Minor leaguers involved in St. Paul brawl

Police say a brawl that erupted at a St. Paul bar early Monday morning involved more than 20 people, including several members of the St. Paul Saints and Fort Worth Cats minor league baseball teams.

Fort Worth defeated the Saints at Midway Stadium on Sunday to win the championship of the American Association. Police spokesman Tom Walsh says players from each team later encountered one another at Half Time Rec, a bar near the stadium. Walsh says when police officers were summoned, they found 20 to 30 people throwing punches.

"One of our officers reached in to try to break up two of the principal combatants. And when he did that, another person came up behind him, put a choke hold on him and actually picked him up off the ground," according to Walsh.

Walsh says three people were arrested, including two players from the Fort Worth team. The Ramsey County Attorney's office declined to file felony charges on Monday, but forwarded the case to the St. Paul City Attorney for possible misdemeanor charges.

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