HOUSTON – Houston Astros owner Jim Crane apologized to sportswriter Stephanie Apstein in a letter after the organization questioned the writer's professionalism following her report on the inappropriate comments made by Brandon Taubman, former Astros assistant general manager.
Taubman had taunted a group of female reporters with "inappropriate comments" about the signing of Robert Osuna, a pitcher accused of domestic violence.
In a report published in Sports Illustrated, sportswriter Stephanie Apstein said Taubman had an "offensive and frightening" outburst during which he "turned to a group of three female reporters, including one wearing a purple domestic-violence awareness bracelet, and yelled, half a dozen times, 'Thank God we got (Roberto) Osuna! I'm so f------ glad we got Osuna."
The Astros initially denied the exchange had taken place the way it was portrayed in the article but several reporters who were in the vicinity when it happened, including the Houston Chronicle's Hunter Atkins, tweeted that they could confirm the Sports Illustrated reporter's account.
The Astros and Major League Baseball conducted an investigation into the incident and on Thursday the Astros released a statement apologizing to Apstein and announcing Taubman's termination.
The Astros announce that they have terminated assistant GM Brandon Taubman in the aftermath of the recent clubhouse incident and @stephapstein's article on Monday pic.twitter.com/F8VNo2lIfH
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 24, 2019