New allegations from Kapler's time in LA

[zambonir]

Told of girl’s assault at spring training hotel, Gabe Kapler, Dodgers didn’t...

[Patchmk88]

May not have Gabe as manager for long.

[Philsmania]

That's a good question. The part about the sexual assault didn't come out until after the alleged victim's interactions with Kapler, if I read the article right.

[andyb]

That is what I got from the article. Sounds like he treated it like an underage drinking incident and wanted to keep it quiet. Not an admirable reaction but I bet that was the club's recommendation.

[Austinfan]

The girl isn't exactly the height of credibility, asked how she ended up there, she was invited by the two girls she didn't know but meet on Facebook. Say what?

Not a matter of blaming the victim, but my suspicion is that this is one of those stories where I'd withhold judgement until a lot more details come out.

[julio]

The girl isn't exactly the height of credibility, asked how she ended up there, she was invited by the two girls she didn't know but meet on Facebook. Say what?

Not a matter of blaming the victim, but my suspicion is that this is one of those stories where I'd withhold judgement until a lot more details come out.

"Not a matter of blaming the victim"... but what about that girl?

Sometimes, even if you think something like that, one would think you'd have the sense not to memorialize it permanently on the Internet.

[saycheese]

The optics of this do not look good. I think the article was clear that Kapler followed the Dodgers Attorneys advice but is that enough? I don't know.

I know this, there is some smoke around the way Kapler handled things while with the Dodgers. The Phillies better have a backup plan at manager in case things go south with these allegations.

[flyers19rw]

The Daily Beast originally came out with the story back in October.

Dodgers Were Warned Player Sexually Assaulted a Maid—and Kept It Quiet

It has been reported that after the Dodgers investigation of the incident that they cut ties with one of the players. There also have been rumors that the incident was not reported to MLB as such situations should and that they are looking into it. There also is talk that the DOJ is checking it over as part of an investigation into the Dodgers player recruitment operation in Latin America, probably stemming from all of the shenanigans around the Yasiel Puig signing.

[zambonir]

If you worked for the Phillies I'd fire you AF

It's more about the optics than the ethics at this point. The days of "boys will be boys" is over and it looks really bad. But at the same time, players don't even get fired for domestic violence or alleged sexual assault that they commit while playing for their current teams (or they get traded) so MLB doesn't exactly have a progressive record on this stuff. So unless he is somehow charged (with reckless endangerment or obstruction of justice, something along those lines) I imagine they will try to keep this at bay. Will be interesting to see which columnists call for his head, especially since he's not popular with everyone (including a segment of the fan base of course).

[Philsmania]

Ironically, Kapler's liberal politics are no secret. Allegedly, he and Schilling used to have epic political discussions in the Red Sox clubhouse. It would be striking and sad if he was complicit in the coverup of men behaving badly. But, I guess no less striking and sad than a Democratic governor of Virginia who was elected by standing up to the celebration of the Confederacy waged by his Republican opponent only to subsequently be outed for having once posed for a Halloween costume dressed as a Klansman. Or Bill Clinton and Al Franken compiling strong records on progressive women's issues, all the while being misogynistic pigs themselves.

[California_Dreamin]

I am agnostic where Kapler is concerned...don't really care for him but didn't pull my hair out at some of his moves either but its worth noting that here in SoCal, there was more than one Dodger reporter who indicated one of the reasons the Dodgers gave him such a glowing review to the Phillies was that they would be happy if he joined another organization.

I always thought this was because his views and methods were, shall we say, a bit unorthodox but in hindsight it may well have been that they were hoping this incident would stay hidden under the rug and with Kapler somewhere else it might become a case of "out of sight, out of mind."

Depending on where this goes [it was in the NY Post today] I would surmise that the timing couldn't be worse in regards to the signing of Machado and, in particular, Harper. Players certainly want to know who they will be playing for, at least initially, and Harper and Kapler supposedly had a bromance when they met in Las Vegas.

Does anyone else feel that being a Phillies phan dooms you to be forever disappointed when celebration seems merely a breath away? They seem to have the timing of a terrible driver entering the DMV.

