Rant #1,394: Throw Baseballs, Not Rocks

Baseball's spring training is currently taking place in both Florida and Arizona, and, as I have said many times, that means one thing:

The warmer weather is coming.

After a winter that one would like to forget, we have baseball to remind us that summer, shorts and flip flops are right around the corner.

That is why the following story is so disturbing.

Tanner Rahier, 21, a prospect with the Cincinnati Reds, is in serious trouble after a late-night altercation with his girlfriend. He is accused of throwing a rock at her, hitting her in the head and knocking her out.

The Reds train in Glendale, Arizona, and the police from that city arrested Rahier after midnight on Saturday, and he was booked for felony aggravated assault, and one count of assault with intent to injure.

The reason that these charges are so serious is that the rock the ballplayer allegedly used in the assault reportedly measured eight inches--so yes, this was no pebble--and was considered to be a deadly weapon by police.

Rahier has denied everything at this point, saying that he doesn't even know the woman who claims to be his girlfriend, and he says he didn't throw anything at her.

What can't be denied is that he was drunk when arrested, and he had a court hearing yesterday. I have not heard anything beyond what I am writing here now, so I don't know how the hearing went.

This is a bizarre case, if Rahier's claims are to be believed. It is almost a he said/she said type of thing, but one thing is clear: a woman, whether his girlfriend or not, evidently got hit by a rock thrown by someone, and police believe the rock was thrown by the ballplayer.

Rahier was a second round draft choice, so he is thought to be a real prospect in the Reds' system.

And in this country, you are supposedly innocent until proven guilty, so the Reds really don't have much of a say in any of this; they basically have to wait it out.

Of course, they could release him, based only on the fact that he was found to be drunk, if nothing else.

If he was found to have actually assaulted the woman, it would probably be a real no-brainer, and they would probably have no recourse but to set him free.

Ironically, this incident comes on the heels of Major League Baseball setting up a program in spring training involving a mandatory course on domestic violence. All players and team personnel must attend this course.

I don't know if it has gotten to the Reds yet, but if it has, Rahier, if found to actually have been involved in this incident, is pretty much a dead duck, and he will face the consequences both by the law and by the Reds.

If found guilty, he will become the "poster boy" for domestic violence in baseball, and he will pay a stiff penalty on the field: he probably won't be on one for a long time.

But if he is found innocent of the charges, you have to question the woman's story, and where does that leave Rahier?

He now has a tag of an abuser, whether he wins his case or not. If he loses the case, then yes, he was proven without a shadow of a doubt to be involved in this altercation, and jail time is probably in the offing.

However, if he is found innocent, he will carry around the abuser tag forever.

It really is a fine line being tread here, but you have to put your faith in the courts, that they will find out what actually happened and make sure that it doesn't happen again, whether the ballplayer is found guilty or innocent.

And yes, even with this incident in tow, the warmer weather is coming.

However, hopefully it won't get this hot.

(As an aside, once again, let me wish a happy birthday to my mother, who turns 84 years young today. We had her party over the weekend, but today is her actual birthday, so here's to her, and at least 84 more!)