Baseball argument led to fatal punch, say Calgary police

Police say an argument over baseball led tothe fatal punch outside a southwest pub early Sunday morning that later killed a Calgary man.

They said two men were arguing about pitchers with the Toronto Blue Jayswhen a third man allegedly sucker punched Brian Ludwig.

Police foundthe 41-year-oldsuffering from severe head injuries in the Swigs Pub parking lot when they arrived on scene.

Ludwig was rushed to hospital,but died a short time later.

"The witnesses were very co-operative with this investigation and as a result of our interviews we were able to identify a suspect early in the investigation," said Staff Sgt.Doug Andrus.

An autopsy conducted Monday determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma.

Scott Hooser, 27,has beenchargedwith manslaughter and made his first court appearanceTuesday morning.

He'll be back in court on Friday, thesame daya memorial service has been planned for Ludwig.

"The prosecution is still receiving information from the police before making a better determination on their position on whether Mr. Hooser can be released on bail," said defence lawyer Ian Savage."I'm optimistic he is a candidate for release." Savage said his client is doing fine under the circumstances. "This is obviously a tragic event but as with most of these cases there's a lot more to the story and that will come out down the road," he said.