Wife-Beater Signs $25 Million Contract
February 2nd, 2007 by Glenn Sacks, MA for Fathers & FamiliesWife-beating Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Brett Myers signed a three-year, $25.75 million contract today. A few comments:
1) I've criticized mandatory/presumptory arrest laws in domestic violence cases, which have led to large numbers of arrests in cases where it is questionable whether the men actually committed any abuse. Worse, "no drop" prosecution policies mandate prosecutions in these questionable cases, where the evidence is so lacking that, were it any other crime, the prosecutors wouldn't dream of prosecuting. Domestic abuse charges (as well as DV restraining orders) are sometimes used as child custody maneuvers by unscrupulous women.
Often the women involved in DV arrests seek to have the charges dropped, because the men did nothing wrong, the women take responsibility for their role in the incident, or the women believe the incident was blown way out of proportion. Prosecutors often refuse to believe these women, and insist on prosecuting their husbands or boyfriends anyway.
Feminists counter--at times correctly--that these drop requests can at times be motivated by economic dependency, because women are unfairly made to feel guilty for nonviolently "provoking" violent men, because they're in denial about the seriousness of their husbands' or boyfriends' violence, or other reasons.
Though I haven't noticed any feminist making this point, the Brett Myers case is the feminist vision of these cases come to life. Abuse charges against Myers were dropped after Kim Myers, his wife, said she did not want her husband prosecuted for hitting her in the face during an argument near Fenway Park in Boston. Kim Myers said:
"'There's no violence in our family. That night in Boston we had both been drinking...I was not hurt. I was not injured."
I believe that, when women claim that the domestic violence incident in which they were involved was blown out of proportion by the police and prosecutors, they are usually correct. In this case, I don't buy it for a minute. Several witnesses saw Brett Myers beating the hell out of Kim Myers. This wasn't a child custody maneuver or a setup--this was wife-beating.
2) Feminists often claim that our society accepts wife-beating, or that wife-beaters suffer no consequences for their actions. I think that's preposterous. However, in the Myers case it's true up to a point--Myers was booed by fans, skewered in the press and suspended by his team. However, after the initial media attention, the incident has been almost completely forgotten. I have had "Brett Myers" on my Google news alerts ever since the July incident and have rarely seen any reference to Myers and domestic violence.
3) If Brett Myers has gotten help for his problem, if he and Kim have worked out their issues, then that's great. But in an era when so many men are arrested on flimsy domestic violence charges, it annoys me that the one guy we can be sure is actually guilty is the guy who gets off largely scot-free. I discussed this issue in my co-authored column Brett Myers Case Obscures an Important Truth About Domestic Violence Arrests (Delaware County Daily Times [Philadelphia], 8/2/06), noting:
"An important truth has been lost in the controversy over the way the Philadelphia Phillies handled pitcher Brett Myers after his recent arrest for spousal abuse. Mrs. Myers’ injuries and the accounts of several witnesses leave little reason to doubt her husband’s culpability. Nevertheless, the Phillies at first reserved judgment about the case, and allowed Myers to pitch.
"This was wrong, as the team admitted after widespread criticism, and Myers was given a leave of absence. However, in many domestic violence cases the men arrested do deserve the open mind and support which the Phillies mistakenly extended Myers...
"Contrary to the charges leveled by the Phillies’ numerous critics, the club wasn’t wrong in its desire to afford its player the benefit of the doubt. The problem is that in Myers’ case there is no doubt. However, the next time an athlete is arrested for domestic violence, there probably will be. Will the team involved turn its back on its player because of the precedent set in the Myers case?"
4) I know I shouldn't be surprised, but is this how much a decent starting pitcher costs these days? Myers is pretty good--gets a lot of strikeouts and can pitch 200+ innings without injury. But his record last year was a good but not great 12-7 with a 3.91 ERA, and he has a career ERA of 4.34.
Then again Barry Zito, who also is not that good, got a $126 million, seven-year contract, which is even sillier. During baseball's endless labor wars I've been (and remain) very much on the side of the Players Association, but I would like to see more of baseball's money trickle down to young players, minor leaguers and stadium workers.
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February 4th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
I disagree completely.
