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The Truth About the New York Yankees!
READ THIS: The following is a court transcript related to a story we recently put in our 'Yankees Exposed' section about sexual harrassment involving a homosexual man named Paul Priore who claims that he was harassed and taunted by several Yankees who called him "faggot." The transcipt details the slander used by several Yankee players, Priore's relationship with Ruben Rivera (Mariano's cousin) and a night that Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada spent together in a steam room
The site this transcipt was taken from can be found here.
Also, I was recently contacted by Paul Priore, as he forwarded me a letter that he wrote to George Steinbrenner after the Yankees postseason loss. Click here to read it.
Reply to: anon-42251418@craigslist.org
Date: 2004-09-13, 2:52AM GMT/BST
My name is Paul Priore, and I am gay. I am the former New York Yankees clubhouse assistant who sued the New York Yankees organization, several New York Yankees baseball players, and several members of the management staff. My litigation, which I lost in the NYS Supreme Court, First Appellate Division, received worldwide publicity, having been reported by the Associated Press, and being mentioned on numerous Websites.
The litigation caption is Paul Priore v. The New York Yankees, River Operating Co., Inc., Brian Cashman, Thomas May, Bob Wickman, Jeff Nelson, and Mariano Rivera. The index number is 20357/98, and the litigation file is located in the NYS Supreme Court, Bronx County; 851 Grand Concourse; Bronx, NY 10451.
The Smoking Gun was one of the first Websites to publicize my lawsuit:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/yankees/paulpriore1.html
Here is a New York Blade article which briefly summarizes the decision of the First Appellate Division:
http://www.gaycitynews.com/gcn223/courtbalks.html
Here is the full text of the First Appellate Division’s decision:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/slips/14582.htm
The decision, written by Judge Richard W. Wallach is highly inaccurate. However, Judge Wallach passed away several days after the date on the decision, and there will never be any way of knowing what was on his mind when he wrote it.
However, it has crossed my mind that Judge Wallach had been offered money, gifts, or contributions by George Steinbrenner, prior to having issued the decision.
The basis for my belief is Mr. Steinbrenner’s prior criminal history, including a plea of guilty in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to the felony of conspiracy to make corporate campaign contributions in violation of 18 U.S.C. §610.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/george1.html
During my sworn testimony in the examination before trial, I revealed my sexual relationship with ballplayers Ruben Rivera (Mariano Rivera’s cousin), Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada.
It is my belief that Mr. Steinbrenner would not have wanted this information to become public during a trial.
The basis for my belief is that during my testimony, the attorney for the New York Yankees moved for a protective order to have the transcripts sealed.
Both The Smoking Gun and New York Newsday wanted to do follow-up stories while my lawsuit was active, but my attorney advised me not to speak to the media at that time.
However, when the case ended, he advised me that the protective order was no longer in effect, and that I could “go public” if I wanted to.
The New York Court of Appeals refused to review the adverse judicial decision:
http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/23/58/87.html
http://nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/148359p-130879c.html
Some people think I look a little bit like Sting. Here’s my photo and the accompanying New York Blade article:
http://www.nyblade.com/2003/6-6/news/localnews/yankess.cfm
Here’s the same article from the Washington Blade. The accompanying photo also includes my (then) boyfriend, Guillermo Sanchez:
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2003/6-13/news/national/national.cfm
I have had great sadness in my personal life. Guillermo was found dead, hanging from a tree in Flushing Meadows Park:
http://www.gaycitynews.com/gcn_250/deathofagaymexican.html
At this point, I would like to share excerpts from the transcripts of my secret tape recordings and from the transcripts of the sworn court depositions:
SECRET TAPES TRANSCRIPT -- Page 2
[PLAYERS #115 “1996” SIDE B]
BOB WICKMAN: Where’s your vagina pills? Because you’re acting like a woman. You’re acting like Paul Priore. Hey, Paulie.
[break in recording]
[PLAYERS #30 “1996” SIDE B]
BOB WICKMAN: Paul, how’s your queer little friend?
MALE VOICE: I don’t know.
BOB WICKMAN: You two are yoo hoo, yoo hoo. That’s what Paul said. He says he enjoys getting you from the back like that.
[laughter]
BOB WICKMAN: He says he likes rubbing the back of your head when you’re going down on him. I wouldn’t hang out with this guy anywhere. We should all do the fucking world a favor, Paul. Because if you ever have kids in this world -- we should fucking cut his dick off right now. If you bring kids into this world, Paul, we’re done.
Page 3
BOB WICKMAN (cont’d): Look what happened to your dad when he tried bringing someone into this world. Look what happened. Oh, man.
