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Chris Antonetti: 'Absolutely No Place' for Mickey Callaway's Alleged Behavior
February 5, 2021
Cleveland team president Chris Antonetti renounced coach Mickey Callaway after The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang reported allegations of sexual harassment and lewd behavior against the former New York Mets manager by five women.
Per Ghiroli and Strang, Callaway "aggressively pursued at least five women who work in sports media, sending three of them inappropriate photographs. ... He sent them unsolicited electronic messages and regularly commented on their appearance in a manner that made them uncomfortable." Now the Los Angeles Angels pitching coach, Callaway has been suspended by the team pending an MLB investigation.
“The behaviors described in that article have absolutely no place in any workplace and certainty not in our organization, either,’’ Antonetti told USA Today's Bob Nightengale. “When I read them, I was disturbed, I was distraught and saddened.’’
Callaway spent eight years in Cleveland, working his way up to pitching coach before the Mets hired him as their manager in 2018. He was fired after two seasons in 2019.
As the league looks into the allegations against Callaway, Antonetti told Nightengale that Cleveland will fully cooperate with Major League Baseball and will begin implementing measures to prevent similar harassment from taking place inside the organization.
None of the alleged harassment raised in The Athletic article took place while Callaway was employed by Cleveland.
Antonetti further stated he only became aware of Callaway's alleged behavior when Ghiroli and Strang published their investigation.
Antonetti said:
“It’s my responsibility as a leader of this organization that we redouble our efforts and make sure we have a safe and inclusive environment. And just as important when we don’t … we also have safe channels for them to share that so they can be handled appropriately. We know we have a lot of work to do to create that safe inclusive environment that we want to continue to build organizationally, but I’m committed to make sure that happens.’’
A timeline on the league's investigation remains unclear. MLB teams are expecting pitchers and catchers to report to spring training in two weeks. It remains to be seen whether or not Callaway will be with the Angels to welcome players back to camp.