Coco Crisp Arrested

Former Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp had a run-in with the law early Wednesday morning. While driving in Scottsdale, AZ (home of the Oakland Athletics Spring Training complex), Coco was pulled over and detained on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. He was released from jail a short while later and arrived at the stadium in time for pre-game drills before the Athletics faced the Cleveland Indians this afternoon. He did not play in the game and it appears the team will investigate this situation and determine if there will be any disciplinary action. Does anyone else sense a DUI trend this Spring?

Coco is the third major league player to be charged with a DUI during Spring training this year, with the most high-profile case belonging to the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera. He was arrested last month in Florida and Indians’ Austin Kearns was arrested on February 12th in Kentucky. Kearns’ incident happen just prior to Spring training, but for the purposes of argument, is considered to be an incident this Spring. This is a troubling trend, to put it lightly, and frankly, is hugely concerning. DUIs endanger the lives of everyone on the road, including the driver and any passengers, and is a serious crime, whether it is an MLB player or not. It is even worse if you are an MLB star that millions of fans watching you, looking up to you, and modeling themselves after you.

No disciplinary action will result in the public persona that driving drunk is fine, as long as you don’t hurt or kill anyone else while doing it. That is just a poor way of representing baseball and is honestly, disrespectful to the loyal fans who watch their team play game after game, year after year. The Athletics issued a statement stating they “are aware of the situation and take such matters seriously.” Here’s hoping that isn’t a bunch of talk and the team will back up their words with some type of discipline. This is an awful trend that is getting out of hand.

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