[Austinfan]

My point is that her credibility, ex ante, is not enough to jump to conclusions without corroborating evidence.
A 17 year old girl who has spent time "on the streets" may not be a "naive victim." She may well be a victim of sex trafficking, but also may at the same time be a hustler (baseball player = money).

There are some weird aspects:

"In the email, which the grandmother later provided to police, she explained that she had just received a troubling phone call from her 17-year-old granddaughter, who had run away from home six months ago."

Kapler replied quickly with a phone call, the grandmother later told police, and he apologized and offered to help the granddaughter, “in any way she needed (money for the doctor, food or a place to stay),” the grandmother later told police.
Kapler, in his statement this week, denied offering the girl or her grandmother money.

A few hours later, the grandmother emailed Kapler again. Her granddaughter was now homeless, she wrote; her boyfriend had just kicked her out of his apartment.

“Is there any way you can help her?” she wrote.

Kapler didn’t reply to this email, records show.

According to the girl’s interview with police, she had never met the Dodgers players before that night. She had met the two women just recently “through Facebook,” she explained. One of women was dating one of the Dodgers players, while the other player, whom she identified in the police report, was single.

[zambonir]

You are victim-blaming. Suggesting victims of alleged sexual assault might be "hustling" is victim-blaming. Dismissing women who may have been assaulted by pro or college athletes as, essentially, groupies or party girls who knew what they were getting into is victim-blaming.

[bkox]

The Daily Beast originally came out with the story back in October.

this is actually a totally separate incident. There are now 2 incidents that Kapler has hid

[bkox]

Gotta wonder how this might affect FA signings and players wanting to play for Kapler. Saw someone on twitter say something like this could turn off Harper who is a religious family man.

And you have to wonder if anyone already in the clubhouse already has issues with him because of this

[Squire]

As I read the Wash Post story I have zero problem with how Kapler handled the situation.

[zambonir]

I really don't think this is gonna hurt the Phillies with free agents on its face. I mean, seriously, the argument hasn't changed in that regard. Bryce Harper is not going to take less money because of a team's location or W-L record, and he's not going take less money because he thinks an organization is more ethical. He's gonna take the best offer.

Where it could hurt is if there are serious questions about Kapler staying on as manager. But even that probably doesn't matter. Kapler could get fired in August or next off-season anyway. Harper himself has had what, five managers? It's still the money (and the ownership and GM, more so than the manager).

Sadly, what happened here is pretty normal baseball culture, I doubt anyone in the clubhouse has a problem with it (just like nobody had a problem with Pete Rose's teenage girlfriends in the '70s). If anything they see Kapler as a guy who protects his players and his team. Just like when a team acquires someone who's committed domestic violence. Players say all the right things and then it is forgotten and he's treated like a normal teammate. But some people would like to see that culture change.

[fish]

As I read the Wash Post story I have zero problem with how Kapler handled the situation.

Given what he apparently knew and didn’t know at the time, I agree with that sentiment. His position must have been like having to be the RA for dozens of traveling frat boys.

[Austinfan]

No, this isn't a bunch of frat boys preying on a naive college freshman.

There is something fishy about the whole episode, like meeting the two women recently on Facebook? Yeah, sure.
Now they might have recruited her for a "party," her "boyfriend" might be her pimp (and threw her out when the attention got him nervous), who knows?
The girl had been a runaway for six months, it wasn't like a couple HS friends said let's party with some ballplayers. Who knows the kind of people she was hooked up with, whether she was being used, trafficked, etc.
And Grandma? She sounds like a winner too. Trying to hustle money out of Kapler.

Point is until you have more facts, I'm inclined to doubt everyone in this story.
Me Too doesn't mean every woman who claims abuse is being honest, just that they deserve a fair hearing.

[miker]

I think with any allegation the credibility of the victim must come into play regardless of whether they are male or female. This is essential in fairness to those being accused particularly when people's careers or freedom are being impacted. In fact, one of the standard instructions judges give juries concerns assessing credibility of witnesses. One need look no further than the Tawana Brawley hoax or the Duke lacross players that were falsely accused to know that it can and does happen. I am with AF on this one; there are a lot of red flags.