[break in recording]
[PLAYERS #107 “1996” SIDE A]
BOB WICKMAN: There she is. A little flaky for Paul.
STEVE HOWE: -- tea bagging him?
BOB WICKMAN: Paul, you’d better protect yourself. This guy has a hard on.
STEVE HOWE: Paul, did you tea bag him?
[crosstalk]
STEVE HOWE: Did you throw your nuts over his neck? [unintelligible]
BOB WICKMAN: I keeping telling them you’re a nice guy, Paul, you just have a little problem, but --
STEVE HOWE: It’s okay if you threw them over his neck once.
BOB WICKMAN: I keep telling them you’re a nice guy, Paul. You just have a little problem. It’s like you like little boys, but you’re all right.
MALE VOICE: [unintelligible] wear that hat
Page 4
MALE VOICE (cont’d.): again on the plane?
[break in recording]
[unintelligible / background noise / crosstalk]
PAUL PRIORE: What the fuck is wrong?
BOB WICKMAN: I was setting a block.
JEFF NELSON: You almost tackled -- you almost tackled my man.
[laughter]
BOB WICKMAN: [unintelligible] my fullback -- I’m the fullback. My halfback had to get by.
PAUL PRIORE: Yeah, you almost made me fucking knock every chair down.
BOB WICKMAN: My halfback had to get to the end zone.
STEVE HOWE: Paul, that was a great recovery, though, going backwards over the thing.
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
MALE VOICE: Yeah, I called him this morning. [unintelligible] He’s getting [unintelligible].
MALE VOICE: How’s your day going?
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
PAUL PRIORE: Yeah, look at my hand.
Page 5
STEVE HOWE: What’d you hit?
PAUL PRIORE: The chair.
STEVE HOWE: Ah, that’s all right. That swelling won’t come up for another hour or two.
JEFF NELSON: Paulie, that was pretty good, you sticking on your feet.
MALE VOICE: That was pretty great.
JEFF NELSON: Knocked you about four or five lockers down.
STEVE HOWE: -- hurdle, one equipment bag falling --
MALE VOICE: I can’t believe you let him do that, man. [unintelligible]
PAUL PRIORE: Yeah, that hurt.
STEVE HOWE: Got any [unintelligible] yet? You got to stick it in cider. [unintelligible] Got to go find you an old pun yang and stick it in there.
[unintelligible]
PAUL PRIORE: No, I hit my hand on the chair.
Page 6
[unintelligible]
BOB WICKMAN: You take Bennett [phonetic], put him at fullback, and let me run halfback. But I’d open up the hole a little bigger for us. Come on, Paulie.
[laughter / unintelligible]
BOB WICKMAN: I’m the fullback. We’re going to go through the middle hole.
JEFF NELSON: I’ll be the running back.
BOB WICKMAN: You follow me, come on. Come on, Paulie.
PAUL PRIORE: No, no, no. You did enough.
MALE VOICE: Hut, hut, boom.
[laughter]
JEFF NELSON: Holy Christ!
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
MALE VOICE: Don’t get to [unintelligible] too much.
MALE VOICE: These fucking guys are nuts.
[crosstalk / unintelligible]
PAUL PRIORE: [unintelligible] chair. I almost -- my fucking leg --
[crosstalk]
MALE VOICE: I need to take that shit out to
Page 7
MALE VOICE (cont’d.): the dugout. Please help me now. I can’t do it. They can’t help --
[crosstalk]
MALE VOICE: What do you need? What do you need?
MALE VOICE: [unintelligible] take the water jugs [unintelligible]. If they don’t want [unintelligible] I’m going to have to get somebody else.
MALE VOICE: You’ve got to play when you’re hurt, that’s all. Let’s go.
[crosstalk / unintelligible / background noise]
PAUL PRIORE: Steve, do I have any -- do you have a little bit of ice or something?
STEVE DONAHUE: What’d you do?
PAUL PRIORE: He threw me -- he threw me five fucking lockers.
STEVE DONAHUE: Well, what’s wrong with you? That’s what I’m asking.
PAUL PRIORE: Well, I hit my hand. And I don’t know --
[inaudible]
PAUL PRIORE: Yeah, man. He could have fucking hurt me bad, you know [inaudible].
Page 8
PAUL PRIORE (cont’d): Decides to tackle me like I’m a fucking, you know, football player. I almost fell back. I mean, that’s why -- I had to turn myself around. I hurt the side of my leg -- [unintelligible / background noise] You don’t think it’s broken -- [unintelligible / background noise] How long should I leave it on? [unintelligible]
[break in recording]
PAUL PRIORE: Fucking hurt my hand and my leg [inaudible].
MALE VOICE: What happened? You couldn’t move?
