Also, he had no idea when he married her (at a check cashing outlet) that she had spent nearly three years in prison for her part in a robbery. Are you starting to feel sorry for this guy? I confess that I am.

Pirates prospect Jose Tabata, reading from a statement in Spanish, said his wife lied to him about being pregnant and then showed to him a baby that she later handed over to authorities, who arrested her on charges of child abduction. He said Amalia Tabata Pereira, 43, also never informed him that she spent two years and nine months in prison in connection with a fraud and arson case in the same Tampa area where they met and wed while he was a member of the New York Yankees' Class A affiliate there.

"The truth is that my wife told me many lies that, until this whole situation began, I did not know," Tabata, 20, said early this afternoon before taking the field in Pirate City, returning to baseball activity with the Class AA Altoona Curve after taking two days off since the arrest of his wife of 14 months.

"As you and Pirates fans get to know me, you'll understand that, when this is all over, I will never be able to forgive her for her cruel actions. You will also understand that I will do everything possible, with the support of God and my family here with the Pirates, to overcome this craziness. The truth is I would never wish this situation on anybody, but I know that life has its good and its bad, and I know that the good times are not too far off in the future."

Many assumed, I'm sure, that a marriage between a then-19-year-old from Venezuela to a 43-year-old who happens to be a U.S. citizen must have been for purposes other than true love. But Pereira was able to convince Tabata that the kid was theirs, meaning that the relationship must have involved more than paperwork. Either that, or Jose badly failed health ed.

But hey, it's time for Tabata to put all of this all behind him, and chalk it up to being a funny story he can one day tell the fake grandkids.

Pirates' Tabata Says Wife Lied About Being Pregnant [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Jose Tabata, OF. Hit .348 with 3 HR and 13 RBI in 22 games with Altoona (AA) in 2008. Has wife 23 years his senior. She is accused of abducting a baby from a Florida health care clinic, and returning it the next day, explaining herself by saying "Oops." Mother of four teenagers born before she met Tabata, she spent nearly three years in Florida prison for stealing $20,000 from a paycheck advance store, then standing lookout as an accomplice set a fire to conceal the theft. Enjoys gardening, macrame.

Or as Plant City sheriffs department spokesman Dave Bristow summed it up on Wednesday: "It was a weird deal."

We know most of the details of the abduction (the baby is back safe with its parents), but we may never know all the details of Tabata's marriage to Amalia Tabata Pereira, 43, also known by such aliases as Amalia Segui and Amalia Maldonado, among others. While police say that Jose Tabata was not involved in the kidnapping in any way, he apparently was less than truthful with the Pirates regarding his wife. In the team's media guide, she is identified as Mayita Tabata.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Ms. Pereira's relatives told Tampa-area news agencies that she is a mother of four who was born in Puerto Rico, raised in Chicago and moved to West Tampa about two decades ago. She spent two years and nine months in a Florida state prison stemming from a 1999 incident in which she was accused of stealing $20,000 from a Paycheck Advance where she worked in the Temple Terrace neighborhood north of Tampa, then staging a fire at the business to conceal the theft, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

She also, apparently, has a gambling habit; a fact that her attorney used to try and get her sentence reduced in the robbery case.

Tabata was 19 1/2 last year and playing for the Trenton Thunder, a Class A Yankees affiliate, when he married Pereira at a check-cashing and tax outlet called Amscot, the Times reported.

So, some sort of citizenship issue, I'm guessing. She's from Puerto Rico, and has been in the U.S. for several years. He's from Venezuela. More on this as things unravel.

Pirates: Police Say Tabata Not Linked To Abduction [Associated Press]
Police Trying To Decipher Curious Case Of Tabata's Wife [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
Jose Tabata [Altoona Curve]
Woman Suspected in Plant City Baby Kidnapping Is A Felon [St. Petersburg Times]

The two-month-old was returned unharmed on Tuesday, one day after allegedly being taken from its parents by Amalia Tabata Pereira, 43, who is the wife of Pirates' minor league outfielder Jose Tabata, 20. Hmm. Jose is closer in age to the baby than he is to his wife. But I'm not judging.

Tabata Pereira apparently posed as a health care worker, telling the mother, Rosa Sirilo-Francisco, that she was about to be deported and that she could help with the infant. There is no indication that Tabata himself was involved. From ESPN:

Jose Tabata addressed the matter in a statement released by the team. "I was shocked to be told today that my wife has been arrested for kidnapping. I am hurt, frustrated, and confused by her actions," Tabata said. "I have and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement officials in anyway that I can. Until I have all of the facts, I cannot comment any further."

The Tabata File: He's from Venezuela, and hit .314 for the Gulf Coast Yankees in 2005 when he was only 17. He was traded from the Yankees' organization to the Pirates' in July 2008 with three other minor league prospects for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, and last season was with the Class AA Altoona Curve. Oh, and according to one blog, he's been dubbed Mini-Manny "for having quick hands and great bat speed, but also for his bad attitude."

Sorry that this is your first spring training news of the season, Pirates fans. We'll make it up to you somehow.

Police: Baby Snatched From Fla. Clinic OK [Pittsburgh Post Gazette]
Tabata's Wife Suspected Of Taking Baby [ESPN]
Plant City Parents Reunited With Baby [Tampa Tribune]