Sidney Ponson
From BR Bullpen
Sidney Alton Ponson
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 225 lb.
[edit] Biographical Information
Pitcher Sidney Ponson won 17 games in 2003 with the Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants. He became a free agent after the season and landed a big contract, but since then, he has struggled both on and off the field. In 2004, he returned to the Orioles, but lost 15 games and had a 5.30 ERA. The next year, 2005, his ERA ballooned to 6.21, and he lost 11 games. He was also arrested three times, twice for drunken driving and once for his involvement in a fight on an Aruban beach. Citing his conduct, the Orioles released Ponson on September 1, 2005. Later that year, he was convicted of drunk driving and sentenced to five days in jail.
As a Dutch subject, Ponson, along with Gene Kingsale and Calvin Maduro, was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on August 7, 2003.
After some dreadful pitching in 2006 and 2007, Ponson went 4-1 with a 3.88 ERA for the 2008 Texas Rangers but was released in early June; general manager Jon Daniels said it was due to his "disrespecting teammates and club personnel". He still landed on his feet as the New York Yankees picked him up on June 18 to make some emergency starts in the wake of Chien-Ming Wang's foot injury.
He is the cousin of Radhames Dykhoff.