PAUL PRIORE: Yeah, I wasn’t expecting it. I was just bending down to pick up something and I got -- the next thing I’m thrown.
[laughter]
PAUL PRIORE: I’m like, what the fuck [inaudible]
MALE VOICE: Well, I heard a big noise --
[crosstalk]
Page 9
MALE VOICE: Was that you that --
PAUL PRIORE: Yeah, I fell into the chair. I was trying to stop myself from falling backwards. That’s when I turned [unintelligible] with the hand, and I pulled a muscle or something in the leg. [inaudible]
MALE VOICE: Why’d he throw you?
PAUL PRIORE: Threw me before or something. I mean, I ain’t never been thrown like that before.
[break in recording]
GENE MONAHAN: That’s how these guys are.
PAUL PRIORE: If they hurt somebody bad, then they’re going to wonder why they’re going to have problems.
GENE MONAHAN: They’re going to have problems.
PAUL PRIORE: Just trying to get over my back problem --
GENE MONAHAN: Especially if they hurt somebody else that’s a player. [Unintelligible] cares too much about the working guy. But another player, that’s going to be another story. Everybody --
Page 10
[unintelligible / background noise]
[break in recording]
[PLAYERS #6 “1996” SIDE A]
[unintelligible / background noise]
MALE VOICE: Show the trainer?
[inaudible]
[break in recording]
PAUL PRIORE: Huh?
MARIANO RIVERA: You got a boyfriend?
PAUL PRIORE: No, I save them for you.
[break in recording]
DOC GOODEN: Have you ever been with a guy?
PAUL PRIORE: Have I what?
DOC GOODEN: Ever been with a guy?
PAUL PRIORE: Why do you say that? Why are you asking me that?
DOC GOODEN: I just asked --
PAUL PRIORE: All right. I’ll be right there. What kind of question is that?
[unintelligible]
DOC GOODEN: Are you offended?
MALE VOICE: Money I owe you --
PAUL PRIORE: I am, in a way. I’m kind of insulted by --
Page 11
DOC GOODEN: Are you? I don’t mean to insult you.
PAUL PRIORE: What are you asking --
[unintelligible / crosstalk / laughter]
MALE VOICE: I was kind of insulted. I am -- I mean, [unintelligible] anybody come up and ask me that. I mean, I was just like -- just like this one. He’s calling me up, pretending he’s a broad on the phone. [unintelligible] say something like oh, I’m going to -- I didn’t say anything -- I’m going to rock your world, or something to that effect.
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
MALE VOICE: I told him how you called up --
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
MALE VOICE: You threw me for a loop when you said --
[inaudible]
[break in recording]
[TAPE #2 “1996” SIDE B]
DAVID WEATHERS: There he is! Queer Boy! What’s up, Queer Boy?
PAUL PRIORE: I don’t know. You tell me.
Page 12
[unintelligible / background noise]
DAVID WEATHERS: Get the fuck out of here, man.
PAUL PRIORE: What?
DAVID WEATHERS: No, no, no.
PAUL PRIORE: What? What?
DAVID WEATHERS: -- stay away from you.
[crosstalk]
DAVID WEATHERS: Because you are a homo. Everybody knows you’re gay --
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
[break in recording]
BOB WICKMAN: [unintelligible] right -- we have to settle this thing out of court for a couple of hundred.
PAUL PRIORE: I’m all right.
BOB WICKMAN: A thousand?
PAUL PRIORE: I’m fine.
BOB WICKMAN: Two thousand? Or are you going to sock me for everything I got? [unintelligible]. Which one? [unintelligible]
PAUL PRIORE: -- fine.
[unintelligible]
[break in recording]
Page 13
[unintelligible]
JEFF NELSON: What are you doing? Did I tell you to do anything?
PAUL PRIORE: Here, right?
[unintelligible]
PAUL PRIORE: You don’t want this?
MALE VOICE: Huh?
PAUL PRIORE: Do you want it or no?
[unintelligible]
MALE VOICE: That’s how he is.
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
PAUL PRIORE: What do you want done with this -- [unintelligible] telling me to bring this up -- sign --
[unintelligible]
PAUL PRIORE: Okay, [unintelligible] said you gave him the keys to bring it up.
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
PAUL PRIORE: Do you mind taking your thing off my foot, before I stick my foot up your ass?
MALE VOICE: Paul, you get kind of froggy every now and then.
JEFF NELSON: I mean, yeah, all he talks about is men’s asses.
Page 14
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
PAUL PRIORE: Don’t flatter yourself. I mean, come on, don’t go that way with me. You’re all -- you’re all --
[unintelligible / crosstalk / laughter]
PAUL PRIORE: Oh, fuck Wickman.
