Sox sign Aroldis Chapman

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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So....September 13, Sox in the thick of the playoff race, Saturday game in Fenway against the Yankees. Judge is up in the 9th with a chance to give NY the lead and the Sox have Chapman on the mound. Two out. The count runs full before Chapman blows him away with a 99 mph fastball, ending the game, vaulting the Sox ahead of NY for the lead in the AL East.

Who here is cheering?
End of the day, the Red Sox are a business. Chapman is objectively a bad human being. Nobody here disputes this fact. The Red Sox made a business decision to hire someone with a bad domestic violence history. They will own that decision.

It’s unfortunate that Sox fans now have to face a personal choice of watching a team they love with a gigantic turd on it or boycotting and, thus, depriving themselves of entertainment on a team that has a lot to he excited about.

It’s just like the NFL. We’re all going to complain but, when push comes to shove, 99.9% of us will still follow this team and support them despite the presence of Chapman. Is it honorable? No. But it’s the reality and the Sox ownership (a group that has been taking advantage of their fan base’s loyalty for years now), knows this.
 

RS2004foreever

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Dec 15, 2022
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Sports kind of forces us to in this way. We invest so much emotional energy into our favorite teams, it's hard to just turn it off. Might be much easier to boo Chapman when he fails, but yeah, people here are going to cheer when he gets that big strikeout in the 9th inning to seal a win. I know we're not cheering him personally, but rather the fact that he is helping our favorite team win.
This is why it sucks - it turns us into hypocrites.
 

OCab44

New Member
Nov 30, 2024
106
Gotta love the moral outrage. When he comes in in the 7th with 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs and strikes out a Lefty you will love it.
 

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
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PedroisGod

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Aug 30, 2002
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End of the day, the Red Sox are a business. Chapman is objectively a bad human being. Nobody here disputes this fact. The Red Sox made a business decision to hire someone with a bad domestic violence history. They will own that decision.

It’s unfortunate that Sox fans now have to face a personal choice of watching a team they love with a gigantic turd on it or boycotting and, thus, depriving themselves of entertainment on a team that has a lot to he excited about.

It’s just like the NFL. We’re all going to complain but, when push comes to shove, 99.9% of us will still follow this team and support them despite the presence of Chapman. Is it honorable? No. But it’s the reality and the Sox ownership (a group that has been taking advantage of their fan base’s loyalty for years now), knows this.
Yeah, there is a lot that makes me feel hypocritical with this. On one hand, I wouldn't have signed him because I think there are plenty of pitchers who aren't abusers who the Red Sox could have signed to help them. On the other hand, from a strictly baseball perspective I think it's a really good move and it makes a lot of sense. But if it was me that was making the decision, I wouldn't have done it.

Another thing that makes me feel like a hypocrite - I don't like Chapman and would rather he not be on the Red Sox, but I love Derek Lowe and Manny Ramirez.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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This might be a negative aspect of Theo Epstein being back as a senior advisor, he was president in Chicago when they obtained Chapman in 2016. I'm not in the rooms to see how and if these transgressions are weighed, but would Breslow be emboldened to sign Chapman if Epstein wasn't around to vouch for him from his time with the Cubs?
 

BeantownIdaho

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Dec 5, 2005
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Nampa, Idaho
After the investigation , he was never convicted of domestic violence (due mainly to the changing of witness stories) ..... apologized publicly for firing the gun and admitted it was bad judgement...served a 30 day suspension that cost him close to 2 million, attended required counseling ....has not had any other issues (at least that I can find) since the 2015 incident - 9 years ago. What else does he need to do?
 

bosox1534

New Member
Dec 17, 2022
348
After the investigation , he was never convicted of domestic violence (due mainly to the changing of witness stories) ..... apologized publicly for firing the gun and admitted it was bad judgement...served a 30 day suspension that cost him close to 2 million, attended required counseling ....has not had any other issues (at least that I can find) since the 2015 incident - 9 years ago. What else does he need to do?
Exactly my point. He is really good at baseball, so he should continue to play as long as he is able.
 

Yo La Tengo

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Nov 21, 2005
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Another thing that makes me feel like a hypocrite - I don't like Chapman and would rather he not be on the Red Sox, but I love Derek Lowe and Manny Ramirez.
I have the same feeling of hypocrisy and will add David Ortiz to your list of Manny Ramirez and Derek Lowe, who have all been accused of domestic violence.
 

ngruz25

Bibby
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Sep 20, 2005
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If we’re doing a Remembrance of Scumbags and Abusers Past thread, I don’t believe I’ve seen old friend Julio Lugo’s name in this thread.

I also just remembered that he’s dead.
 

Delicious Sponge

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After the investigation , he was never convicted of domestic violence (due mainly to the changing of witness stories) ..... apologized publicly for firing the gun and admitted it was bad judgement...served a 30 day suspension that cost him close to 2 million, attended required counseling ....has not had any other issues (at least that I can find) since the 2015 incident - 9 years ago. What else does he need to do?
+1
 

OCab44

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Nov 30, 2024
106
This might be a negative aspect of Theo Epstein being back as a senior advisor, he was president in Chicago when they obtained Chapman in 2016. I'm not in the rooms to see how and if these transgressions are weighed, but would Breslow be emboldened to sign Chapman if Epstein wasn't around to vouch for him from his time with the Cubs?
Forgot about Theo. I'm now getting frightening flashbacks to the acquisitions of Edgar Renteria, Coco Crisp, and the worst of all time, Julio Lugo. Make it STOOOOOOOOP!
 

