According to a Sports Illustrated piece by reporter Stephanie Apstein, a Houston Astros executive taunted a group of female reporters after Game 6 of the American League Championship Series about alleged domestic abuser Roberto Osuna being on the team’s roster.
Osuna, who gave up a game-tying home run in the ninth inning of Game 6, was suspended for 75 games by Major League Baseball under the league’s domestic violence policy while he was a member of the Blue Jays. Despite that, the Astros traded for him last July.
It was a controversial move at the time and one that many people questioned given that Houston claims to have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to domestic violence.
In the piece, SI alleges assistant general manager Brandon Taubman, aware of the criticism, turned to a group of three female reporters and yelled: ‘Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so (bleeping) glad we got Osuna!’”
According to SI, the GM repeated himself multiple times even though one of the reporters was wearing a purple domestic-violence awareness bracelet.
In a statement, the team strongly refuted what Apstein wrote in the article and called the story “misleading and completely irresponsible.”
“An Astros player was being asked questions about a difficult outing,” the Astros said. “Our executive was supporting the player during a difficult time. His comments had everything to do about the game situation that just occurred and nothing else — they were also not directed toward any specific reporters. We are extremely disappointed in Sports Illustrated‘s attempt to fabricate a story where one does not exist.”
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