Boston Red Sox veteran DH David Ortiz is making the 2016 season his farewell tour to baseball. However, he isn’t going to head in to the season without making his feelings known on a recent string of domestic violence incidents.
In particular, Ortiz came to the defense of Colorado Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes who was arrested on a domestic violence charge on Oct. 31 while on vacation in Hawaii. Ortiz, who has largely stayed out of the negative press, believes Reyes to be a good guy caught up in a bad situation.
“These are good guys, I feel so bad for them,’’ Ortiz said. “I know Jose well. Jose is not a trouble maker. He’s a good guy.’’
Reyes was alleged to have grabbed his wife by the throat and pushed her in to a sliding glass window during an argument and pled not guilty to the charge of domestic violence against him.
According to Ortiz’s statements to USA Today, that isn’t the Reyes he knows and is saddened to see this happening to him.
“We’re not perfect. We all make mistakes. That’s no excuse, but people are judging him without knowing everything.
“It was something that got out of control, but only he and his wife know exactly what happened. People already are making a judgement on him.
“I just don’t think that’s fair. Give him a chance.”
Reyes is just one of three MLB players caught up in domestic violence situations this offseason. Aroldis Champman of the New York Yankees and Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers were linked to alleged incidents but have not been charged.
MLB has yet to rule on what punishment, if any, those three will face.
For his part, Ortiz has stayed out of the negative headlines often seen with big names in professional sports these days. There’s been no embarrassing clips of him drunk and disorderly on TMZ, no “do you know who I am” moments and a squeaky-clean police record.
He does have his name as one of 104 players who tested positive for a banned substance during anonymous drug testing by MLB back in the day. It’s something he readily acknowledges, but believes came from supplements he was taking at the time.
Despite the squeaky-clean image he’s tried hard to protect, it’s a bit mind boggling he wasn’t a bit more cautious with his comments and how they could be viewed.