OCab44

New Member
Nov 30, 2024
106
If we’re doing a Remembrance of Scumbags and Abusers Past thread, I don’t believe I’ve seen old friend Julio Lugo’s name in this thread.

I also just remembered that he’s dead.
The worst move of all of Theo's horrendous moves.

Replacing Cabrera with Renteria 3rd worst
Replacing Damon with Crisp 2nd
Signing Lugo worst of all.
 

brs3

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I love those who talk about baseball being a business and Chapman being so good he should be allowed to keep playing. I agree totally.

He should be playing elsewhere, and he should be on the receiving end of enormous home runs from Red Sox hitters. I will not celebrate his accomplishments. He's a distraction to my baseball joy. Even if he strikes out the last guy to win the World Series.

Remove the domestic stuff(I won't, but you can). He quit on the Yankees when they left him off the roster. He packed his bags and went home. This was only 2 years ago. This guy is a self centered loser.

My guess? They're hoping he has enough in the tank to be worth a couple prospects in a trade midseason on their way to another middling .500 season.
 

NJ_Sox_Fan

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I don’t like him, but he will be useful likely

If this is the suffering we have to endure to make the Soto signing a reality, I’m all for it
 

LoLsapien

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Jul 5, 2022
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Thanks.

I'll amend to "he sucks" as a person.

But again, Ozuna (Braves), Urias (Dodgers), Chapman himself (Cubs, Yankees), Duran and Steven Wright (Red Sox).

He's more the latest in a long line of "these guys suck" but they often end up on teams we want to emulate. I'd have rather signed Kirby Yates to 2/$20m/$10m, but plenty of a$$hats on MLB rosters.
What did Duran do, except for the vax thing? Houck also falls into that category, but to me that makes Duran more of a dumbass than an actually horrible human being. Way, way different category from those other guys.
 

LeoCarrillo

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Oct 13, 2008
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Which is part of human nature.
Sports fans are uniquely forgiving. Because sports fans want to tap into that feeling of when they were 8 years old and first walked into Fenway and saw the brilliant green grass and thought all the players were super guys. (Although the Gulden's mustard took some getting used to.) So now they're hypocrites knowing that half of their heroes are flawed or worse (or much worse). But they won't stop watching games on TV. How many people here are gonna cancel their mlb.tv (beside the one poster a page or two back) and not watch the Sox this season? Don't use human nature as cheap absolution. Either a) stop watching the Sox as long as this despicable person is on the team, b) own your hypocrisy in watching the Sox; or c) kill your inner 8 year old and resolve yourself to the fact that a sizable percentage of professional athletes are, on balance or in their worst moments, massive shitbirds.
 

Rich Garces Belly

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I’d still like one more end of the bullpen addition. I’d love David Robertson on a one year deal as well, I think he would be the perfect last major piece with his K ability.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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After the investigation , he was never convicted of domestic violence (due mainly to the changing of witness stories) ..... apologized publicly for firing the gun and admitted it was bad judgement...served a 30 day suspension that cost him close to 2 million, attended required counseling ....has not had any other issues (at least that I can find) since the 2015 incident - 9 years ago. What else does he need to do?
I'm not saying Chapman shouldn't play baseball ANYWHERE, just that I'd prefer it not be with my team. But then again, I am not as high on him as some are in this thread.
 

bosox1534

New Member
Dec 17, 2022
348
Sports fans are uniquely forgiving. Because sports fans want to tap into that feeling of when they were 8 years old and first walked into Fenway and saw the brilliant green grass and thought all the players were super guys. (Although the Gulden's mustard took some getting used to.) So now they're hypocrites knowing that half of their heroes are flawed or worse (or much worse). But they won't stop watching games on TV. How many people here are gonna cancel their mlb.tv (beside the one poster a page or two back) and not watch the Sox this season? Don't use human nature as cheap absolution. Either a) stop watching the Sox as long as this despicable person is on the team, b) own your hypocrisy in watching the Sox; or c) kill your inner 8 year old and resolve yourself to the fact that a sizable percentage of professional athletes are, on balance or in their worst moments, massive shitbirds.
Couldn’t agree more, thanks for being a realist.
 

Reggie's Racquet

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After the investigation , he was never convicted of domestic violence (due mainly to the changing of witness stories) ..... apologized publicly for firing the gun and admitted it was bad judgement...served a 30 day suspension that cost him close to 2 million, attended required counseling ....has not had any other issues (at least that I can find) since the 2015 incident - 9 years ago. What else does he need to do?
Exactly. I don't condone what he "allegedly" did but he was never charged or prosecuted for domestic violence for whatever reason.
He did his time, attended counseling and hasn't had an issue since.
 

