04/19/24
October 22, 2019
Astros Exec Celebrated ALCS Win by Taunting Female Reporters: The start of the World Series is clouded by the way a Houston Astros assistant GM behaved in the clubhouse after the team beat the New York Yankees in the ALCS. Brandon Taubman shouted at three female reporters, "Thank God we got Osuna! I'm so f------ glad we got Osuna!" The Astros acquired closer Roberto Osuna at a bargain price from the Toronto Blue Jays while he was serving a 75-game suspension for alleged domestic violence. The flak Houston took for picking him up didn't sit well with Taubman, apparently. The Astros' denial that he taunted the women was refuted by two other reporters who witnessed the bizarre incident.
That should remove any doubt about the motivation for Taubman's abusive behavior. It takes a special breed of jerk to feel aggrieved because it didn't sit well with some people that his championship-caliber team signed an alleged domestic abuser.
posted by rcade at 09:25 PM on October 22, 2019
Agreed. I may have initially veered toward the wrong conclusion after reading whichever headline I saw or heard this morning, but after reading the SI piece shortly thereafter, it was clear that this guy was making an effort to be a dick. And that's separate, even, from whether or not Houston should have been interested in signing Osuna in the first place.
posted by bender at 01:12 AM on October 23, 2019
signed an alleged domestic abuser
Traded for, giving up a pretty good reliever in the process.
posted by tommybiden at 08:36 AM on October 23, 2019
Traded for, giving up a pretty good reliever in the process.
Does that make a difference?
posted by bender at 09:38 AM on October 23, 2019
"What we really don't know is the intent behind the inappropriate comments he made. We may never know that because the person who said them and the people who heard them, at least up to this point, have different perspectives."
They've now moved on to the "he said, she said" defense!
Whoever is being paid to handle this PR nightmare for the Astros should ALSO be fired.
posted by grum@work at 03:44 PM on October 23, 2019
If the Astros win the Series, they may be the first franchise whose front office gets invited to the White House instead of the players.
If the Astros lose the Series, they may be the first franchise whose front office gets invited to the White House instead of the winning hometown team.
posted by beaverboard at 11:39 PM on October 23, 2019
Traded for ...
Thanks for the correction.
Taubman has been deservedly fired.
posted by rcade at 08:43 PM on October 24, 2019
But wait, IF YOU CAN BELIEVE IT, there's STILL MORE!
If there is a university course out there that teaches about public relations, this whole matter should be a chapter in the text book called "Cautionary Tale: How To Do Everything Wrong".
The Astros handling of this has been so bad, they've blown off every goddamn toe at this point with how many times they've shot themselves in the foot.
posted by grum@work at 11:31 PM on October 24, 2019
But wait, there's more!
NEWS: Astros assistant GM Brandon Taubman was targeting a female reporter wearing a purple bracelet on domestic violence.
She has tweeted frequently on DV; he complained about her tweets offering info on DV hotlines when Roberto Osuna appeared in Astros games in 2018.