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Chris H.
14 years ago

It’ll be interesting to see the reactions.  Most likely possibilities:

(1) It’ll die down rapidly and be quickly forgotten, as happens sometimes with movie stars or athletes (e.g. Sammy Sosa)

(2) It’ll be mega-hyped until—and this is not to minimize what Cabrera evidently did, as it appears to be quite horrible—it is blown out of proportion to the point where Cabrera is compared to Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Hitler, and so forth.

Rarely do we hit the middle ground of an appropriate reaction.  Mind you, some of this will depend on how information continues to bubble to the surface.

Fish
14 years ago

In Aaron’s post (and many other pieces addressing this story), it’s often said that Cabrera was “over the legal limit.” This seems misleading to me. He was over the legal limit to drive, yes, but I haven’t heard of a law prescribing how measuredly drunk one may get outside of the context of driving.

In any case, working up a 0.26 the night before a must-win game is pretty inexcusable.

The Rabbit
14 years ago

As a female, I take strong exception to domestic violence.  I also believe in innocence until proven guilty (I know that’s a novelty in today’s world) and require all the circumstances surrounding the event before I arrive at a conclusion.
What I don’t know is if the Mrs. got pissed and smacked him first and he reacted as a drunk.  That doesn’t excuse it but it does explain it, particularly if there’s no domestic history of this kind of behavior.
This is a different issue than what he could possibly be thinking when he was out drinking til 5 AM the night before these games. Although, there are rumors circulating that some of the 1960’s Yankees did the same thing.

Wells
14 years ago

Doesn’t Detroit hate that guy enough despite having a really solid season? This should certainly help things in the PR department.

Rob²
14 years ago

With all this and the extra 10,000 seats at the Metrodome tomorrow, does Detroit have a chance?

Jake
14 years ago

podcasts and other non-textual media make Baby Jesus cry.

Chris H.
14 years ago

Rabbit, I agree with everything you said.  That will not, however, stop everyone from jumping to conclusions (either one way or the other). 

Self-righteous column will be landing in 5…4…3…

Michael
14 years ago

Yes, innocent until proven guilty (although we all know that in domestic violence cases there are LOTS of ways for a guilty husband to not be “proven” guilty).

The bigger problem is that every time we allow a team (and a sport) to sweep a Bobby Cox or Randy Myers under the rug without punishment, it enables others to feel it’s a minor issue that should be “handled internally” and quickly “put behind them.”

It’s the shame of baseball.

The Rabbit
14 years ago

Michael, you are absolutely correct.  There are many ways for the guilty abuser husband to be judged not guilty. However, in the interest of fairness between the genders, we all know of cases where women have accused their husbands of domestic abuse or worse in matters of custody, divorce, or just out of plain spitefulness. (Congreve was on the mark when he wrote: “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned / Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.”)
It’s truly unfortunate that they are willing to commit perjury and abuse the “system” because domestic abuse is a real problem in this country and not just the shame of baseball.
Today’s MSM lives for controversy and is almost never “fair and balanced.”  I’m just not willing to jump to conclusions until I have the entire story which is not (and may never be) available.

Aaron Moreno
14 years ago

This should end his career. You can’t have a human being like that in this game. I know the difference between fame and virtue, and I know it’s a business, but Brett Myers should no longer be allowed near a baseball field.