Domestic Violence-Private Matter?

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MrsSpringsteen

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Assuming these witnesses are telling the truth as to what they saw (I have no reason to believe they aren't)-this happened on a very public street,why didn't anyone seemingly even try to intervene? I have seen TV shows in which they stage these types of incidents and see if people will intervene or not. Maybe when and if more facts emerge it will come out that some one or some people did, but I doubt it.

And why does his team think it is so "private"? This attitude, that it is private and to be "hidden, hushed up" somehow is one thing that contributes to perpetuating domestic violence. If the wife's alleged statements are true, this appears to be one incident in a pattern. And even one incident is not acceptable as far as I'm concerned-yes people get angry, drunk, etc-but you don't hit your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend or pull them by the hair-any of that. Yes legally he deserves his day in court (if it ever even goes to court) -and nothing can be done by the team until then, I suppose. His wife bailed him out too, so we shall see what happens with her and any possible charges, etc. That tends to be the dynamic of domestic violence. And punch vs slap-is that really an important distinction?

But I find it all quite troubling-he didn't even wait to do it in private :|

By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff | June 24, 2006

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Brett Myers and his wife were walking back from a bar late Thursday night to their Back Bay hotel when an argument broke out. Authorities and witnesses say Myers then assaulted his wife, leaving her sitting on the sidewalk with a swollen face, crying.

She told police her husband hit her in the face twice with his fist, according to the police report. Witnesses said he slapped her and then pulled her off the ground by her hair.

Myers, 25, and the Phillies were in Boston for a series with the Red Sox.

The player was arraigned yesterday in Boston Municipal Court on charges of assault and battery. He was released after pleading not guilty, according to David Procopio, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

Kim Myers, 28, bailed her husband out by posting $200 shortly after the arrest.

Procopio said it is unclear whether Myers punched his wife or slapped her.

Myers declined to comment at Fenway Park yesterday, referring reporters to his lawyer. Two calls to his lawyer were not returned.

The team's general manager, Pat Gillick, said, ``Certainly the Phillies are here and are ready to support not only Brett and Kim, but any of our players."

Myers, who won 13 games for the Phillies last season, is considered one of the team's top starting pitchers . He will face Curt Schilling at Fenway Park today as planned, according to Larry Shenk, a Phillies spokesman.

Courtney Knight, 26, who witnessed the alleged attack at 900 Boylston St. with two friends, said in a telephone interview that Myers seemed ``really angry."

``He was dragging her by the hair and slapping her across the face," Knight said. ``She was yelling, `I'm not going to let you do this to me anymore.' "

Knight said the 6-foot-4 -inch, 240-pound ballplayer dwarfed his wife, whom police report at 5 feet 4 inches and 120 pounds.

``She's a real small girl," Knight said. ``It was awful."

Knight said Myers was undeterred by the presence of her and her friends.

``He had her on the ground," Knight said. ``He was trying to get her to go, and she was resisting. She curled up and sat on the ground. He was pulling her, her shirt was up around her neck. . . . He could have cared less that we were there."

One of her friends, Sly Egidio, 30, of East Boston, said Myers appeared to pull his wife ``out of her shoes" before hitting her.

``I watched him just haul off and smack her in the face," Egidio said. ``She said: `I'm tired of this. I'm all done.' "

Egidio said Kim Myers was on the ground crying when her husband pulled her up by her hair.

``This was violent," Egidio said. ``This was wrong. Even if it was a Red Sox [player], I would have done something. And I love the Red Sox." Egidio works for Boston Baseball magazine, distributing it at Fenway.

The report said that officers responded to the 911 call at 12:26 a.m. and found Kim Myers crying and with a slight swelling on the left side of her face.

The police report said a woman accompanying the player and his wife told police they were fighting because he wanted to return to their hotel and she did not. She also told police she saw Myers pull his wife toward the hotel but did not see him strike her.

Shenk, the Phillies spokesman, declined to discuss how the team's management treats domestic violence.

``Out of respect for the privacy of both Kim and Brett Myers, the Phillies will not comment on this incident until the matter is resolved by the court," said a statement released by the team yesterday.

Mike Teevan, a spokesman for Major League Baseball, said the league has no policy requiring suspension of players charged or convicted in domestic violence cases.

