NEW YORK --David Wells is set to testify at a trial in which a man is charged with punching the New York Yankees pitcher and knocking out two of his teeth during a dawn fight in a diner in September.

The lawyer for Rocco Graziosa intends to show that Wells started the fight and is prone to violence.

The jury was selected Monday and Wells is scheduled to testify Tuesday. The eight jurors -- six plus two alternates -- include one admitted Yankees fan.

Graziosa faces misdemeanor charges of assault, menacing and harassment. He could serve up to a year in jail if convicted. Lawyer Henry Mazurek acknowledges his 27-year-old client hit Wells but contends he acted in self-defense.

Mazurek said he wanted to ask Wells about a 1997 San Diego fight as well as other confrontations. The 39-year-old pitcher reportedly was involved in a street fight and broke his hand outside a bar the week of his mother's wake in January 1997. He later got into a clubhouse shouting match with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Judge Robert Stolz ruled Monday that Mazurek could ask Wells about the San Diego fight but could not call other witnesses, such as police, to testify. Stolz also denied Mazurek's request to get Wells' personnel records from the Yankees.

Police said the Sept. 7 fight started after Graziosa left his job as a bartender at a nearby restaurant and walked into the Upper East Side diner with several friends shortly before 6 a.m. Wells was having breakfast and Graziosa walked over and began a conversation, police added.

Then, police said, Graziosa went to his own table and made a remark about Wells' deceased mother, and a few moments later Graziosa hit Wells with a butter knife off from the table. Wells called 911, and police said they went to the diner and arrested Graziosa.

Mazurek plans to present a videotape from the diner, contending it shows the pitcher instigated the fight. The lawyer said his client would not attack the pitcher because of the difference in size: Wells is 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds; Graziosa is 5-6, 170 pounds.