Baltimore Orioles pitcher Sidney Ponson was granted a special permit to enter Canada on Friday for a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

 

Ponson had trouble obtaining a work visa because of his involvement in two court cases. He spent 11 days in an Aruban jail after he punched a judge in a Christmas Day brawl, and was arrested in Florida less than a month later for driving under the influence of alcohol.

 

"It's a temporary, three-day permit until the official decision on the case in Aruba has come down," Orioles vice president Mike Flanagan said. "They wanted to know about the Aruba situation. They wanted information on both cases."

 

Ponson didn't travel with the Orioles to Toronto on Thursday night. A team employee flew to Buffalo Friday morning and then flew back to Baltimore to get Ponson the necessary paperwork.

 

Ponson was scheduled to arrive in Toronto on Friday night, and is expected to make his scheduled start on Sunday.

 

Another Orioles pitcher, Eric DuBose, was arrested in March and charged with drunken driving after sheriff's deputies in Sarasota County, Florida, saw him swerving and nearly hitting a car.

 

DuBose was assigned to Triple-A Ottawa, but hasn't been unable to pitch there because of the DUI charges. He was reassigned to Double-A Bowie.

 

"We'd like to rectify that situation. We tried to do both at the same time but Sidney's situation was more pressing because of the schedule," Flanagan said.

 

 

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n.../s170658D76.DTL

 

:lol

And he gets a complete game win agaisnt the Canadians to keep the Orioles in first place. :thumbup