Houston Astros clubhouse episode motivated by anger at reporter, per report

The Houston Astros clubhouse incident between assistant general manager Brandon Taubman and a group of reporters, with Taubman aggressively shouting at them about how happy he was that the Astros acquired pitcher Roberto Osuna, was motivated by Taubman’s displeasure at one of the reporters having tweeted about domestic violence, per NPR.

David Folkenfilk says that the altercation was because one of the female reporters, who was wearing a purple bracelet for domestic violence awareness, would tweet the number of a domestic violence hotline when Osuna came into the game for the Houston Astros in 2018. Osuna was acquired by Houston last year from the Toronto Blue Jays after Osuna was suspended for 75 games due to (apparently credible) allegations he beat his girlfriend.

Per Folkenfilk, Taubman “complained about her tweets.” So apparently, Taubman took the post-game celebration in the clubhouse as an opportunity to let her, and others around her, know how he felt about Osuna and, by implication, her complaints.

The Astros initially released an aggressive statement yesterday denying the allegations and essentially blaming the reporter for fabricating a story. After multiple sources confirmed the incident to multiple outlets, Taubman and owner Jim Crane released statements today offering apologies of sorts. MLB has released a statement saying they are investigating the incident.

Quite a story to be hanging over the team as the World Series starts today.