MALE VOICE: See, there you go.
JEFF NELSON: Fuck Wickman? [laughter] Come on, Paul.
PAUL PRIORE: I didn’t mean it that way, and you know it.
JEFF NELSON: That’s personal, man. I don’t want to talk about that.
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
PAUL PRIORE: Keep your day job.
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
MALE VOICE: Feel how heavy that is.
[laughter]
MALE VOICE: [unintelligible] Paul.
PAUL PRIORE: Well, you ought to know. You’re the expert.
[unintelligible / crosstalk]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
MARIANO RIVERA SWORN TRANSCRIPT -- Page 31
Q: Do you know an individual by the name of Ruben Rivera?
A: Yes.
Q: How do you know Ruben Rivera?
A: He’s my cousin.
Q: Was there a time when Ruben Rivera was employed by the Yankees at the major league level?
A: Yes.
Q: When was that?
A: I don’t know exactly the time, but I remember he was in ’96, he was there a period of time in ’96.
Q: Were there occasions during 1996 when Ruben Rivera and Paul Priore were present in the clubhouse area along with others?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you ever see any sexual behavior between Ruben Rivera and Paul Priore in the clubhouse area?
Page 32
A: No.
Q: Did your cousin Ruben Rivera ever discuss with you having a sexual relationship with Paul Priore?
RIVERA’S ATTORNEY: Objection. Hearsay.
A: No.
Q: Did you ever observe Mr. Paul Priore engage in any sexual behavior with anyone during the time he was with the Yankees?
A: Never saw such a thing.
Q: When did you learn that Paul Priore was a homosexual?
RIVERA’S ATTORNEY: Objection. Attorney-client privilege.
Q: Other than in conversations with your lawyers, when did you learn that Mr. Priore was a homosexual?
A: When I read it in the papers -- how do you call that? I never knew that the guy was gay.
Q: Did you ever suspect that he was gay?
A: No.
Q: Did you think he was straight?
A: Yes.
Q: What made you think he was straight?
A: Because I never think that he was gay or the man was gay.
Q: Did you ever see him with a woman?
A: No. He always told me about Madonna, he was doing Madonna, but other than that --
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Page 38
Q: Can you tell me what maricon means in Spanish?
A: Maricon?
Q: Maricon.
A: What that means?
Q: Yes.
Page 39
A: Homosexual.
Q: That’s the Spanish word for homosexual?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you ever hear that word used with regard to a description of Mr. Priore while you were in the clubhouse?
A: No.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
JEFFREY A. NELSON SWORN TRASCRIPT -- Page 34
Q: Did you ever hear Mr. Wickman refer to Mr. Priore as a homo?
A: No.
Q: Did you ever hear him refer to Mr. Priore as a faggot?
A: No.
Q: Did you ever hear him make any anti-gay comments towards Mr. Priore whatsoever during the time you and Mr. Wickman were employed by the Yankees?
A: No.
Q: When Mr. Wickman slammed Mr. Priore into the locker, did he run into him?
A: Yes.
Q: Was he fully dressed at the time?
Page 35
A: Yes.
Q: How much distance did Mr. Wickman run before making contact with Mr. Priore?
A: Two or three feet, maybe.
Q: Where exactly was Mr. Priore just before Mr. Wickman began that run towards him?
A: Where was he?
Q: Yes.
A: Two or three feet in front of Mr. Wickman.
Q: Was that in relation to the locker, Mr. Wickman’s locker when you said this occurred at his locker, is that right?
A: Yes.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
THOMAS MAY SWORN TRANSCRIPT -- Page 35
Q: You began to mention also something about equipment being sent to the Michael Bolton Foundation. How did you become aware of that?
A: The mailroom person for the Yankees, his last name is Felix, I cannot recall his first name, it is a difficult first name to remember. But I guess on a couple of occasions he had sent things for Paul to the Michael Bolton Foundation and he had mentioned it to Brian Cashman on occasion that this was something that was going on regularly.
Q: What was being sent, to your knowledge?
A: To my knowledge, it was bats and balls all autographed.
Q: And was that something that the Yankees did on a regular basis, to donate bats and balls to various charitable foundations?
A: No.
Q: That is something that they never
Page 36
Q (cont’d.): did?
A: No. Slow down. I am answering no to the question if that is something, not that they never did.
Q: They did do that on certain occasions?
A: Yes.
Q: Who was in charge of that, dealing with charities?
A: It ultimately would have been a form that would have been required to be filled out detailing the charity, what they were requiring. It would have been one baseball or one bat and it would have gone to me. Then I would have brought it to the community relations director which ultimately would have had to be approved by Mr. Steinbrenner via fax or phone call or something, and that is why there was very few occasions that employees came in for requests because they knew Mr. Steinbrenner would have to sign-off on it.
Q: And did you ever receive a form completed by Paul Priore requesting to send certain equipment to a charitable foundation?
Page 37
A: No.
Q: Is there anyone other than yourself that those forms could have been submitted to?
A: The community relations director.
Q: Do you know if Paul Priore ever submitted such forms to the community relations director?
A: No, he never did.
Q: You know he didn’t?
A: That is correct.
Q: Are these forms maintained by the Yankees?
A: Yes.
Q: They are forms for requests that were made during the years 1996 and 1997 and would still be on record at the stadium?
A: In the archives somewhere.
Q: After you learned from Mr. Felix about the items being sent to the Michael Bolton Foundation, what did you do, if anything?
A: Mr. Felix notified Cashman about the articles, the boxes that were going to the Michael Bolton Foundation. The boxes were then brought upstairs and opened and they were filled
Page 38
A (cont’d.): with bats, balls, bat tubes with bats in them, balls.
Q: Did Mr. Felix indicate to Mr. Cashman that he had sent out prior shipments -- the box that you were referring to, were there previous shipments made?
A: Yes.
Q: But this particular shipment before sending it out, he brought it to Mr. Cashman’s attention?
A: My understanding it was, it was becoming a regular thing and threw up a red flag in the mailroom.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
BRIAN CASHMAN SWORN TRANSCRIPT-- Page 43
Q: Was equipment regularly missing -- was theft a recurring problem in the clubhouse?
A: I couldn’t say theft as much as stuff mishandled, misplaced, you know, yes, there was problems that we are trying to solve for quite a long time down there.
Q: Did that have anything to do with Nick Priore’s dismissal?
A: I’m not sure if the relevance is here for that, but I can answer it. The answer is yes, Nick was a long-standing, you know, loyal employee, and I loved him to death, but it turned out we were spending more time up here trying to do their job down there, and so ultimately we tried every which way to create a situation that would work for Nick, and for us, and protect him as a long-term employee, but ultimately we could not come up with anything, and we were forced to make a very difficult decision, which was let go someone that had been working here for quite sometime. It was really more inventory related, it is just -- no accusations, just could not give us any accountability on where, when product would come in, where ultimately it went. Whether it was misplaced, moved around, you know, inventory controls were never followed enough to the point where we had to make a change,
Page 44
A (cont’d.): unfortunately.
Q: Were there things that were actually lost, equipment that was --
A: I can’t tell you if it is lost. I don’t know what -- to give you the exact term lost, missing, theft involved, no one could -- I couldn’t tell you.
Q: During the time that these problems were coming to your attention, in the clubhouse area, was Ruben Rivera employed by the Yankees?
A: He was employed by the Yankees up until when we traded him to San Diego.
Q: Which was when?
A: I think prior to the ’98 season was my guess, so whether he was on the major league roster at the time, I couldn’t tell you, but we have a minor league roster, major league roster, you know, when he was here in New York as an active major league player, off the top of my head I couldn’t tell you. It was mid ’90s to possibly early ‘90s.
Q: Ruben Rivera was recently released this year by the Yankees, was he not?
A: Yes.
Page 45
Q: That involved stealing certain equipment, did it not?
A: Yes.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
ROBERT CUCUZZA SWORN TRANSCRIPT-- Page 13
Q: Do you believe homosexuals have certain characteristics?
CUCUZZA’S ATTORNEY: Objection.
PRIORE’S ATTORNEY: Direct him not to answer?
CUCUZZA’S ATTORNEY: Do you understand?
A: Can you explain?
Page 14
Q: I’m curious whether you feel in your own mind whether or not people who are gay share any common traits.
A: Common traits how?
Q: Such as their appearance, tone of voice, mannerisms, things like that?
A: Are you asking me if Paulie appeared --
Q: No, I’m not asking about Paul. I’m asking do you view people that way, in other words, do you think people who are -- males who are homosexual have certain common traits, be it the way they walk, the way they use their hands, the way they talk, anything like that?
A: Not necessarily, no.
Q: Do you think Paul had any characteristics that are common to gay people?
CUCUZZA’S ATTORNEY: Objection.
A: I think my previous answer was no, there is no common traits, so, I never even considered.
Q: Did you ever see Paul in the company of another man?
CUCUZZA’S ATTORNEY: Objection. You mean
Page 15
CUCUZZA’S ATTORNEY (cont’d.): other than in the locker room?
PRIORE’S ATTORNEY: Yes, other than in the locker room.
A: No.
Q: Are you familiar with a former Yankee player named Ruben Rivera?
