TORONTO — There is an ongoing and long-overdue reckoning within baseball, and the clubhouse culture cop-out no longer flies.
After more allegations surfaced this week in a detailed report by The Athletic of Mickey Callaway’s sexually inappropriate behaviour during his seven years with the Cleveland Baseball Team, Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins became a central figure, one who needed to answer some questions surrounding what he knew and what he didn’t during his time with that organization.
In the report, 22 people who interacted with Callaway during his time in Cleveland, 12 of them former employees, said they found it hard to believe high-ranking officials in that organization did not know what was going on.
Atkins, who was Cleveland’s director of player development at the time, was one of the executives who originally hired Callaway in 2010 to be the Low-A pitching coach.
From there, Atkins had a hand in promoting Callaway on numerous occasions, all the way up to the time he became the big-league pitching coach in 2013.
The allegations against Callaway are extensive and disturbing and seem to outline an organizational culture that looked the other way.
Atkins is vehement that wasn’t the case.
Now five-plus years into his tenure as Blue Jays GM after joining former Cleveland president Mark Shapiro in Toronto in late 2015, the 47-year-old addressed the media on a Zoom call Thursday morning.
Atkins was direct.
“I can tell you with 100 per cent certainty and confidence that I was not aware of those allegations,” he said.
“No, I wasn’t [aware] and that is very unfortunate that I wasn’t, and I regret that as a leader. It’s our responsibility to ensure that our staff feel safe, supported, and I deeply apologize to anyone who ever faced harassment or didn’t feel comfortable to come forward. This the type of behaviour that is not tolerated, should not be tolerated and something that we need to work harder on in the game, in this industry, in this world, to ensure that it doesn’t happen. It’s a very difficult and troubling situation.”
Atkins stepping in front of the media comes a month after Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said the club was unaware of the alleged behaviour, which prompted more women to come forward to The Athletic saying they believed that wasn’t the case.
The report detailed repeated complaints and attempts to alert high-ranking Cleveland officials and that Callaway’s behaviour was “the worst-kept secret in baseball.”
“All of it is so disheartening and sad on so many fronts and to think about it going back that far is very difficult for me, personally,” Atkins said Thursday.
“As I said, I was absolutely not aware of these allegations and deeply saddened by the fact to read those players’ comments and see that as a failure on my part – that there weren’t the proper channels for someone to feel safe, to come forward. As a leader in that organization, that’s heartbreaking for me. My thoughts immediately went to the women I work with here today, the women I worked with in Cleveland, and I’m heartbroken that we weren’t creating the right environment to come forward.”
Atkins added that he “felt good” about the people who were leading that organization and the culture that Shapiro, his current boss and the reason he’s the Jays’ general manager in the first place, created there.
In Toronto, Atkins and Jays’ brass have built their core values on respect and communication, having talked about hiring more women and creating a more diverse workplace on numerous occasions.
Some of their recent hires at various levels of the organization prove that to be true. Atkins said their hiring process has evolved and gotten better with time, but he admitted it clearly wasn’t good enough.
“We feel good about our current process, but we can’t rest on that,” Atkins said. “There’s no room for complacency there. The fact that this occurred, the fact that that happened on our watch and on my watch, is very difficult for me and again I apologize deeply to anyone that felt harassed or wasn’t able to come forward.”
An anonymous MLB hotline is now in place and Atkins said the Blue Jays have an anonymous route through human resources that his employees can use.
“There are several avenues for people to come forward and we’re striving to improve upon that,” Atkins said. “We see it as our responsibility to make sure our staff feel safe and comfortable coming forward.”
Atkins said he hasn’t not been contacted by Major League Baseball during its ongoing investigation into the matter, but would be willing to help in any way possible.
Not only did Atkins hire Callaway, but as with any close co-worker relationship that spans many years, they’ve also been described by many as friends.
“At this point, my relationship with Mickey is to try to understand how I’ve failed, how I failed the Cleveland Indians,” Atkins said. “That’s how I would describe it. I feel horrible for his family, but mostly my attention and my energy as I’ve thought about the incident has gone to people who were harassed or those that weren’t comfortable coming forward.
“When you work with someone on a regular basis you establish relationships and it is very difficult again for me to think about the fact this could’ve occurred under my leadership, under the leadership of others, not just me,” he added. “It’s very difficult for me to process that and to think about what I could have done better, why I wasn’t aware, and why people weren’t comfortable coming and telling us they weren’t feeling safe or feeling harassed.”
On the heels of a Houston Astros front office member taunting a female reporter in 2019 about a domestic violence incident — that one, as we all know, has Jays’ ties in a way, too, since it was about former closer Roberto Osuna — and Jared Porter’s one-month tenure as New York Mets GM ending swiftly earlier this year after it was revealed he sent explicit, unsolicited texts to a female reporter in 2016, the Callaway allegations are another example of baseball men not getting away with things they would have even as recently as five years ago.
From women working in front offices to merchandising departments to the reporters dealing with players, Atkins recognizes things still need to continue to change and it starts with how people are treated initially, as well as how seriously complaints are taken when they do arise.
“We are far too male and far too white,” Atkins said. “And that is a problem we want to address.
“There is no doubt in my mind that we have to create a better environment for all women in the workplace and that certainly includes the reporters.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