``We're obviously very concerned about it," Teevan said. ``But it was an off-field incident and it's the player's private life. We're going to let the legal system run its course."

According to a Major League Baseball website, Myers married Kim Wickman in 2002 and they have a 3-year-old daughter.

Myers's next court date is Aug. 4, but the municipal court judge ruled that he does not have to attend the session.
 
This is a horrible story. I hate bullies of any kind. I hope his Major League career is over. If he was in the Army - he would be done for. I wish other organizations were as strict.
 
By Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe Columnist | June 25, 2006

Here's a toast to the fans who filled Fenway Park yesterday afternoon. David Ortiz rewarded the throng with yet another walkoff wonder, but this crowd did itself proud long before Big Papi unloaded his latest game-winning thunderbolt.

We salute the 35,564 because they delivered a message that Major League Baseball and the shameful Philadelphia Phillies were too chicken to send. They booed an alleged wife-beater, Phillies starting pitcher Brett Myers.

Myers didn't have his good stuff yesterday. The Sox reached him for 3 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in only 5 innings. They made him throw a whopping 115 pitches just to get through those five frames.

Myers was allowed to pitch in front of the sellout crowd and a national television audience just 36 hours after he was arrested for allegedly twice hitting his wife in the head with his fist as the two argued on a sidewalk near their Boston hotel. He is free on $200 bail, and after his performance yesterday, the most he could say about the sorry episode was, ``I'm sorry it had to get public. Of course, it's embarrassing . . . But my teammates have been great. They've been behind me 100 percent. That's all I've got."

What a league. What a country. Myers is Philadelphia's best pitcher. The Phils are trying to snap out of a losing spell and . . . well, you know, he's innocent until proven guilty and he has a right to make a living.

And so he was out there throwing cut fastballs and changeups on a misty, humid afternoon. Nice message for all the young folks watching at home and in the stands.

It's just plain wrong. It's an embarrassment to baseball and an embarrassment to the Phillies. At the very least, Myers would have been better off if he'd been sent home to start counseling with his wife. Or maybe someone in authority could have condemned domestic violence -- in the generic sense. Instead all we got was ``the game must go on" -- 36 hours after a man was arrested for beating his wife.

According to the Phillies press guide, Myers was an amateur boxer until he was 13 years old. Now, if we can believe the Boston police and a couple of eyewitnesses, he just hits women half his size

...

Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel and general manager Pat Gillick pledged their support (``not a big distraction" said Manuel)

`It didn't surprise me at all," Manuel said, reiterating that there was never any discussion about Myers not taking his turn in the rotation. ``He was gonna pitch. I thought he could handle it. He did handle it. I thought he handled it pretty good. I'm sure he'll get booed at home."

When Myers came out to speak to the media, a fawning nitwit asked if events of these last few days made things ``difficult for you?"

Don't you love it? Let's ask the perp if all this controversy regarding his arrest has made it difficult for him to play baseball.

He said he did his best to focus on the game. Then he was asked if he knew why Boston fans were booing him with such gusto.

``Yeah."

Does he think it will happen elsewhere?

``Probably."

In Philadelphia?

``I don't know. We'll see."

Anything you want to say to the fans, Brett?

``I just want to give my all every time out there."

Any regrets about what happened?

``I'm not even supposed to talk about the issue."

That's when he came out with the ``sorry it had to get public" line.

Enough.

Some Red Sox fans no doubt remember Wil Cordero, who was arrested for hitting his wife with a telephone when the two lived in Cambridge in 1997. The Sox took Cordero out of the lineup immediately and he sat for eight games before he was reinstated. Cordero was released at the end of the '97 season.

Former Red Sox pitcher Wes Gardner was arrested for hitting his wife at the club's Baltimore hotel in August of 1989. Like Myers, Gardner was allowed to make his next start, two days later.

That was 17 years ago. We are supposed to be more enlightened today, more mindful of the seriousness of domestic violence.

Red Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler and his wife, Lisa, have been aggressive spokespersons for domestic violence awareness. Long after Ortiz circled the bases yesterday, Kapler sat in a near-empty clubhouse and said, ``It's important in the work that I do to present what is strong and what is weak and what perception is. To me, strong is being able to control yourself -- when things get difficult, not to lose self-control."

June 24, 2006: Good day for the Red Sox. Good day for the Fenway legions. Bad day for Major League Baseball and the Philadelphia Phillies.
 
