TAMPA – A group of professional athletes who take a serious problem seriously.
Sounds basic enough, doesn’t it? However, in the case of the Yankees and Domingo German, it felt annoying. We’re not used to teammates starting each other, as several Yankees have now done to German, the pitcher trying to get back from an 81-game suspension for violating major domestic violence protocols. League Baseball.
Many of you don’t like this, based on readers’ emails. Like it or not, however, it’s real and it’s not over.
As he tries to rehabilitate his baseball career, the German will operate with a lack of confidence – “skating on thin ice”, as Luke Voit said on Wednesday – with the people he needs most.
German took the next step by speaking at a Zoom press conference on Wednesday, and the 28-year-old took care of the pregnancy without any problems. Through an interpreter, the native of the Dominican Republic took responsibility for his actions on September 16, 2019 and acknowledged that I must “prove that I can certainly become a better person and let my actions speak for me.”
That session lasted over 30 minutes, ending at about 1:40 p.m. Less than an hour later, Voit uttered his German news quote of the day, saying, “We have our backs, but they are skating on thin ice and they have to get their lives together.” To a large extent, Voit added: “It turned upside down. Many guys look at him differently now, but I believe in the second chance, and the guy deserves the second chance. ”
Giancarlo Stanton, more diplomatic while still supporting his point of view, added: “In the club, we all have difficult things, some much worse than others. But it is our job to support them properly when given the opportunity. ”
Throw in Zack Britton’s words from last week – “Sometimes you don’t get to control who your teammates are and that’s the situation” – and you have a clear picture that the German is facing an upward climb.
But it is not impossible. Voit and Stanton both voiced support, and on Wednesday, German, who apologized to his colleagues on Tuesday, praised Britton for offering “great advice on how I can improve” and expressed understanding for Britton’s sharp rhetoric.
“He did enough to win the opportunity to be here and compete and be part of this team,” manager Aaron Boone said of German. “Now the proof is in the daily life he leads.
In general, we do not hear such severity from teammates when a player returns from a long suspension, whether it is domestic violence or illegal drugs that improve performance. When the Mets re-signed Jose Reyes in 2016, after Reyes was given a 52-game suspension for a domestic violence penalty, while with the Rockies, team captain David Wright called Reyes’ actions “awful, terrible ”, but fully unconditionally supported the decision. He loved the sinner and hated sin, the standard game in these situations.
When Astros switched with Blue Jays’ Roberto Osuna in 2018 amid Osuna’s 75-game domestic violence suspension, Houston veteran pitcher Justin Verlander, who did not seem pleased, told reporters: “It’s a difficult situation. I think what we need to remember here is that the details did not come to light. We don’t know the whole story. ”
To reiterate a recent point, the Yankees know most, if not all, of German’s story. They lived it in real time. The fact that it took place a few weeks before the postseason, that it certainly affected the team’s chances of the Astros surviving in the American League (they didn’t), shouldn’t matter in the big picture, though. the German felt compelled to say: in his press conference: “When my team needed me the most in 2019, before the playoffs started, I was not there for them. And for that, I apologize. ”
Yankees players seem willing to forgive while not forgetting. To try to work without pressing the reset button.
I take it seriously. Good for them. If I manage to take advantage of this seriousness to help the German to put his life back and restore his professional viability? Even better.