Carbo Admits to Hiring 'People' to Break Hernandez's Arms

Before Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez used his day job to catch up on sleep, he was a five-time All-Star who spent seven seasons playing for the Mets, including the 1986 World Series team.

But the year before, Hernandez was in the middle of a cocaine scandal that rocked professional baseball. In exchange for immunity, he agreed to testify at what is now known as the Pittsburgh drug trials. Hernandez managed to avoid a suspension from Major League Baseball but that turned out to be the least of his worries.

According to the New York Post, former player Bernie Carbo said he tried to hire goons to find Hernandez and "break his arms" after the former All-Star first baseman outed Carbo in federal court as the man who introduced him to cocaine.

"I knew some people, and I had $2,000, and I asked them to break his arms," Carbo told ESPN's "Outside the Lines," in an interview [which aired] Sunday.

"When I went to an individual to have it done, he said, 'We'll do it in two or three years if you want it done, but we're not going to do it today, Bernie. If we went and broke his legs today, or broke his arms, you don't think they would understand that you are the one that had it done?' "

Carbo said he eventually called off the hit after it became clear that he would be implicated for the crime.

Now, a quarter-century later, Carbo sounds contrite telling ESPN: "If I was to be with Keith Hernandez today, I would tell Keith Hernandez I'm sorry that I introduced you to the drug and I'm sorry that I was your problem." Of course, Carbo would probably have to wake Hernandez up to relay the message, but it's the thought that counts, right?