The United States Senate had hearings this week regarding domestic violence policies in professional sports. Joe Torre, the executive vice president of the MLB, says the league is close to a new policy that could take effect in 2015.
After a slew of domestic violence incidents that occurred in the NFL this past year, attention has been brought to all of professional sports regarding the issue. As a result, the U.S. Senate has demanded each league cracks down on such incidents, which has representatives of the MLB, NBA, NHL and NFL working to improve their policies.
"The bright light of public attention needs to be turned on at a very high wattage on a problem that exists in the shadows, in a very dark and scary place," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo, via this NBC News article. She also added that the NFL, the NBA, the NHL and Major League Baseball "have probably more power and influence in our country than maybe any other institutions that I can think of."
Torre testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday and said a policy is in place to "make it easier for the commissioner to impose an appropriate level of discipline on players who commit acts of domestic violence or sexual assault and have that discipline be upheld in arbitration," via this ESPN article.
Although the MLB commissioner has the power to discipline players for "just cause" in specific cases where the best interests of baseball are compromised, it's much more difficult for the league to discipline players involved in other cases where there is no proof of a conviction or plea. A prime example of "just cause" is the league's handling of the recent Biogenesis Scandal and Pete Rose's lifetime ban from the MLB for gambling.
The MLB has been proactive on the domestic violence and sexual assault issues. Torre said the league and players' union hope to have the new policy in place by next season. In addition to that, the MLB has hired an outside group to educate players on the subject matter; began forming a steering committee to develop education and training material for teams; and will even have the founder of the Alaska Family Violence Prevention Project speak at this year's MLB Winter Meetings, among other things.
Baseball players have been involved in such domestic violence cases in recent years, so perhaps professional sports are now shying away from the deal-with-it-as-it-happens strategy to avoid what has happened in the NFL this past year.
