MLB and players union to discuss domestic abuse policy
Major League Baseball has scheduled a meeting this week with the players union to discuss and develop a policy regarding domestic abuse, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported on Monday.
The announcement comes after a week in which domestic violence loomed large over the NFL, highlighted by Baltimore running back Ray Rice's dismissal from the team and indefinite suspension from the league due to the emergence of video showing him striking his wife in a casino elevator.
• Reports: Ray Rice will appeal indefinite suspension on Monday
In a statement released to USA Today Sports, Commissioner Bud Selig said:
I constantly say that baseball is a social institution with very important social responsibilities...Domestic violence is one of the worst forms of societal conduct. We understand the responsibility of Baseball to quickly and firmly address off-field conduct by our players, even potentially in situations in which the criminal justice system does not do so.
Major League Baseball has been slow to address domestic abuse involving its players in the past. According to Nightengale, the most recent discipline for a domestic abuse charge was a 10-day suspension handed down to then-Seattle Mariners pitcher Julio Mateo over a 2007 incident.
- Christopher Woody
