VIZQUEL CASE FURTHER SCARRED BY WHITE SOX COVER-UP

After spinning an amicable parting with a Double-A manager in 2019, the Sox are caught in a Field of Schemes — now saying they fired Vizquel as a suit alleges he sexually harassed an autistic batboy

     Repulsive as this story is, the cover-up might be as twisted. It centers around an autistic man who has accused former major-league star Omar Vizquel of “sexually aggressive behavior’’ on multiple occasions in 2019, when Vizquel managed the minor-league Birmingham Barons and the man was a 23-year-old batboy for the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.

     In a civil lawsuit filed last week against Vizquel, the White Sox and the Barons, Vizquel is alleged to have “deliberately exposed his erect or partially erect penis’’ to the man at least five times and “forced (him) to wash his back in the shower.” On Aug. 22, 2019, as alleged in the sexual harassment suit, Vizquel had an erection when he ordered the man to “Wash my damn back!’’ with soap. The man complied, with the lawsuit stating he was “humiliated, intimidated, and frightened of what would happen if he disobeyed.’’

     If this is a grotesquely disturbing set of allegations, it gets worse. The White Sox have been caught in a gross distortion, stating Saturday that they fired Vizquel as a result of a subsequent internal investigation when, in fact, their public story at the time mentioned nothing about the investigation or the allegations. The team waited three months before announcing an “amicable’’ parting with Vizquel through a published story by a team-friendly MLB.com reporter, in which a White Sox personnel executive wished Vizquel “well’’ and called him “a positive influence’’ in his time with the Barons.

     By attempting to whitewash the very allegations that they now say they investigated — under the current legal threat — the White Sox allowed an alleged sexual abuser of an autistic batboy to move on with his life with their public blessing. Furthermore, according to the suit, the man alleges he was “constructively discharged’’ from his batboy position after the Vizquel episodes — as supported by an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission probe and June 2021 ruling — and wants back pay and damages, accusing the White Sox and Barons of violating the Americans With Disabilities Act.

     This is not the way, obviously, to mass-market good, clean, family fun at Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field, where the Sox are contending this season for their first World Series appearance since their last title in 2005. And it is not a story the franchise or Major League Baseball want hovering this week, as the Sox prepare to play the New York Yankees in a made-for-TV “Field Of Dreams’’ game amid outfield cornstalks in Dyersville, Iowa.

     That is a baseball romance from a movie adapted off a novel. The Vizquel case is anything but.

     Not until a few days before Thanksgiving 2019, when few in the sports world were paying attention, did the White Sox confirm that Vizquel was leaving the Barons. The move was explained by Chris Getz, the team’s director of player development, to longtime MLB.com reporter Scott Merkin in a Nov. 20 story headlined, “Vizquel, White Sox amicably part ways.’’ On the same webpage, still available online as of Sunday, there was a link to buy White Sox game tickets.

     “Listen, Omar, ultra-talented player, very good instructor, created a good environment for our players,’’ Getz said. “We just felt with where things are at, our player development system, that it was time to go separate ways. But not only for himself, but for the organization as well and we wish Omar well. He was a positive influence while he was here.’’

     Let’s run back two quotes: “HE WAS A POSITIVE INFLUENCE WHILE HE WAS HERE’’ ... “(HE) CREATED A GOOD ENVIRONMENT FOR OUR PLAYERS.’’

     In the annals of corporate-level fact-spinning, this sinks to the bottom of the sewer.

     While awaiting what happens in the civil case, filed in U.S. District Court in Alabama, the White Sox have their own dirty dealing to explain. They apparently won’t be doing so anytime soon, backing away from the story in their Saturday statement: “Because this is active litigation, at this time the White Sox will not comment further regarding the allegations included in this lawsuit." In the same statement, they acknowledge investigating Vizquel at the time and finding reason to fire him, stating, “After first learning of an alleged incident in late August 2019, the Chicago White Sox conducted an internal investigation that resulted in the termination of the organization's relationship with Omar Vizquel."

     So why not come clean then with the real reason for Vizquel’s firing? Why not do so immediately that September — when they now say they fired Vizquel, according to The Athletic? The reasons are obvious: Why damage the organization’s image in Chicago and Birmingham, made famous in baseball circles when Michael Jordan moonlighted with the Barons in the ‘90s, when the White Sox could dismiss it as a simple offseason baseball move? With a non-public face such as Getz speaking for the organization — not team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf or general manager Rick Hahn — the Sox could disseminate the desired spin in late November without drawing much attention to a scandalous story.

     Reinsdorf underestimated the wherewithal of the former batboy, who adds in the complaint that he was subjected to “disability discrimination’’ and mocked by his supervisors and members of Vizquel’s coaching staff, who allegedly “laughed at the sexual harassment, further compounding the trauma and humiliation.’’ Now 25, the man claims to have “substantial impairments in processing information, handling stressful situations, successfully maintaining interpersonal relations, and in activities such as driving and working.” He says his autism made him a target for teasing during his youth and that his 2019 appointment by the Barons, as one of five team batboys, was a proud moment. The experience turned ugly, he alleges, when Vizquel told him that he enjoyed having sex with men.

     An attorney for the Barons, Bryance Metheny, also released a statement after the lawsuit first was reported by sports law blog Conduct Detrimental, following up an original report by The Athletic of an unspecified incident between Vizquel and a Birmingham clubhouse worker. “When the Barons learned an alleged improper incident occurred involving Mr. Vizquel, it worked in conjunction with the Chicago White Sox to conduct an investigation,’’ Metheny said. “After that investigation, Mr. Vizquel was terminated. The Barons will have no further comment on active litigation.”

     By now acknowledging they dismissed Vizquel after an investigation, the White Sox appear headed for a legal loss. Certainly, amid a pennant run, they’ll want no part of a public courtroom airing. The former batboy alleges that “the White Sox, their minor-league affiliates, including the Barons, regarded such sexual harassment as mere entertainment and failed to take remedial or corrective action.’’ Months later, Vizquel was accused by his wife, Blanca, of physical abuse; he was arrested once but never has been charged. Recently, reports ESPN, he was fired as manager of the Tijuana Bulls of the Mexican Baseball League. At 54, Vizquel likely won’t manage professionally again.

     The White Sox, a careless operation long ignored by national media as Chicago’s No. 2 baseball team, often are in the news for controversial reasons. Manager Tony La Russa was hired last winter at age 76 after two DUI busts, the latest of which wasn’t publicly known until after he was hired by Reinsdorf, his longtime friend and confidante. Studio TV analyst Ozzie Guillen, who works for a Chicago cable channel part-owned by Reinsdorf, has a history of slurs — including the type of homophobic remark that led to Thom Brennaman’s firing last year as lead voice of the Cincinnati Reds.

     Anyone who saw “The Last Dance,’’ the docuseries about the rise and premature fall of the Jordan Bulls, has an idea of how Reinsdorf does business. As someone who covered his teams for 17 years as a Chicago columnist, I am not surprised by the latest story — and cover-up.

     Field Of Dreams?

     Try Field of Schemes.

     Jay Mariotti, called “the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes sports columns for Substack and a Wednesday media column for Barrett Sports Media while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts in production today. He’s an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and radio talk host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects. Compensation for this column is donated to the Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust.