And for once, this has nothing to do with Signature Pharmacies. From the Times Daily’s Tom Smith.
Police investigators said Randall Lee “Randy” Tate, 55, 106 King St., Muscle Shoals, has been charged with first-degree theft of property. He is accused of stealing more than $20,000 worth of copper from Occidental Chemical Corp. in Muscle Shoals.
Tate was drafted by the New York Mets in the fifth round of the amateur draft in 1972. He pitched one season for the Mets, posting a 5-13 record with a 4.45 earned run average.
Muscle Shoals police investigator Capt. Lanny Coan said the thefts Tate is suspected of occurred from July to October. Coan said the department was notified Oct. 10, after company officials discovered the copper missing.
Reports indicate Tate, who was working for a contractor at the plant, is accused of taking numerous copper plates and bolts from the facility and selling them to a salvage yard.
Coan said the copper had an estimated value of nearly $23,000.
Sobering stuff for Mets fans to consider if their club has to replace Tom Glavine’s workload, as noted by SI.com’s Tom Verducci :
It didn’t generate much attention, but that two-year, $13 million contract the Cardinals gave Joel Piniero was a sign that owners are going to spend ridiculous sums of money on pitching this winter — and they won’t be deterred by the lack of good pitching, either. Piniero threw less than 100 innings with basically a league average ERA last season. I can’t even imagine what the Kyle Lohses and Carlos Silvas are going to get.