“I have concluded that Mr. Callaway violated MLB’s policies, and that placement on the Ineligible List is warranted,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said, without releasing any details into what the league’s investigation found.

The Angels fired the 46-year-old Callaway after the league’s announcement.

Callaway was suspended by the Angels in February after five women, in an interview with The Athletic, gave detailed accounts of multiple instances of aggressive, inappropriate acts by Callaway over five years while he was employed by three teams.

Callaway was the Indians’ pitching coach for five years before stints with the Mets, who fired him in 2019 after two mediocre seasons, and the Angels.

“I apologize to the women who shared with investigators any interaction that made them feel uncomfortable,” Callaway said in a statement to ESPN. “To be clear, I never intended to make anyone feel this way and didn’t understand that these interactions might do that or violate MLB policies. However, those are my own blind spots, and I take responsibility for the consequences.

“To say I regret my past poor choices would be an understatement. I remain hopeful that I can return to baseball when eligible at the conclusion of next season, but for now, I plan to work on my own shortcomings and repairing any damage I have caused with my colleagues and, particularly, my family.”

Callaway sent uninvited and sometimes unanswered messages to the women via email, text or social media and asked one to send nude photos in return, according to The Athletic report. He often commented on their appearance in a way that made them uncomfortable and on one occasion “thrust his crotch near the face of a reporter” while she interviewed him.

Another time, he told one of the women he’d share information about the Mets if she got drunk with him, the report said. More than one woman received a shirtless selfie or several from him, and one said he massaged her shoulders in the dugout when he thought nobody was watching, according to the report.

Two of the women said they had been warned about Callaway’s behavior by fellow media members and others in baseball, The Athletic reported.

— With AP

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Mark Fischer