I mentioned this in Headache's thread this morning. I'm shocked that MLB or the Phillies didn't do a damn thing in disciplining Myers, just as they didn't do a damn thing to Ozzie Guillen, either, after his stupid comments last week.

Great example you're setting, MLB.
 
Baseball is this guy's job, if you or I did this, would we expect to be fired immediately or punished when a court ruling came down. I'm not defending him at all, but the guy should be able to do his job while the charges are sorted out in court.
 
randhail said:
Baseball is this guy's job, if you or I did this, would we expect to be fired immediately or punished when a court ruling came down. I'm not defending him at all, but the guy should be able to do his job while the charges are sorted out in court.

But you aren't in the spotlight, a role model for children. For better or worse that's what baseball players are, and the league has a certain responsibility.
 
When he was playing on our triple A team, Myers was a fighter--probably gave us our best fight since the no fighting Grotewald rule came down in the minors and I love a baseball fight.

But then he was picking on guys his own size. This requires accountability. Baseball seems to have a habit of disciplining their players, etc. based on productivity vs. nonproductivity and looking through the past, wifebeating was never high on their priority list.
 
It's their (MLB, The Phillies) attitude in entirety that is so troubling, especially to me as a female fan of the sport. Which I said to Dan when I e-mailed him thanking him for his column and for saying what needed to be said.

Dan summed it up perfectly when he said- "It's an embarrassment to baseball and an embarrassment to the Phillies. At the very least, Myers would have been better off if he'd been sent home to start counseling with his wife. Or maybe someone in authority could have condemned domestic violence -- in the generic sense. Instead all we got was ``the game must go on" -- 36 hours after a man was arrested for beating his wife."


Myers will get his day in court, but then again he is "so sorry it had to get public". Hitting your wife, dragging her by the hair,etc. is ok as long as it remains private-and the league and the Phillies are perpetuating that attitude as well.

The fact that MLB doesn't even have a policy to suspend players who are even convicted of domestic violence speaks volumes.
 
What a disgrace! If anything the MLB should have put him on "administrative" leave until found guilty or not guilty. This way the slim ball could still collect a paycheck but unable to play and be seen by thousands of very impressionable kids and adults. They should have benched him and not let him play like nothing had happened.
 
I saw on the news headlines this morning that he's taking a "leave of absence" for "personal reasons". Thank goodness for David and for all the other fine, upstanding men in MLB who counteract the others.

Thank goodness for David Ortiz

By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist | June 28, 2006

When David Ortiz steps to the plate for the Boston Red Sox, you think about a bat connecting with a ball. You don't think about a fist connecting with a wife.

Baseball, tainted badly by the steroid use scandal, is periodically undercut by miscellaneous examples of men behaving badly. Just recently, three fresh illustrations - two from Major League Baseball, one from the minors - were on display.

Brett Myers, starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, was arrested for allegedly twice hitting his wife in the head with his fist as the two argued on a Boston sidewalk. After he was set free on $200 bail, Myers was also free to pitch at Fenway. Before the game, Myers said he was ''sorry it had to get public,'' making him as sorry as anyone who is sorry that he got caught.

Ozzie Guillen, manager of the Chicago White Sox, aimed an expletive and a derogatory term for homosexuals at a sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. He was fined by Commisssioner Bud Selig and ordered to attend sensitivity training - which, Guillen, of course, scoffed at, just as the baseball world is inclined to scoff at the episode as Ozzie being Ozzie.

And Joe Mikulik, manager of the Class A Asheville Tourists, had a big-league meltdown when Lexington's Koby Clemens was called safe on an attempted pickoff play at second base. After ranting, Mikulik started raving - ripping up the second-base bag, throwing a rosin bag into the bullpen, and tossing bats onto the field. This self-indulgent tirade was replayed as a humorous moment on TV.

Think about that message the next time you see a kid do something similar during a Little League game.

These episodes are not all equal. But, collectively, they are variations of a theme far too common in professional sports - a lack of personal self-control, which is often breezily dismissed, especially when the practitioner is considered a winner.

That's when it's nice to think about Ortiz, who, this far into his career, looks like a real winner.

Myers's club gave him a pass on alleged wife-beating, because the Phillies wanted to beat Boston.

The strategy failed. The Sox scored three runs against Myers on seven hits and four walks in five innings.