Otis Foster

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Jul 18, 2005
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What did Duran do, except for the vax thing? Houck also falls into that category, but to me that makes Duran more of a dumbass than an actually horrible human being. Way, way different category from those other guys.
Memories are short. He got into a nasty spat with a fan last season and called him a homophobic slur.
 

YTF

Member
SoSH Member
This might be a negative aspect of Theo Epstein being back as a senior advisor, he was president in Chicago when they obtained Chapman in 2016. I'm not in the rooms to see how and if these transgressions are weighed, but would Breslow be emboldened to sign Chapman if Epstein wasn't around to vouch for him from his time with the Cubs?
Epstein and Breslow are close. Any conversations between the two would likely have happen regardless of Theo's current position.
 

BaseballJones

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Oct 1, 2015
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Sports fans are uniquely forgiving. Because sports fans want to tap into that feeling of when they were 8 years old and first walked into Fenway and saw the brilliant green grass and thought all the players were super guys. (Although the Gulden's mustard took some getting used to.) So now they're hypocrites knowing that half of their heroes are flawed or worse (or much worse). But they won't stop watching games on TV. How many people here are gonna cancel their mlb.tv (beside the one poster a page or two back) and not watch the Sox this season? Don't use human nature as cheap absolution. Either a) stop watching the Sox as long as this despicable person is on the team, b) own your hypocrisy in watching the Sox; or c) kill your inner 8 year old and resolve yourself to the fact that a sizable percentage of professional athletes are, on balance or in their worst moments, massive shitbirds.
Just like the rest of humanity. I'm quite confident that there are people held in high regard here in SOSH that have done some things that, if they ever came to light, would result in quite a different view of them.

I'm not defending Chapman, so please don't mistake this for that. I'm not a fan of this signing at all. I'm simply saying that if you take any sampling of people, a good percentage of them will have done some pretty awful or (at best) highly questionable things at some point in their lives.
 

mikcou

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After the investigation , he was never convicted of domestic violence (due mainly to the changing of witness stories) ..... apologized publicly for firing the gun and admitted it was bad judgement...served a 30 day suspension that cost him close to 2 million, attended required counseling ....has not had any other issues (at least that I can find) since the 2015 incident - 9 years ago. What else does he need to do?
There are some things that are never going away no matter what the person does afterwards. Choking your girlfriend and then shooting a gun in a garage is in that ultra shitty non-Aaron Hernandez level basket

The only thing I'll be rooting for when he is on the mound is for his arm to blow out so I never have to see him again.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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I love those who talk about baseball being a business and Chapman being so good he should be allowed to keep playing. I agree totally.

He should be playing elsewhere, and he should be on the receiving end of enormous home runs from Red Sox hitters. I will not celebrate his accomplishments. He's a distraction to my baseball joy. Even if he strikes out the last guy to win the World Series.

Remove the domestic stuff(I won't, but you can). He quit on the Yankees when they left him off the roster. He packed his bags and went home. This was only 2 years ago. This guy is a self centered loser.

My guess? They're hoping he has enough in the tank to be worth a couple prospects in a trade midseason on their way to another middling .500 season.
You will not celebrate his accomplishments? Great. Hopefully Sox ownership takes notice of this resounding message you’ll be sending.
 

Myt1

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Keep in mind Chapman has been signed by several teams since this incident occurred. For those upset with the Red Sox, are you equally upset with the Yankees, Cubs, Royals, Rangers and Pirates?
Yes. Also, I don’t have tickets to those teams.

Thanks for the history lesson that literally everyone is aware of, though.
 

YTF

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What did Duran do, except for the vax thing? Houck also falls into that category, but to me that makes Duran more of a dumbass than an actually horrible human being. Way, way different category from those other guys.
Not to go all V&N here, but right or wrong broad assumptions base from one thing can often used to make other connections used to form opinions on a person.
 

E5 Yaz

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The Corey Kluber/Davis Ross Theory of Red Soc Game Threads in 2025

Denial: "You can't make me root for this guy"
Anger: "I'm so pissed that he's being used in a big spot"
Bargaining: "Well, at least the jerk got out of the jam"
Depression: "I feel dirty for being glad he did his job"
Acceptance: WATER!!!!
 

mjs

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Mar 30, 2020
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I am open to giving someone another chance if they've done some work to make themselves better as a human. Maybe Chapman has. I'm waiting to read the reports of him being an awesome teammate and giving back to the community. I watched a clip of him answering questions after setting the record of most strikeouts by a lefty reliever, and he seems capable of not acting like a POS, so I can imagine how some people are willing to give him a chance. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9TB9Qlb4OA


But, this is just a crappy move by the Red Sox and Craig Breslow as far as putting together a team that fans can support without feeling disgusted, conflicted, hypocritical, etc. Rooting for a team is supposed to be fun (minus the heartache of losing, of course) and this player will make it less fun to be a BoSox fan this year. Two thumbs down and in the dirt.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Chapman is a total POS, full stop.

It does bring up the question of what a player can do after such an incident, or after one like Duran's, to prove they have been chastened by their actions, have learned from them, and will continually strive to be better people going forward. I don't have an answer to that question, but I wonder if others do.