A sickening video of New York Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez and legendary Hall of Famer Juan Marichal laughing at a gruesome cockfight in the Dominican Republic was posted -- and then quickly taken off -- YouTube.

Martinez and Marichal, among the best pitchers of all time, are seen grinning before releasing two roosters.
Cockfighting is both legal and popular in the Dominican Republic.

The pair took part as honorary "soltadores" -- the word used to describe the person who throws the animal into the ring.
The bird released by Martinez appears to be killed on the video.

The tape was posted on the popular Web site on Tuesday, and was gone by last night.

"If you're squeamish ... I suggest you don't play the attached video," warned "Richie Rich" of Homerderby.com. The poster did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment.

Marichal has raised fighting roosters on his farm in the Dominican Republic, and was once minister of sports there.

Roosters have also reportedly been spotted on Martinez's property in the Caribbean nation.
The event shown in the video takes place in the Coliseo de Gallos -- Rooster Coliseum -- in Santo Domingo, the country's biggest cockfighting venue.

Met spokesman Jay Horwitz refused to comment early today.

A spokesman for Major League Baseball could not immediately be reached.

Marichal, a superstar with the San Francisco Giants in the '60s and '70s -- racked up 2,303 strikeouts; Martinez, who has been with the Mets for the last three years, has notched 3,030.

Marichal has 243 wins, Martinez, 209.

In the 1998 book "Viva Baseball: Latin Americans and their Special Hunger," Marichal is quoted recalling his father's love of the blood sport.

"I don't think my father played baseball," the pitcher said. "But I know that he used to live for the gallos, for cockfighting. I think that's why I've got that in my blood."

The video marks the latest incident involving sports stars involved in animal cruelty.

Atlanta Falcon quarterback Michael Vick is serving a 23-month federal sentence and has been indefinitely suspended by the NFL because of a felony conviction on dogfighting charges.

Additional reporting by Ed Robinson and Post Wire Services

Don't care, I just hope Pedro is 100% at opening day.

Big difference. Vick should have taken his dogs to the Dominican Republic where this insanity isn't against the law.
Damn, he could have gone to Korea where he could fight his dogs then eat the loser. lol

It's apparently still legal in Louisiana until August of this year.

From Wikipedia:

Quote:United States
Cockfighting has a very long tradition in American culture and history. Many of the founding fathers participated in the sport of cockfighting including Washington and Jefferson. [6] First the British and then the Irish brought in their favorite breeds of fighting roosters. These breeds make up most of the modern American breeds.[citation needed] With the influx of immigrants from Central America and Asia, they have each added new forms of cockfighting.

In the United States cockfighting is illegal in Washington, D.C. and all states but Louisiana. On June 27, 2007, the Louisiana legislature voted to ban cockfighting in the state. A spokeswoman for Governor Kathleen Blanco says, pending a thorough review of the bill, the governor intends to sign it into law. The ban will take effect in August 2008 [7]. It is legal in the United States Territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have made cockfighting a felony however, in most places, it is legal to possess roosters. It is illegal in 40 states and D.C. to be a spectator at cockfights. Animal welfare activists continue to lobby for a ban on the sport.


On May 3, 2007 President Bush signed into law the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, which criminalizes the transferral of cockfighting implements across state or national borders, and increases the penalty for violations of federal animal fighting laws to three years imprisonment. [8]

In 2006 the United States Virgin Islands passed a bill which outlaws the use of artificial spurs. Thus far the bill has not been enforced.

Cockfighting has a higher level of social acceptance in Puerto Rico than in Louisiana. It also has a much larger human population and pool of fighting cocks than the Virgin Islands or Guam. Metal spurs causes a high mortality of birds. With the interstate transport ban Puerto Rico is likely to be the last holdout. The United States Virgin Islands government is trying to move the sport towards Gamecock Boxing.[citation needed]