Reese Kaplan -- All You Can Do Is Shake Your Head and Say, "WTF?"

By now most of you have heard about the arrest of Pittsburgh Pirates All Star closer Felipe Vazquez on charges of sexual contact with an underage minor.  When confronted he admitted knowing she appeared underage and he estimated her to be about 16 but apparently the communication began when she was 13.  Major League Baseball immediately suspended him pending the investigation and probable trial that will follow.

It got me to thinking about the very many sexual scandals ballplayers have brought upon themselves over the years and wondered if you could indeed field an All Star team with the offending players.  For purposes of this exercise, I’m excluding the domestic violence cases as that is not a sexually driven behavior.

1B

Current Yankee first baseman/DH Edwin Encarnacion is a relative choirboy in this list.  He was sued for $11.5 million and accused of infecting a family friend with two types of venereal diseases when in the Dominican Republic in 2016.  The suit was thrown out for jurisdictional reasons but the issue of whether or not he knowingly did so was never resolved.  The big nod goes to Steve Garvey, the face of the Dodgers during his playing career.  A tell-all book by his now ex-wife Cyndy detailed his very many extramarital affairs, including children with three other women while dating a fourth (who is now the new Mrs. Garvey). 

2B

Although not strictly a second baseman throughout his multipositional career, all-time hits leader Pete Rose was involved in compromising positions with an underage girl which forced the cancellation of a Philadelphia Phillies Bobblehead night in his honor. 

SS

Here we have a few contenders.  Going back a few decades you have the extramarital affair between Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills and America’s sweetheart, Doris Day.  Former Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop and third baseman Jung Ho Kang was prohibited from returning to the USA from his native South Korea due to multiple DUIs, but then he threw in a 2016 sexual assault situation for good measure.  He was released.  Then there are the many exploits of Derek Jeter... 

3B

The hot corner may be so-named due to the exploits of some notable players who found time to bring dishonor to their marriages.  In Chipper Jones’ case, he fathered a child with a Hooter’s waitress while carrying on an 18 month affair.  Then there’s Wade Boggs and his infamous Margo Adams palimony case during which he pleaded to sexual addiction (which apparently required she travel with the club out of town so he could stay with her rather than his wife).  Of course, there’s Alex Rodriguez and his bevy of famous starlets on whom he cheated until finally (theoretically) settling down with Jennifer Lopez.  That did not stop him from a sexting scandal requesting a three-way with a British Playboy Playmate and an unspecified other party just before the nuptials.

OF

You need look no further than the Cleon Jones situation in which he was found naked in a van with a young woman (not his wife) while also in possession of marijuana.  Then there’s former Yankee Luis Polonia who was having sex with a 15 year old in his hotel in Wisconsin.   Former Yankee, Mel Hall, was thought to be so shady that many players’ wives and girlfriends kept their children away from him.  He later was sentenced to 45 years after raping a 12-year-old girl he was coaching on a basketball team.  Later on that was found merely to be the tip of a very sleazy iceberg when it came to Hall and underage girls.  Ironically, the man who replaced Hall on the Yankees, Chad Curtis, was convicted of molesting three teen-aged girls in Michigan where he volunteered to help out. 

C

The Mets made something of a deal with the devil when they brought in wild-eyed Paul Lo Duca to catch for them for two years. The man married to a Playboy model found time to have well documented dalliances with a pair of 19 year olds (in addition to his steroid use which, ironically, might have made consummation of his affairs somewhat more difficult). 

SP

What is it with the NY Yankees when it comes to sex scandals?  They still hold the most flagrant one of its time when pitchers Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson engaged in some wife swapping.  Then there was “gentleman” Roger Clemens who was having his way with aspiring country singer Mindy McCready starting when she was just 15.  The Mets don’t get left out of the mix, however, with David Cone having pleasured himself in the presence of some female fans which lead to the NY Post’s infamous “Weird Sex Act in Bullpen” headline.  Another former Met, Big Sexy Bartolo Colon, is paying to support his “love child” conceived while married to someone else.  Former Rockies (and Yankees) hurler Denny Nagle was picked up for having sex with a prostitute (while married, of course).

RP

There must be a special circle of hell for relievers as not only did Vasquez make this ignominious list, but he’s joined by yet another former Yankee, John Wetteland, who was convicted of having sexually abused a 4 year old. 

Minor League Dishonorable Mentions

While there have been a great many players cut loose inexplicably for their off-the-field behavior, special notice needs to go to current Mexican league player and former Oregon standout Luke Heimlech who repeatedly sexually abused his niece starting at age 4.  In a “Just So Long As They Play Well” moment that would put Steve Howe’s various GMs to shame, the Kansas City Royals floated the idea of drafting this guy until the backlash got so strong that they dropped the notion. 

Then there was an elaborate sting operation perpetrated on chat rooms dedicated to pedophiles that caught 9 people, including former minor league pitcher Michael Schurz of the Houston Astros organization.