OK, perhaps a slight exaggeration. An example or two of dropping approx. $400 in two days at the Liquor Locker might only mean you’ve been on a dangerous binge entertaining guests. But the New York Daily News’ Mike Jaccarino and Rich Schapiro would have us believe embattled ex-Yankee Jim Leyritz “burned through thousands of dollars by buying high-priced booze and partying at expensive nightclubs.”
The glimpse into Leyritz’s 2003 financial records shows he spent large amounts of money on alcohol, swank clubs and ritzy hotels in Florida, New York and beyond.
The former catcher also struck out on his finances, watching more than $10 million he earned over 11 years in the majors shrink to about $600,000, records show.
The Daily News obtained the papers on the same day Fredia Ann Veitch, the 30-year-old Florida mother Leyritz killed in an alleged drunken-driving wreck, was remembered during an emotional memorial service.
His financial records from August 2003 to December 2003 tell a different story. On a two-week trip to New York in October, he dropped thousands of dollars at the China Club, Tao, Elaine’s and other nightspots. He also spent more than $3,000 at the Shelburne Murray Hill hotel.
In Florida, Leyritz blew through hundreds of dollars at liquor stores, including Fine Spirits in Cooper City. One day that August, he spent $256.23 there on alcohol. He returned two days later to buy an additional $169.53 worth of booze.
Hey, we can’t all have managed our money as wisely as Mort Zuckerman. Would Leyritz appear to be any less of a villan if the Daily News could prove he killed a woman while under the influence of Ripple?
I’d hate to give away my trade secrets, but rather than buy his own booze, Jim should have formed a crappy band in Austin and gotten free drink tickets.
and I thought you lived close to 6th St. for the scenery.
That’s not the point. The point is you’re contesting claims by journalists without countering with any alternative explanations of your own. Regardless of what he got lifted off, two people are dead apparently owing to Leyritz’s stupidity. Is it too much to accept that and not attempt to insert warrantless speculation toward some (to the best of your knowledge) accurate reporting by the Daily News?
TC,
I’m not challenging the veracity of Jaccarino and Schapiro’s reportage, but the headline in question (“Jim Leyritz wasted millions on booze, records show”) is hardly backed up by a $400 lost weekend, nor by some sloppy spending at the China Club. The News has documented somewhere in the range of $5-6K on partying/drinking by Leyritz, but claims he’s blown “millions”.
“Regardless of what he got lifted off, two people are dead apparently owing to Leyritz’s stupidity.”
That Leyritz was arrested and charged with DUI manslaughter in connection with the death of Fredia Ann Veitch has already been noted in this space and many others. I wasn’t aware the former Yankee loudmouth was responsible for a second killing, but as long as I’m supposed to believe 6 grand worth of booze = millions, I suppose anything is possible.
If the Daily News wishes to paint a picture of Jim Leyritz as some sort of DUI killer waiting-to-happen, they really need to come up with a lot more than the sort of leisure time boozing they’ve cited. There’s a pretty high percentage of athletes, entertainers, politicians and media creeps with similar drinking/money-management histories who’ve never managed to kill anyone.
Seriously, what “alternative explanation” would do in this instance? Freida Ann Veitch’s cause of death has been established, much as the authorities seem certain of Leyritz’ condition at the time. While it might be “accurate” to report Leyritz purchased “high priced booze” in 2003, it isn’t necessarily illuminating, either.