With all due respect, I think you are guilty of "anti-male male chivalry" (I love the term), as you call it. Would you react the same way if Brett Myers had hit a man? Do you see women as helpless before men, needing protection from them by other men? Mrs. Myers is a grown woman who has the criminal justice system, and a vast support network for battered wives, available to her. She is not economically dependent; on the contrary, if she divorced her husband under these cicumstances she would get more than half his wealth. No one can be "made" to feel guilty. Moreover, denial always serves the purposes of the denier. Her psychological problems don't deprive her of volition, and they no more relieve her of responsibility for her behavior than his do him for his behavior. The feminist vision of these cases, which you refer to, can not come to life today: our society offers ample support to women who want it.
Kim Myers would be a genuine victim if she had charged her husband with assault, sought an order of protection, and filed for divorce (assuming it was the first time he had hit her). That she didn't and instead defended him constitutes consent to the abuse, and demonstrates that they have a consensual abusive relationship, for which they are both equally responsible -- as they would be if it were a consensual sado-masochistic relationship. She is not a victim, and deserves no sympathy; he is not a criminal (no matter what the law says), and deserves no vilification.
Because the abuse is consensual, it is a personal matter and no one else's business -- neither the fans', nor the team's, nor yours, nor mine, nor the legal system's. "No-drop" laws are as unjust in this kind of case as in those others for which you rightly deplore them.
(An abused husband who behaves like Kim Myers may indeed be a genuine victim, because, as you have written about so well, he cannot rely on the criminal justice system or support services, and would probably lose his kids in a divorce. Or he may be consenting to abuse, in which case what applies to Mrs. Myers would be true of him as well.)
Let's let Brett and Kim Myers get on with their disturbed marriage, and let him get on with his career.
October 2nd, 2007 at 2:40 am
With no respect, you're a typical male who doesn't know anything about the subject. If there were in fact a vast support network for women in this country, then why do so many battered women end up getting killed by their husbands AFTER they've sought help to get out of the situation? "Women are most likely to be killed when attempting to leave the abuser. In fact, they're at a 75% higher risk than those who stay." And your irresponsible behavior about knowing nothing about facts and laws doesn't change the fact that Brett Myers is a wife-beater and no woman or man in domestic violence ASKS FOR IT. The wife doesn't have to charge her husband, that's what prosecutors are for. He was charged with domestic abuse AND battery, and chances are that it wasn't the first time it happened. It won't be the last time either. She did everything that the typical battered wife does, she cowered. You notice that she didn't drop the charges until AFTER he was already home, so that's quite convenient for him. I don't know where you get this crap from "consensual abusive relationship," but there's no such thing, good try. Sadomasochism is not a relationship type, it's a form of sexual behavior, which has absolutely nothing to do with beating the hell out of someone in public. Do you just pull this out of your ass or something? She is a victim, and deserves my sympathy than her loser husband seems to get from control-freak batterers just like him. "he is not a criminal (no matter what the law says), and deserves no vilification." - You are an idiot if you actually believe that. NO ONE is above the law, not you and not even a trashy pitcher who doesn't know the difference between a homerun and a popup.
"Because the abuse is consensual," - Again, no such thing, move. "it is a personal matter and no one else's business" - yeah right, yet it happened IN PUBLIC so it is others business. You sound like an abusive husband, by the way. "neither the fans', nor the team's, nor yours, nor mine, nor the legal system's." - Again, it was out in the open, it's everyone's business at this point, and it sure as hell is a legal issue, and just because you don't like it that doesn't change that fact. ""No-drop" laws are as unjust in this kind of case as in those others for which you rightly deplore them." - Make some sense then maybe you can give that one another try.
"(An abused husband who behaves like Kim Myers may indeed be a genuine victim, because, as you have written about so well, he cannot rely on the criminal justice system or support services, and would probably lose his kids in a divorce. Or he may be consenting to abuse, in which case what applies to Mrs. Myers would be true of him as well.)" - What the are you talking about? Either way, the battered party is a VICTIM, period. Why would an ABUSED husband lose their kids? Man you are all over the place, make sense next time please.
"Let's let Brett and Kim Myers get on with their disturbed marriage, and let him get on with his career." - A career which he shouldn't have since he's a wife-beater, and a shitty pitcher. What is non-sensical mo-ron like you going to say when his wife ends up dead? "She asked for it," that's what a jerk-off like you would probably say.