New details emerge about suspended Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway’s behavior
TEMPE, Ariz. — Suspended Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway issued a statement to the Athletic in which he admitted to having extramarital affairs, but continued to deny allegations of sexual harassment against him.
The statement was published Tuesday morning in a report from the Athletic that described new details about Callaway’s alleged behavior toward women. Last month, the Athletic reported the first public allegations against Callaway, when five women in the sports media industry accused him of making inappropriate advances toward them — including comments on their appearance, sending them unsolicited shirtless photos of himself, and in one instance asking for nude photos in return — over a period of five years during which he worked for the Angels, New York Mets and Cleveland Indians.
Tuesday’s report included more details about Callaway’s eight-year tenure in the Indians organization from 2010-17, the final five of which he served as the club’s pitching coach.
Mickey Callaway is under investigation by the MLB over sexual harassment allegations. Matt Wise steps in as the Angels’ interim pitching coach.
The story said he had a reputation for aggressively pursuing women and that the club’s female employees warned one another to stay away from him. In 2015, wives of players on the team were reportedly concerned about an affair they perceived Callaway to be having with one woman who was around the team.
The story also described a consensual affair Callaway had with a married woman in Arizona between 2015 and 2017. When the woman’s husband found out and confronted Callaway in early 2017, an MLB security officer got involved and a report about the matter was filed with MLB.
The husband also reportedly called the Indians’ fan services department so often the situation was brought to the attention of Indians manager Terry Francona, general manager Mike Chernoff and team President Chris Antonetti. Antonetti claimed last month he had no prior knowledge of Callaway’s alleged behavior.
When Callaway was hired by the Mets to be their manager for the 2018 season, the husband also contacted that organization, according to the report, and the matter was brought to the attention of the Mets’ general counsel.
In response to the newly reported details, Callaway emailed this statement to the Athletic:
“While much of the reporting around my behavior has been inaccurate, the truth is that on multiple occasions I have been unfaithful to my wife, and for that I am deeply sorry. What I have never done is use my position to harass or pressure a woman. I am confident that I have never engaged in anything that was non-consensual. I feel truly blessed that my wife and children have stuck with me as the most personal and embarrassing details of my infidelities have been revealed. I will continue to work as hard as I can to repair the rift of trust that I have caused inside of my family.“
The Indians also issued a statement, which read in part: “Our organization continues to actively cooperate with MLB on their investigation into Mickey Callaway. It is important we honor the confidentiality and integrity of that investigation. While we don’t believe the reporting to date reflects who we are as an organization, we will not comment further on the specifics of this matter.”
Callaway has been suspended by the Angels since Feb. 2, the day after the Athletic first published the allegations against him. The team said in a statement at the time it would “work closely with MLB to conduct a full investigation.” An Angels spokesman said Tuesday the team had no additional comment at this time.
Coaching high school baseball at Scottsdale Christian Academy has become a passion for former Angels great Tim Salmon. “This scratches a great itch.”
Because Callaway denied the original allegations, the league and the Angels were compelled to launch the investigation. On Friday, a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly said the league’s investigation remains “ongoing” with no timetable for resolution.
In Callaway’s absence this spring, the Angels named bullpen coach Matt Wise as interim pitching coach. Wise, however, has been restricted to remote instruction since Feb. 20 after testing positive for the coronavirus. His in-person responsibilities are being shared by the rest of the Angels pitching staff in the meantime.
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