A: Yes.
Q: Was Ruben Rivera a player with the Yankees during the time Paul was working in the clubhouse?
A: I believe he was at sometime, yes.
Q: Did you ever observe Paul and Ruben Rivera engaging in any intimate acts in the Yankee clubhouse?
A: No.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
ROBERT J. WICKMAN SWORN TRANSCRIPT -- Page 18
Q: Did you ever call Paul Priore a faggot?
A: Yes.
Q: Was that on one occasion or more than one occasion?
A: More than one occasion.
Q: More than one? Approximately how many times did you refer to him as a faggot?
A: I can’t remember.
Q: Was it more than 10?
A: I can’t remember.
Q: Was it more than 20?
A: If I can’t remember the 10, I can’t remember if it was more than 20, if it was more than 10.
Q: I am just trying to get some sense, a range, if you can do that, a ballpark figure, was it between 10 and 20 or between five and 10.
WICKMAN’S ATTORNEY: Asked and answered. If you can. If you can’t do any better than you have done, just say I can’t do any better than I have done. If you can, tell him.
A: I can’t remember how many times I
Page 19
A (cont’d.): called him that.
Q: But it was more than once?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you ever call anyone else in the Yankee clubhouse a faggot?
A: Yes.
Q: Who?
A: Steve Howell, Jeff Nelson.
Q: Do you know if Steve Howell was a homosexual?
A: I have no idea.
Q: Do you know if Jeff Nelson is a homosexual?
A: No idea.
Q: How many times did you refer to Steve Howell as a faggot?
A: I don’t remember.
Q: More than once?
A: Yes.
Q: How about Jeff Nelson?
A: More than once also.
WICKMAN’S ATTORNEY: Had you finished your answer when you read the names?
A: There was other
Page 20
A (cont’d.): people.
Q: Who else?
A: Probably at the time, three quarters of the club. It’s a common --
Q: Players, you are talking about the players?
A: Players, it’s a common phrase to use in the clubhouse.
Q: Can you give me an example of the context in which you used that word in the clubhouse?
A: I can’t remember.
Q: Would you say it in conjunction with something else or just call somebody a faggot, “Hey faggot,” or anything else that you would say when you would use that word?
WICKMAN’S ATTORNEY: It’s a little easier other than -- using the word faggot than using different words, than using the “F” word with someone, calling them different names.
Q: Are you saying that you used faggot in
Page 21
Q (cont’d.): place of other words?
A: Correct.
Q: Curse words?
A: Correct.
Q: Did you use the word faggot when you were angry with other players?
A: No.
Q: Just as common speech?
A: Common speech.
Q: Is there any particular word that you replaced with faggot that you didn’t want to use?
WICKMAN’S ATTORNEY: Other than what you called the “F” word.
Q: Other than the “F” word.
A: There’s probably different words you could use.
Q: But you used faggot?
A: Correct.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
PAUL PRIORE SWORN TRANSCRIPT -- Page 125
Q: With respect to Ruben Rivera, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada did they ever make any comment to you in the locker room about being homosexual?
A: Just Ruben did.
Q: And what did Ruben say?
A: He would call me faggot in Spanish,
Page 126
A (cont’d.): which was maricon. He would call me baby, he would call me, you know, faggot a couple of times, you know, he would say, you want this, you know, he would touch me, put his hand between the cheeks of my rear end.
Q: And this was in the locker room?
A: Yes.
Q: And what time period was this?
A; During the whole time of our relationship. I don’t know exactly, the exact, because it was more than one time.
Q: When was he with the Yankees?
A: In ’95.
Q: So he began in 1995?
A: Yes.
Q: And when did he get transferred or whatever happens with players?
A: Well, he was with us for awhile then he got sent down to minor leagues for retraining then cam back up again.
Q: And do you know when he was sent back?
A: I don’t remember exact time but I know he came back up again when we had our fan
Page 127
A (cont’d): fest.
Q: When was that?
A: In February of ’96. Then he was with us for the whole time in ’96 on and off. I think he left a couple of times, went down to Florida and came back for training. Then shortly after the World Series he was traded to, I think it was San Francisco Giants but one of the National League Teams, I think it was San Francisco Giants but I’m not sure.
Q: And that was after the ’96 World Series?
A: Yes, sometime after that.
Q: And did he leave New York permanently at that time?
A: Yes, he was traded.
Q: Have you had any contact with him since then?
A: No, just when, I guess when he would come back in between, you know, he’d stop over and say hello to everybody then we would interact.
Q: When would that have been?
A: I don’t remember exactly?
Q: That was after the ’96 World Series?
Page 128
A: It was after he was traded, yes.
