Kid gloves are coming off today. The Houston Astros are the AL Champions. They've reached the World Series for the second time in three years. The Astros are a powerhouse, with no apparent weaknesses on the field. However, they've run into some big trouble off of it. For the uninitiated, Astros assistant GM Brandon Taubman (pictured above) caused a stir on the night Houston won the pennant (October 19th) for his actions in the postgame celebration. According to Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated, Taubman shouted aggressively and profanely at multiple female reporters about how he was "so fucking glad" that the Astros traded for Roberto Osuna, the team's closer. Osuna was accused of domestic violence against the mother of his child back when he pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays in June of 2018. The timing was exceedingly strange. Roberto Osuna had given up a game-tying 2-run home run in the top of the 9th inning to Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu about an hour prior. The Astros only won because of a 2-run walk-off home run by José Altuve, the Championship Series MVP, off Aroldis Chapman (another closer with domestic violence charges to his name). Why was he shouting so exuberantly about Osuna when he was quite frankly, by any metric, the least valuable Astro that night? Well, one of the female reporters to whom Taubman's rant was directed was wearing a domestic violence awareness bracelet. (Later, it was revealed in an NPR report that this rant was directed primarily at this reporter. Taubman had gotten upset at this reporter in previous instances for Tweeting out phone numbers of helplines for domestic abuse when Roberto Osuna took the mound.) The optics were really bad, and somehow they kept getting worse. We expected the Astros to take some action against Taubman and neutralize the situation as well as they could. The Astros soon released a statement. All it did was fan the flames. Sadly, this is what the Astros do. They've fought against the media frequently, like when they barred a Detroit Free Press reporter from interviewing Justin Verlander. And now, when a disturbing report surfaces that some dude in your front office shouted at some female reporters about a domestic abuser, they decided to go after the person who reported it, attempting to ruin Apstein's credibility rather than admit and address any wrongdoing. Worse still, it was revealed that this statement was a bold-faced lie when corroborating reports came out in support of Apstein's article. After we had finally established that yes, this event DID take place, Taubman and Astros owner Jim Crane released a pair of incredibly weak statements. First, Taubman's. Aside from the fact that he still admits no wrongdoing, and claims that his shouting was in support of Osuna and nothing else, check out that last sentence. "I am sorry if anyone was offended by my actions." Now here's an old trick. Sorry you got offended. Apologizing while also placing the blame for this apology at our feet. It's a non-apology that accomplishes nothing. Also maddening was Taubman's crocodile tears about how progressive he is and how he's a family man, as if that mitigates what he said.
Next, Crane's. A nice little palate cleanser paragraph reaffirming the organization's commitment to raising awareness and combating domestic violence. (Look at how much of the franchise's pocket change we raise!) Never mind that Taubman's actions completely contradict this statement, and Taubman isn't exactly a nobody in the organization. Remember, he was an assistant GM for the most advanced and cutting-edge front office in baseball. That statement, along with Taubman's, is dead air. After 5 whole days of tanking their reputability, the Astros finally gave Taubman the boot on October 24th. It's absurd it took this long. The Astros could have washed their hands relatively clean of the subject had they only taken a few hours. Instead, starting with their outright denial of Taubman's freakout ever happening, they've started a battle with the sports media and those who value it. They're an organization that does not value the truth. They used Osuna's suspension as a market inefficiency to get a top closing talent on the cheap, and proceeded to defend him and his nasty little cheerleader from ridicule. Osuna's presence on the team, and Taubman's endorsement of him, is a complete contradiction of all of Houston's "zero tolerance" bluster and poetry about charitable progressivism. Even as Taubman was finally axed from his position, the stink from his statement and that of the team claiming "fake news" lingers after his departure. And I am not content to let it dissipate. I'm an aspiring sportswriter and broadcaster, so I take these matters seriously. America right now hates the media enough. It's unfathomably irresponsible to insinuate that the reporter is not being truthful when they are, because it sets a precedent. If a similar incident were to occur with another organization, like say, the Yankees, fans and casual onlookers alike would feel emboldened to decide that the incident never happened, and point to Houston as an example of the "lying media". If you compromise the media's position here, you encourage more multi-billion dollar organizations to cast aside all codes of ethics simply because you don't want to think about the unpleasant stuff. The Astros, as I mentioned earlier, are already in a contentious relationship with the media. Now the tension has reached a fever pitch. The ignorant among us will assume that Taubman's firing means it's gone and we can forgive and forget. That's exactly what the Astros want. For the sake of our integrity as journalists, we have to keep them accountable. They must apologize to Stephanie Apstein. They must apologize to Sports Illustrated. They must reaffirm their commitment not just to domestic violence awareness and prevention, but the truth. And they have to take actual concrete steps to prove it. As long as Roberto Osuna still wears an Astros jersey, and as long as they continue to discredit reputable journalism whenever their image is threatened, they have failed that mission. That's all from me on this issue. Jeez, remember when the worst part about the World Series was just "it's Boston again"? Simpler times. Innocent times. Don't worry; fun baseball posts will be back soon. Rawlings announced their Gold Glove Award nominees and I have some TAKES. And today I learned the award has an innings qualifier. Explains a lot. See you then. Keep your eyes open, y'all.
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About MeI'm Jeremy, and I like baseball. Watching it and writing about it mainly. This is where the latter goes. My other hobbies include video games, singing, biking, and slacking off. I live in New Jersey and go to school at Goucher College in Baltimore. That's me on TV! If you want a better look, check out this video. Watch the stands on Kyle Lewis' home run very closely. Look for the skinny guy with the Yankees hat.
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