By Chris Graham
Major League Baseball has recently come out with a domestic violence/child abuse policy. While it is a start, the policy is very weak overall. If you read the policy, that fits on one page, you will see that it leaves a lot of doors open and a lot left to be desired. It has no concrete punishments. This policy is basically up to the Commissioner (just like the NFL, and we all know how well that has gone).
In my view, if a league is really serious they would have a very specific layout and tough punishments already outlined for offenders. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred better take this seriously and not hand down “punishments” like the NFL that are a complete joke. Here is how MLB’s policy reads in part under discipline:
“The Commissioner shall have authority to discipline a player who commits an act of domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse for just cause. There are no minimum or maximum penalty prescribed under the policy, but rather the Commissioner can issue the discipline he believes is appropriate in light of the severity of the conduct. The Commissioner’s authority to discipline is not dependent on whether the player is convicted or pleads guilty to a crime.”
Plain and simply put? This leads to a whole bunch of loop holes and open doors. The MLB policy is probably very similar to how the NFL’s policy reads. To me, this verbiage will cater to special treatment of the big name players. It’s all about the dollars, and if a player puts butts in the seats, they will most likely receive a lenient punishment so as not to miss too many games and thus not losing too much revenue for the team and league alike.
Hopefully Manfred has a shred of common sense in his head and will hand down punishments regardless of the player’s “star status.” We have seen NFL players repeat these dastardly crimes over and over again with no serious recourse. Why? It’s simple: The punishment is not severe enough and the players have no real reason to change or stop.
Don’t get me wrong, some of the policy is good, and like I said it IS a start. I like the fact that it says the player will be taken off the field during investigation and still be paid. I believe in this because there are some bogus accusations out there from time to time and the player deserves a fair investigation. Also the policy states that all levels of baseball will be put through domestic violence awareness which I think is the best way to try and prevent it before it happens.
A lot of work to do if you ask me. The policy is not nearly tough enough and was more than likely put out there to appease the public and the advocates to end domestic violence/child abuse.
Take a real and substantial stand MLB. I hope they make vast improvements to this policy quickly.