Q: That would be in the time period from October of ’96 through August of ’97?
A: I’m sorry.
Q: It would have been from October of ’96 through August of ’97?
A: Approximately in that time frame.
Q: And how many times did he come back to visit at that point?
A: That I’m aware of?
Q: Yes.
A: Twice.
Q: When you say came back to visit, you mean he stopped at the locker room at the Yankees?
A: Yes.
Q: Other than the conversations that you had there, did you have any contact with him outside of the locker room those two times?
A: You mean since he’s been traded?
Q: Yes.
A: No.
Q: Did you have -- did he ever contact you after your lawsuit was filed?
A: No.
Page 129
Q: Did anyone at the Yankees know that Ruben Rivera was engaged in this relationship with you?
A: I’m not aware of it. I don’t know who he told, if he told.
Q: But nobody ever spoke to you about it, about you having this relationship with Ruben Rivera?
A: No. But I do know that sometimes he would touch me and stuff in the locker room where anybody could have seen but I’m not certain of it.
Q: And when he would touch you, what would you do?
A: First I tried to avoid it but then, you know, I was attracted to him. I found him to be irresistible. What was I going to do?
Q: And would you respond to him in the locker room?
A: What do you mean by respond?
Q: Would, if somebody was observing, would they have believed that you were initiating contact not just him?
PRIORE’S ATTORNEY: Well, I object to the form, testifying as to what somebody else
Page 130
PRIORE’S ATTORNEY (cont’d.): would believe.
Q: Did you have any, did you engage in any conduct with him in front of other people in the locker room, touching or respond to his touching in any way?
A: You mean did I reciprocate?
Q: Yes, I guess that’s a good word.
A: There was a couple of times I did, you know, grab him in a way and I tried to, like, try to push him away a little bit because I didn’t know if anybody was going to look because there were people in the clubhouse, there were ballplayers there, there were batboys there, there were trainers there, there were upstairs personnel there, there were media people on different occasions that quite possibly could have became aware of it, and I was trying to, like, kept it low key and trying to, like, push it away when he was, you know, rubbing himself or he was erected and touching me. I tried to make it where nobody would notice it but I don’t know if they did see it or not. It’s possible they did see it.
Q: And how often would this happen in the locker room?
Page 131
A: With respect to Ruben?
Q: Yes.
A: Quite a bit. I’m not sure of the number. We had a relationship.
Q: Would it be every time you were in the locker room?
A: Majority of the time.
Q: So when there’s, like, the season going on, how many times are you in the locker room, I mean, are you just there for the games or are there practices?
A: With me, you mean?
Q: Yes.
A: You mean how many times did I work?
Q: Right.
A: I only worked when the team was in-house playing home games.
Q: So however many times the team was in town there would sort of be a finite number of how many times you were in the locker room during a given year?
A: I was there 81 days a year, that’s how many games were played at home 81, 82.
Q: So other than those 81 games were
Page 132
Q (cont’d.): there any other times you were in the locker room for any other reasons?
A: Yes. Sometimes in the off season helping the players get packed up to go home, sometimes before the fan fest. Sometimes before the team would go to spring training I would help my father out getting things ready. Sometimes when the off season if he needed to clean the clubhouse up and do the mail and that sort of stuff I was up there, of course.
Q: So would they be the sorts of occasions when this contact might take place?
A: Yes, sometimes it did, yes.
Q: And to your knowledge nobody observed this relationship?
A: As far as I know nobody has but it’s quite possible they could have. But I wasn’t looking at everybody, I was more concerned about what was going on between us.
Q: Did Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada ever talk to you about the night that you went to the Mariah Carey concert subsequent to that night?
A: What do you mean?
Q: Did they ever make any comments to
Page 133
Q (cont’d.): you subsequent to that?
A: Not at first.
Q: When did they make comments about it?
A: When we were in the car.
Q: Okay. After it took place did they ever make any comments to you?
A: It was never brought up again. It was just a onetime thing.
Q: And you had testified earlier that they knew that you were homosexual based on this encounter, was there behavior in the car that would have given them that indication?
A: I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand what you are saying.
Q: I guess I’m just trying to, I just want to be specific that something went on in this car that caused them to know that you were homosexual because you had said that based on that incident that they knew that you were homosexual.
A: Well, it was before we even did anything in the car. It was something that happened earlier in the clubhouse.
Q: On that same day?
A: On that same day.
Page 134
Q: What was that?