Boston went on to win, 5-3, on a Ortiz walk-off home run off Phillies pitcher Tom Gordon in the 10th inning.

The New York Times Co., which owns The Boston Globe, owns a piece of the Sox, but that's not why I like Ortiz. I like him because when he is at bat you forget about who owns the club and how much money they are making from overpriced seats and offensive corporate signage. You forget about the people whose primary goal in scoring a ticket is not to watch baseball, but to be seen at Fenway. You forget about all the overpaid, immature, undisciplined slackers and showboaters throughout Major League Baseball who collect their salaries even as they whiff in clutch situations.

Ortiz is certainly well paid.

This spring, the Sox gave him a four-year, $52 million contract extension through 2010. But salary isn't the first thing that comes to mind when Ortiz swings his bat and crushes a ball, often when the game is on the line.

''Folks, it's not that easy,'' Fox broadcaster Tim McCarver said as Big Papi rounded the bases during Saturday's Sox-Phillies showdown.

Ortiz makes it look easy and, in doing so, he makes baseball fun.

Afterward, when sports reporters ask him about his latest heroics, he talks about getting the job done. Baseball is a game he enjoys, but it is also work that he takes seriously.

About the expectations now riding on his every at-bat, Ortiz told the Globe's Bob Ryan: ''You've just got to say, People, it really isn't that easy, so don't get used to it.

There are going to be more times you're not going to do it. But I'm sure people know you try, that you put everything into it. That's all I can do.'' He isn't going to hit a home run during every game, and he can't win every game for the Red Sox.

But, too often, baseball's darker side casts a shadow on the boys of summer. Ortiz makes it possible to think about the sunnier side of America's classic pastime.
 
Myers will leave Phillies through All-Star break

By Dan Gelston, Associated Press | June 28, 2006

PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies pitcher Brett Myers will take a leave of absence through the All-Star break, saying he has embarrassed his family and the team with his arrest last week in Boston on charges that he hit his wife in the face.

Myers, the 25-year-old ace of the Philadelphia staff, said yesterday he asked the team for time off so he can ``concentrate on this matter and make plans for whatever assistance is appropriate."

He was arrested Friday, the day before his scheduled start against the Red Sox, and accused of striking his wife, Kim, on a street not far from Fenway Park. He was freed after his wife posted $200 bail, and he has an Aug. 4 court date for assault charges.

``First, while I dispute that the facts are as alleged, I recognize that my behavior was inappropriate and for that I apologize," Myers said in a statement. ``Second, I recognize that the incident created an embarrassing situation for many people, including my wife and family, my teammates, the Phillies organization, and fans, and I am very sorry for that."

The Phillies' decision to let Myers pitch Saturday was heavily criticized in Philadelphia and a women's group that fights domestic violence called for a suspension.

Team president David Montgomery insisted yesterday the team is not indifferent to spousal abuse.

``We abhor such violence and recognize that it is a very serious problem affecting a substantial number of victims, particularly women, across the country," he said. ``If we have been guilty of delay in expressing these sentiments, we are sorry.
 
MrsSpringsteen said:














Mike Teevan, a spokesman for Major League Baseball, said the league has no policy requiring suspension of players charged or convicted in domestic violence cases.

``We're obviously very concerned about it," Teevan said. ``But it was an off-field incident and it's the player's private life. We're going to let the legal system run its course."



Damn straight let the legal system take it's course,because if he is found guilty as charged, he won't be playing for nobody! And i seriously don't believe this idiot Teevan's statement....there must be some sort of action that they can do in the meantime........what about the messages that are being sent to the kids out there that admire this guy for his sporting achievements.....what?...that this behaviour is acceptable because he is "Red Sox"?
And if he is convicted and if there is no policy.........the major league need to make an example of him!
 
Not that it even matters but Myers plays for the Phillies, not the Sox. But like one article says, the Red Sox have had problems with the same issue in the past.

Unfortunately baseball still has issues with sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. It is reflective of society, but it should strive to be better and to make certain changes in attitude and in policy.
 
MrsSpringsteen said:
Not that it even matters but Myers plays for the Phillies, not the Sox. But like one article says, the Red Sox have had problems with the same issue in the past.

Unfortunately baseball still has issues with sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. It is reflective of society, but it should strive to be better and to make certain changes in attitude and in policy.

