Former baseball player and current Washington Nationals assistant hitting coach Jacque Jones was suspended with pay by the team before Game 1 of their NLDS matchup with the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs. While the cause wasn’t immediately revealed, it had to be something serious considering we only knew it was “a legal matter” and the Nationals decided to suspend him right before the playoffs.
The Washington Post revealed that Jones was suspended for allegedly posting naked pics of his ex after they separated. During their relationship, the lawsuit alleged that Jones promised the woman that the pics would be kept between them and then distributed them after they broke up. This is more commonly known as “revenge porn.”
The Post discovered that a civil suit was filed on September 28 in California which names Jones and the Nationals as defendants. It’s unknown as to why the Nationals are named but some legal reasons could be if Jones was using a company/team phone or was distributing those pics to others on the team (no other individuals seem to be named). Even if Jones was using his phone, a lawyer could possibly argue that if Jones was using team wifi at the stadium that it would be enough to name the Nationals in the lawsuit.
In Game 1, the Nationals lost to the Cubs 3-0, manager Dusty Baker was asked about Jones’ absence and whether that affected team performance. Baker kind of deflected the question but didn’t necessarily grasp the seriousness of why Jones was suspended.
“That was kind of a downer before the game because you know, he’s a big part of the team,” Dusty Baker said after Friday’s loss to the Cubs. “I don’t know if that had anything to do with [the loss], but it was a bit of a downer, and we hope that things subside and work themselves out.”
Game 2 between the Nationals and Cubs will take place Saturday at Nationals Park.
[Washington Post/Photo: AP]
