Jose Offerman has played the game since he was a little boy in the Dominican Republic," Riccio told the jurors in his opening argument. "He learned how to play the game and he learned how to play it right. He played it with zeal and he played the game with love. He would never intentionally do anything to damage the game he loves."

In October 2007, Offerman, who was charged with two counts of second-degree assault on Beech and Nathans, was granted accelerated rehabilitation by a state judge. After two years of probation, the charges were dismissed.

In 2007, there had been a spirited rivalry between the Bluefish and the Ducks fomented by their owners, Mary Jane Foster for the Bluefish and Frank Boulton for the Ducks. The Ducks had stacked their lineup with former Major League players despite the salary cap of $3,000 a month per player.

John, a two-time All-Star pitcher who was managing the Bluefish at the time, admitted on the stand the Ducks were a better team.

"Would you say the Bluefish sucked?" Becker asked him.

"Stunk?" John responded.

"Sucked?" Becker continued.

"Yeah, well, both," replied John to laughter.

Nathans' other lawyer, Joshua Koskoff, opened the plaintiff's case Thursday showing the jury a slideshow of the Aug. 14, 2007 game with a voice over from the Ballpark at Harbor Yard's game announcer.

Offerman had been the lead-in batter for the Ducks in that first inning and slammed Beech's first pitch over the left field wall for a home run.

"Jose Offerman drilled it," the announcer proclaimed.

In the second inning the Ducks were leading 3 to zip when Offerman got up to bat for a second time.

"We have to keep an eye on Jose Offerman," the announcer cautioned. Seconds later Beech's cutter pitch hits Offerman in the leg.

"Offerman charges the mound ...We have a melee," the announcer shouts.

Federal Judge Warren Eginton, 90, was barely able to restrain his enthusiasm as John took the stand.

"He is famous for the surgery he had on his elbow that is named for him," the judge -- as enraptured as a 10-year-old -- told the jury before John could even be introduced.

During a recess, the judge huddled with John, apparently talking baseball, to the point where his clerk had to tell everyone in the courtroom they could leave.

John was called to testify by Koskoff not only to relate what occurred during the game but to support their contention that pro baseball teams encourage their players to stand up for themselves when they feel they have been disrepected by a pitcher.

But first the jury had to hear a recitation by John of his life in baseball beginning when he was 8 years old.

The judge was fascinated, waving off attempts by Riccio and Becker to rein John in.

During his long career as a pitcher, John said he only hit a player deliberately once, when he was with the White Sox.

"I went at Luis Tiant. He was the next batter and I hit him in the derriere because that was the biggest thing on him," he said.

In 1989, John, a 45-year-old pitcher with the New York Yankees, finally retired.

"I said at the time that when your dentist's son is getting hits off you it was time to retire," he said. "My dentist's son was Mark McGwire."

Offerman will be on the witness stand when the trial resumes Friday morning.; 203-330-6308;