Sorry,the phillies then............I agree with you, they do need to make changes, a Cronulla Sharks footballer now understands these changes, see below

NRL sacks Latu
 
"Professional" sports has become such a joke to me. I'm not watching MLB again. What a waste of time, money, and space. This is just the icing on the cake :tsk:
 
Remember this-well this is what happened yesterday. Even with witnesses who were willing to testify. They had one witness on the news who said he was disgusted by the charges being dropped, he said she was knocked right out of her shoes.

BOSTON -- An assault and battery charge against Phillies pitcher Brett Myers was dismissed by a Boston Municipal Court judge on Thursday.

Myers was charged with hitting his wife, Kimberly, in the face on a Back Bay street near Fenway Park on June 23 while the team was in town to play a series against the Boston Red Sox.

Kimberly Myers told the court that she was not hurt and she did not want to go forward with the case. She said the allegations about what transpired that night were not accurate, although she admitted that the couple had been drinking and an argument escalated and got out of hand.

"We went out and we both had a lot to drink. I was not harmed that night, I was not injured. We did have, you know, some contact with each other," Kimberly Myers said.

"Although Mrs. Myers is now telling a slightly different version of events, on the night of the assault, she told two police officers that she was punched in the face with a closed fist by her husband, Mr. Myers," said prosecutor Susan Terrey.

Kimberly Myers said they have no history of domestic violence, describing the event as an "isolated incident." She also added that the couple sought counseling after the incident.

"This profession and lifestyle is hard. My husband travels a lot. The marriage counseling has been a great asset," Kimberly Myers said.

Judge Raymond Dougan said he believed the allegations about the incident, but found no evidence that Kimberly Myers was pressured to have the charges dropped.

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley released a statement Thursday expressing his disappointment with the ruling.

“All of us in my office are deeply disappointed that a Boston Municipal Court judge used his discretionary authority to simultaneously affirm that a man beat his wife on a public street and deny our efforts to hold him responsible," Conley's statment said.

Before the hearing, prosecutors said they did not want to drop the case and wanted a plea deal in which Myers would be found guilty of assault, serve two years of probation, enter a program for spousal abusers and undergo alcohol abuse evaluation.

"We recommended what we believed to be an appropriate sentence. That recommendation was based on the seriousness of the charge, the strength of our case, our investigation into the defendant’s record and the victim’s desires," Conley's statement said.

Conley said Dougan's ruling sent a message to alleged abusers that they can use a statute intended for minor altercations to avoid being held responsible for serious domestic violence charges, adding that his office would seek legislation to close the "legal loophole."

Toni K. Troop -- director of development and public relations at Jane Doe Inc., a statewide coalition against sexual assault and domestic violence -- said that ``marriage counseling can at times be a very helpful step for couples to take."

But in domestic violence cases, such counseling may ``reinforce that this is a problem between the two of them, in his decision to hit his wife and push her to the ground," Troop said.

``Celebrity status along with economic advantage are often factors that offenders can count on as assisting them in evading responsibility through the courts," she added
 
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fly so high! said:


Sorry,the phillies then............I agree with you, they do need to make changes, a Cronulla Sharks footballer now understands these changes, see below

NRL sacks Latu

Ha! The NRL finally pulled it's finger out. Half the league need to be locked away. They're thugs.

Not sure what it's like in the US, but domestic violence really is seen as a private matter here. It's taken the police years to not view it as a domestic, and therefore civil, matter and begin treating it as a criminal offence. Until a clear way forward is found, it must be treated with caution as it can too easily aggravate further assault. And unfortunately further assault is most often likely no matter what the outcome as even in the best circumstances, court orders and the like dont prevent re-offence.
 
LivLuvAndBootlegMusic said:
"Professional" sports has become such a joke to me. I'm not watching MLB again. What a waste of time, money, and space. This is just the icing on the cake :tsk:

Hey, I've stood by my promise. I haven't watched baseball (or any pro sport really, but I used to like baseball)...
 
I think almost everybody could have predicted this would happen. I'm not always the greatest fan of police behavior, but I assume after a while the police wonder, why bother? Even if I expect them to continue to bother. Not being a witness here, I don't know what happened for sure, but I'm inclined to believe it was more than the new story. Looking forward to seeing the jewelry or the new car she got.
 
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