Detroit Tigers’ outfielder Delmon Young will lose $250,000 in pay and has been banned from the field for seven days after being charged with assaulting a man and yelling anti-Semitic hate statements in New York last week.
The ban is retroactive to last Friday, allowing Young to return to the field this Friday, subject to a positive report by a therapist. With a yearly salary of $6.75 million, he will lose a week’s pay amounting to $250,000.
Major League Baseball officials described the assault as “the incident that occurred in New York last week.” He allegedly was under the influence of alcohol, screamed at four tourists giving money to a Jewish panhandler, and yelled anti-Semitic slurs while assaulting one of the men.
Young still faces trial May 29 for a charge of aggravated harassment, which carries a sentence of up to one year in jail.
“Those associated with our game should meet the responsibilities and standards that stem from our game’s stature as a social institution,” stated Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
“An incident like this cannot and will not be tolerated. I think that Mr. Young is regretful, and it is my expectation that he will learn from this unfortunate episode,” he added.
The Tigers’ president and general manager, Dave Dombrowski, insisted that some of the allegations reported in the media are not true but he did not say which ones.
“I’m not saying every article, but some were inaccurate,” Dombrowski told reporters.