A wide-spread rumor that retired baseball all-star Kevin Mitchell decapitated his girlfriend's cat has been further substantiated after ex-Mets teammate Darryl Strawberry confirmed the incident.
The baseball urban legend goes back to1999, when Strawberry and Mitchell's fellow teammate Dwight 'Doc' Gooden detailed the horrifying incident in his autobiography 'Heat'.
While Mitchell has denied the story for years, in an interview with Huffington Post Live on Tuesday, Strawberry said it was all true.
According to Gooden's description in Heat, the cat incident happened sometime in the mid-80s when he showed up at Mitchell's house with a friend unannounced.
He says the two accidentally interrupted a fight Mitchell and his live-in girlfriend were having, and were ordered not to leave the house as the couple bickered.
'When we got there, I realized Kevin was both drunk and angry, a dangerous combination. He was holding a twelve-inch knife in his hands, having an argument with his live-in girlfriend. Kevin was right in the girl's face, screaming at the top of his lungs,' Gooden recalls in the book.
Gooden says both he and Mitchell's girlfriend tried to clam him down but he couldn't be persuaded.
'Mitch turned to her and raised his anger to yet another level. Still holding the knife in his right hand, he grabbed his girlfriend's little cat, who had the misfortune to be walking near his feet at that very moment.
'In one awful sweep of his hand, Mitch pulled the cat's head back, exposing its throat.
'"You think I'm kidding when I say don't ever **** with me?" he shouted. Before the girl could answer, Mitch took the knife to the cat, and cut its head off. Clean.'
In 2002, Mitchell spoke about the incident with author Jeff Pearlman, who was writing a book about the 1986 Mets team.
'How could I cut off a cat's head with a kitchen knife? Hell, I love animals,' Mitchell stated.
That's one sick, mentally deranged dude.
The baseball urban legend goes back to1999, when Strawberry and Mitchell's fellow teammate Dwight 'Doc' Gooden detailed the horrifying incident in his autobiography 'Heat'.
While Mitchell has denied the story for years, in an interview with Huffington Post Live on Tuesday, Strawberry said it was all true.
According to Gooden's description in Heat, the cat incident happened sometime in the mid-80s when he showed up at Mitchell's house with a friend unannounced.
He says the two accidentally interrupted a fight Mitchell and his live-in girlfriend were having, and were ordered not to leave the house as the couple bickered.
'When we got there, I realized Kevin was both drunk and angry, a dangerous combination. He was holding a twelve-inch knife in his hands, having an argument with his live-in girlfriend. Kevin was right in the girl's face, screaming at the top of his lungs,' Gooden recalls in the book.
Gooden says both he and Mitchell's girlfriend tried to clam him down but he couldn't be persuaded.
'Mitch turned to her and raised his anger to yet another level. Still holding the knife in his right hand, he grabbed his girlfriend's little cat, who had the misfortune to be walking near his feet at that very moment.
'In one awful sweep of his hand, Mitch pulled the cat's head back, exposing its throat.
'"You think I'm kidding when I say don't ever **** with me?" he shouted. Before the girl could answer, Mitch took the knife to the cat, and cut its head off. Clean.'
In 2002, Mitchell spoke about the incident with author Jeff Pearlman, who was writing a book about the 1986 Mets team.
'How could I cut off a cat's head with a kitchen knife? Hell, I love animals,' Mitchell stated.
That's one sick, mentally deranged dude.
