Due to the disturbing actions of a couple of players, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports that Rob Manfred is in a “no win” position when doling out punishment in these domestic violence cases.
Nonsense.
The only way that Manfred is in a no-win position is if he doesn’t come down hard on Jose Reyes and Aroldis Chapman. You want to know if he did his job in suspending these players? He needs to be able to look Joe Torre, Baseball’s Chief Operating Officer, in the eye and explain to him he did the right thing.
For those that are unaware, Torre started the Safe at Home Foundation to help the victims of domestic abuse. It was started out of his experiences with a physically and emotionally abusive father. Torre saw his mother repeatedly beaten by his father. His father was never arrested. No charges were ever brought against him. It would finally end when Torre’s older brother, Frank, was finally able to stand up to his father at the age of 20 and kick him out of the house.
So when I hear about how Chapman’s girlfriend, the mother of his child, didn’t press charges, I scoff. It’s not a defense to his actions which allegedly included pushing her against a wall and choking her. After the alleged attack, she fled the house because she was scared for her life and her daughter. At the same time, Chapman was firing a gun off in his garage.
Of course, she didn’t cooperate with police. Domestic violence victims don’t always cooperate. Some would say they rarely cooperate. Reasons for the lack of cooperation include a fear for their own safety for cooperating with an investigation, wanting to reconcile, and/or the financial pressures that would ensue if there was a separation or conviction. Don’t believe this is the case? Look no further than Torre.
Yes, Chapman is innocent until proven guilty. However, that principle only applies in criminal courts, not in the courts of public opinion. More importantly, Major League Baseball is not held to such a standard. They are not beholden to a victim’s refusal to cooperate. They can and are able to conduct their own investigation and implement their own punishment if warranted.
If there is any proof that Chapman did indeed choke his girlfriend, he should be suspended for the year. Let him appeal the suspension as he says he will. Let an arbitrator be the one to be weak on the domestic violence issue. Commissioner Rob Manfred can’t appear weak, he needs to show some backbone and prove that his new Domestic Violence Policy is legit. That doesn’t mean he’s in a no-win situation, it means he has an important decision to make.
That’s the job.
Unfortunately, he’s got a resource in Joe Torre. I say unfortunately because no one should have to live through what Torre did growing up. Hopefully, after his investigation and all the deliberation and analysis, Commissioner Manfred makes the right decision. He needs to be able to look his Chief Operating Officer in the eye and tell him he came down hard on the players that attack women.
The only person right now in a seemingly no-win position is Chapman’s girlfriend. Manfred has an easy decision to make. He just has to have the courage to do what’s right.
