Sports leagues hope to win where criminal justice system hasn’t on domestic violence
LOS ANGELES – In the days leading up to the arrest of Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias, Major League Baseball’s effort to take on domestic violence was already grabbing the public’s attention.
On May 8 in Chicago, Cubs shortstop Addison Russell returned to Wrigley Field for his first game after serving a 40-game suspension levied by MLB after Russell’s ex-wife alleged last September that the player physically and mentally abused her. Russell denied the allegations and was not charged with a crime, but, under MLB’S collectively-bargained domestic violence policy, the league conducted its own investigation and suspended him.
The Wrigley crowd booed Russell, 25, who struck out in his first plate appearance.
On May 12 in Houston, Astros pitcher Roberto Osuna had a Mother’s Day surprise for his 130,000 Twitter followers. Osuna served a 75-game suspension last season for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, the mother of his son. The incident occurred while he was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Astros traded for the star reliever during his suspension so they would have him available for their playoff run. In September, a Canadian judge cleared Osuna of a crime.
So when Osuna, 24, tweeted a picture of the hot-pink cleats he planned to wear for the Astros’ game on Mother’s Day and referenced his “haters,” it prompted a backlash on social media.
One day later, Urias, the Dodgers’ 22-year-old potential future ace, left the Beverly Center in L.A. in police custody, arrested Monday night on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic battery. Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to reports of an incident in the shopping mall’s parking lot, where witnesses told police they saw a man identified as Urias shove a woman, who fell over. Urias was released a few hours later on $20,000 bond.
The next day, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred put Urias on paid administrative leave pending investigation, the first step of the league’s process in determining disciplinary action.
As has been shown in most cases since MLB began investigating domestic violence allegations against its players in 2016, including those against Russell and Osuna, the league has not hesitated to impose punishment even when criminal charges are not filed. Urias might ultimately be cleared of criminal wrongdoing, but that would have little bearing on what Manfred decides. __ U.S. professional sports leagues historically did not take action against domestic violence involving their employees, following the corporate model of limiting oversight to issues that occurred within the workplace. But in 2014, a video leaked of then-baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice hitting his then-fiancee in an elevator, and everything changed.
MLB, which had never suspended a player for domestic violence, confronted the issue in August 2015 with a mission to be proactive and avoid the public relations nightmare that had befallen the NFL.
“It became clear to us over the years that, because we’re a sports league, a highly public social institution, the public holds our players and frankly our employees to a higher standard,” said Dan Halem, MLB’S deputy commissioner and chief legal officer. “Our players, particularly, are role models. Domestic violence and sexual assault were areas that we felt we needed to address in a very significant way.
“It takes a lot of resources, a lot of education. I can’t really say that we’re totally equipped for it. We are a sports league.”
By electing to suspend players, leagues are inviting more attention on the poor behavior. The news cycle extends, and the situations can become more awkward for the player and franchise by the day. That, in some ways, is by design.
“It’s a crime in the shadows, and that’s a problem, right?” Halem said. “When there’s not great awareness about it, it makes it less likely that the victims of it have the access to resources that they need to better the situation. Taking this out of the shadows is a positive.”
Across the sports landscape, the spotlight on the issue is now ever-present. This week, headlines in Cleveland focused on the minicamp debut of Browns running back Kareem Hunt, who was released by the Kansas City Chiefs midseason last year after a video leaked of him shoving and kicking a woman. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell levied an eightgame suspension for the 2019 season, but that did not stop the Browns from signing Hunt.
Back in Kansas City, the Chiefs are now investigating star wide receiver Tyreek Hill, whose girlfriend on a leaked audio recording accused him of breaking the arm of their young son. In 2016, the Chiefs drafted Hill despite accusations of him punching and choking the same woman in 2014 while Hill played at Oklahoma State.
No matter what happens to Hill in the justice system – the Johnson County (Kan.) district attorney has reopened an investigation because of the audio _ he is now firmly in Goodell’s crosshairs.