Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright has been suspended 15 games without pay for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy. He is not expected to appeal, though he maintains that the incident in question never got physical.
The suspension stems from a December incident in which Wright was arrested for domestic assault against his wife, Shannon. He was charged, but the case was retired soon after. If he commits no further offenses for 12 months, it is expected the charges will be dropped.
Back in February, Wright told reporters:
“It’s tough because I really want to at least tell my side of the story… Because when it comes out [initially], you obviously think of the worst. But it wasn’t that bad. Especially on a personal level, especially because I never touched her. And that’s probably the hardest thing for me, to like sit there and see people like talk about being a wife-beater and all that stuff, when I didn’t even make physical contact. But that’s pretty much all I’m allowed to really say right now.”
This week, Wright said that he and his wife have been going to counseling and are “working through it… trying to do as much as we can to put it past us.”
Though Wright is currently on the Disabled List after undergoing knee surgery, time on the DL during the regular season does not count as time served toward his suspension, meaning he will miss the additional 15 games only once he is actually healthy enough to have pitched in them. Wright did pitch in this week’s disastrous outing against the Orioles, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits.
The fact that sports leagues even need to have these policies is awful. I’m not going to compare Steven Wright to someone like Ray Rice, but if there’s enough of a domestic issue to require arrest and suspension, you’re not a good man in my book.
Men, just don’t hurt your women in any way. It’s not that difficult of a concept to wrap your head around, or, it really shouldn’t be.
UPDATE:
Photo: Eagle Tribune