A: Well, they were packing their stuff up because they didn't think we were going to be in the series. They were getting ready to bring things back to their hotel. They decided they wanted to take a steam, which was very unusual for the two of them to take a steam because I had never seen them go in the steam room. When they went into the steam room, I was cleaning up things around the bathroom area, which is inside where the steam room and everything is. I opened the door not knowing they were in there and caught them interacting with one another. They in turn screamed at me to close the “F-ing” door and then later on came over to me and said, “You didn't see what you saw.” So I said, fine. I left it at that. Then they went back to bring their stuff to the hotel and said I will be back at 6:30 to come back and pick you up to go to the Mariah Carey thing. My companion was waiting, he was supposed to meet us down there, George, Mr. Lizardi Torres, and then when they picked me up they were a little late. They insisted on driving.
Page 135
A (cont’d.): I insisted on going down by the train but they were afraid to get on the train because they thought they were going to be mugged so they wanted to go by car. We subsequently got lost making several attempts to get down there because at that particular time I didn't drive and I don't know how to tell them to get there and we ended up in Mount Vernon, we ended up in Astoria Queens, we ended up in Bronx again and then we ended up next to the warehouses close to the stadium and then they spoke to each other in Spanish and then from there they brought up the thing of what I saw in the steam room. They asked me if I liked what I saw and I tried to deny and they were like, come on, you know, we know you like this, and came onto me. At first I didn't want to do anything and I was kind of attracted to both of them and I did.
Q: So the, whose car were you in?
A: It was Jeter's. He was the driver of the car, it was a leased car.
Q: A leased car?
A: Yes, they all got leased cars during the season. Posada was the passenger on the right
Page 136
A (cont’d.): side of Jeter.
Q: Had the arrangement for you to go to the concert with them, when were those arrangements made?
A: Well, what happened was I knew that Jeter had liked Mariah Carey's music and he always tried to sing in the clubhouse, what kind of sounded like a dying animal because he couldn't hold a note. I brought up the fact that she was having a concert for a Fox special at Madison Square Garden and that Sonny Heights who used to work at the Garden and worked at Yankee Stadium used to get me into the concerts to see Madonna perform and other performers perform. So I had told Jeter and them that I was going to go to the concert and he had asked me if there is a way that I can get them to go since the tickets were sold out. I said, I can't promise,but I will ask Sonny. Sonny Heights made the arrangement and that's how we got in for nothing. But we arrived, unfortunately, late to the concert due to the other stops.
Q: So basically that’s when the arrangements were made because you had gotten the
Page 137
Q (cont’d): tickets?
A: It wasn’t me who had the tickets, we were just --
Q: You just went together?
A: Yes, we went in the service entrance and got escorted to empty seats.
Q: So when you got lost and you ended up by these warehouses and they came on to you is that when an incident occurred, is that what you are talking about, something occurred after you were lost in this car?
A: Yes.
Q: Prior to getting to the concert?
A: Yes.
Q: And it’s based on that you believe that’s why they knew you were homosexual?
A: Yes.
Q: When did you start bringing a tape recorder to Yankee Stadium with you?
A: The first time?
Q: Yes.
A: It was back in, somewhere between 1993 and ’94.
Q: And why did you start bringing them
Page 138
Q (cont’d.): back then?
A: Well, originally I wanted to, like I said, write my memoirs. I was a, really was a relatively unknown person. I thought about it, said to myself, would anyone, with everybody writing unauthorized biographies and being challenged in court as to legitimacy of what’s being said, I said if I was to write a book somewhere down the road I had planned on doing after my father passed away, you know, so that it wouldn’t hurt him while he was alive because he had loved, you know, the Yankees, grew up with this and worked for them for so many years that I didn’t want to cause him any embarrassment. So I said to myself if I decide to do this somewhere down the road and they decided to challenge me, what kind of proof would I have. So I decided I was going to record everything that proved that I was there. Then everything else happened without me being aware that it was going to happen, just everything fell into place. It wasn’t like anything was planned, you know.
Q: What kind of a tape recorder did you use?
(END OF TRANSCRIPT EXCERPTS)
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Currently, I am in the process of shopping a treatment around, and am searching for a literary agent. Subsequently, I hope to turn my treatment into a manuscript for sale to a major publishing company. Ultimately, my goal is to author a tell-all book about my experiences with the New York Yankees and as a litigant in the New York State courts. I will also include details of my personal life. I promise you this -- I will spare no one and I will leave no stone unturned. The truth can only be suppressed for so long, but, eventually, it has a way of coming out.
I thank all of you for having read this lengthy post. Please feel free to comment publicly, or to contact me through my E-mail address.
If any Webmasters or reporters located in New York City are interested in doing follow-up stories, I would suggest that you first examine the litigation file at the NYS Supreme Court, Bronx County, and then contact me with your questions.
Sincerely,
Paul Priore
this is in or around London
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
42251418
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