MLB Creates Anonymous Hotline to Report Harassment, Mandates Training
February 9, 2021
Major League Baseball will reportedly take more steps in an effort to curb harassment within the sport.
On Tuesday, Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic reported the league will provide a third-party anonymous hotline that can be used to report harassment. What's more, team executives will go through "anti-harassment and discrimination training" in spring training.
It is notable club executives will be mandated to complete the training since only players previously received such training through the players association.
This news comes after multiple high-profile reports this offseason about club executives sexually harassing women.
On Feb. 1, Ghiroli and Katie Strang of The Athletic reported former New York Mets manager and current Los Angeles Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway allegedly "aggressively pursued at least five women who work in sports media" through actions such as sending inappropriate photographs and commenting on their appearances.
Ghiroli and Strang spoke to five women who said the behavior "spanned at least five years, multiple cities and three teams."
That report followed one on Jan. 18 from Mina Kimes and Jeff Passan of ESPN that detailed the actions of former Mets general manager Jared Porter. Porter sent "explicit, unsolicited texts and images" to a female reporter when he was a member of the Chicago Cubs front office.
One of the 62 consecutive unanswered text messages Porter sent included a photograph of a naked, erect penis.
