Reports are beginning to arrive that Domingo Germán has been suspended 81 games for his role in a domestic violence incident involving his girlfriend, the mother of one or more of his children.
The ban is retroactive to September 19, 2019 when Germán was placed on administrative leave for the incident. That means he'll miss the first 63 games of the 2020 season.
Here are some things that jump out of the article, at least for me:
- There are still no conclusive reports regarding where the incident took place and who witnessed it. That makes me wonder.
- One possible explanation for the lack of details is that the incident was bad — bad to a point that's apparently unprintable. Here's what makes me think this:
- The Yankees aren't contesting the suspension in any way, shape, or form. To the contrary, the team has issued a statement in support of it.
- From the article:
Despite the lack of a police report, the Major League Baseball Players Association did not contest the administrative leave. It is not expected to appeal the suspension, either.
Sheesh, when a labor union doesn't come to the aid of one of its dues-paying members, it's just not a good sign. - In the absence of a formal police report, the 81-game suspension is the longest MLB has levied under its domestic violence policy to date. It's unprecedented.
My thoughts and prayers are with his victim. It must have been bad.
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11 comments:
MAYBE IT WAS...
MAYBE IT WASN'T.
NO POLICE REPORT.
NO WITNESS STATEMENTS.
IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK THAT WAY IN THIS COUNTRY.
BECAUSE OF THOSE OMISSIONS, THE SUSPENSION SHOULD BE HALF OF WHAT IT IS IN MY OPINION.
SORRY FOR THE VICTIM.
IF THERE WAS ONE.
I agree with Anon and LBJ. It's hard to disagree when there are no facts. The oddest parts in this entire episode is the lack of police report and ostensibly no eye-witness accounts other than the nameless "MLB executive" referred to in the article. I can see the MLBPA going along to get along in order to not appear as condoning violence involving their members. But something doesn't pass the sniff test and as Anon said, this is not how it's supposed work in this country.
I hope someone initiates a FOI request from MLB or the MLBPA and we eventually uncover the truth.
RIGHT ON CARL...
Honestly, I'm usually for full transparency.
In this case, however, it would seem that German's agent/lawyer must have said something along the lines of, "We'll accept whatever suspension you hand down 1) if, you, [German's girlfriend] don't file a report with the police, and 2) you [everyone else] put this to bed IMMEDIATELY and nothing else about it is discussed or shown. Ever."
Of course, that's just a guess but, absent German or his attorney standing in front of a microphone insisting he was denied due process, we have precious little else to go by.
An innocent person, his employer, his attorney, and his union representatives don't normally take full punishment without offering ANY objection.
MY OPINION.
Sorry, no edit button. I should have prefaced the above with "ALL CAPS, Carl W., I'd normally agree and, honestly ...... [as written]
I suspect it IS bad, LBJ...but worse than what we've already seen and heard about, on so many occasions, in several sports? Worse than our closer, shooting up a garage?
And if it IS so bad...why only a half-year suspension?
Again, I have to agree with Carl and ALL-CAPS. I have no idea what the suspension should be...but to have no transparency on this at all???
If German had gone out and killed somebody, we would be told that. If he had raped somebody, or broken into someone's home, or committed a war crime, we would be told that.
But this is the crime that cannot speak it's name? AND this vile, unspeakable criminal...will then be allowed to come back a couple months of the season?
This is not right. Give us at least a general idea of what happened, at least, so we can all judge.
The last time I remember having facts being revealed in a case like this was when, in a divorce proceeding, it was discovered that Denis Potvin beat up his wife. As Paul Harvey would say..."Now you know the REST of the story..."
Saying "that's not how it's supposed to work in this country" is not really applicable. This was not a legal procedure tried in the courts, stemming from a police arrest. It's just like "free speech": if you're on a social media site and the company bans you for being a jerk, there's no claim. It's the company's site and they can do whatever the heck they want. If you're on a soapbox in Union Square and they or the government or the police try to shut you up, then you can complain.
This was an incident that was handled completely off the grid by private organizations and parties. It can work however everyone agrees it will work. The legal system rights we're afforded as citizens do not apply when you're not in the legal system.
But I would really like to know what the hell the guy did. And if it's so bad that he loses half a year and might have cost the team a World Series appearance (or win), you do have to wonder. If it's that bad, why weren't the police brought into it? Why didn't it become a court case?
I also wonder just what a guy would have to do to be banned from baseball. Manslaughter? Putting a woman in a wheelchair?
It's all very murky, and that's not really good for anyone.
In my opinion, the punishment is much too severe. Was it not enough that he was suspended for the playoffs, likely ruining the Yankee postseason? Let's not forget that German was, arguably, the best Yankee pitcher overall during 2019. So the team lost its number 1 pitcher for the postseason and the Houston series might have come out differently with German pitching in one or two games. It could have been German pitching in extra innings instead of Happ in Game 2, for instance.
It's true that we don't know any details, but obviously, he didn't kill her and probably did not inflict any serious injury. Otherwise, I'm sure he would have been arrested and there would have been a police report. Yet, for this, he's getting suspended for half a regular season, with the full 2019 playoffs too?
It would have been more understandable if he had been suspended for the first half of 2020, after last year's postseason concluded.
I forget the year, and it was a different league and a different sport, but I remember Dale Hunter of the Washington Capitals took a cheap shot from behind at the Islanders Pierre Turgeon, after Turgeon had scored a goal during a playoff series, well after the whistle had blown and the play was over. It separated Turgeon's shoulder and he was lost for the rest of that series. It may have cost the Islanders a championship that year. Hunter got only about 20 games suspension, maybe 22, I forget exactly.
Isn't the first suspension for PED use in MLB only half a season? Is what German did worse than what Dale Hunter did to Turgeon and the Islanders? Is it as bad as PED use?
You have to wonder if German gets this suspension if he played for the Houston Astros. My guess is that he would not have been suspended at all in such case. At most, he should have been suspended for the first 20-40 games of the 2020 season.
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