PLANT CITY, Fla. — A 2-month-old is back in the arms of her parents and the wife of a top Pittsburgh Pirates minor league prospect is suspected of taking the infant from a health clinic outside Tampa, authorities said Tuesday.
Amalia Tabata Pereira, 43, was being questioned by Florida detectives in Manatee County, where the girl was found unharmed Tuesday afternoon, a day after she was taken from the clinic. Plant City Chief of Police Bill McDaniel said authorities are looking to charge Pereira with false imprisonment.
She is the wife of Jose Tabata, 20, an outfielder and one of the top three prospects for the Pirates, who train in Bradenton, which is in the county where the infant was found. In a statement, Pirates president Frank Coonelly said they have received “no indication that Jose is believed to have had any involvement in this matter.”
Sandra Cruz-Francisco was taken from her mother, Rosa Sirilo-Francisco, about 3 p.m. Monday by a woman her family only knew as ‘Janet,’ Plant City police said. The mother had taken her baby for a checkup at the Plant City Health Department, where she met Janet, who said she was an immigration official, Sirilo-Francisco told the Tampa Tribune. The woman told Sirilo-Francisco that there were officers at her home waiting to deport her and the child’s father to Mexico.
Janet offered to help, but said she had to take the baby.
A’S EXTEND GEREN’S CONTRACT
OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland Athletics manager Bob Geren has received a one-year contract extension through the 2010 season, with a team option for 2011. Geren is 151-172 in two years running the A’s after being promoted from bench coach in November 2006.
HALL OF FAMER DIES
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — George Kell, the Hall of Fame third baseman who edged Ted Williams for the 1949 American League batting title and became a Detroit Tigers broadcaster for nearly 40 years, died Tuesday. He was 86. Jackson’s Funeral Home in Newport confirmed the death but did not give a cause. Kell outlasted Williams for the 1949 batting crown, hitting .34291 while the Boston Red Sox great finished at .34276. Kell played 15 seasons, hitting more than .300 nine times and compiling a career average of .306. He was a 10-time All-Star.
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