It's the biggest scandal to hit this Caribbean country in many years. Even Angel Villalona's wildly enthusiastic fans say their idol's fall from a $2.1 million "bonus baby" prospect for the Giants to a homicide suspect is a cautionary tale of what can happen when Third World realities collide with First World money.

The ballplayer's friends and family say he's in jail only because, once again, the community has gone to him - this time because he is the most famous, most moneyed legal target in a bar fight that they say didn't involve him.

The relatives of the dead man angrily disagree. They say Villalona's towering reputation in this city of 250,000 is exactly what might get him off on the charges.

The two sides are getting ready to square off in court, and the versions of what happened the hot, muggy night of Sept. 19 are as varied as the hand-me-down uniforms, none of which match, worn by the children who fill the dirt-lot ball fields sunup to sundown every day here.

It's hard to find anyone in town who's not rooting for Villalona. He is their inspiration for a better life.
-kevin fagan, san francisco chronicle staff writer, sunday, 27 september 2009


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