Even the so-called "good guys" are not immune to scandalous reports.
CBSSports.com is reporting that Major League Baseball Iron Man and Hall of Famer Cal Ripken has been accused of, and is flatly denying allegations of rookie hazing and physical abuse toward former Baltimore Orioles teammate Gregg Zaun.
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According to CBSSports.com, Zaun, a one-time catcher with the Orioles who spent 16 years in the majors with nine different teams, told a Canadian radio station that Ripken was one of a handful of players who "physically abused" him during their time together in Baltimore.
AndrewStoeten.com transcribed Zaun's interview with the radio station, and in it, he said:
"If I had a dollar for every time Cal worked me over, physically, I'd be a pretty wealthy guy. He still owes me a suit! He told me flat out, he said, 'You are never to come past this point into the back of the plane, under no circumstances.' So, I'm in my first suit that I paid for myself as a Major League player, feelin' real frisky, and Cal says, 'I need you to come here.'
"And all of a sudden I crossed over that imaginary barrier line. He tackled me, wrestled me to the ground. They had just got done eating a bunch of blue crabs in the back of the plane, so there was nothing but mud and Old Bay seasoning everywhere. He throws me to the ground and he tears my suit off of me, and I'm like, 'What are you doing?' And he goes, 'Remember when I said that under no circumstances do you come back here?' I'm like, 'Well you just told me to!' 'I said under no circumstances, and that includes when I ask you to come back here.' "
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Ripken responded to Zaun's accusations Monday to "The School of Roch" on MASNSports.com:
"I talked to him because he's a friend of mine. I consider him a good friend," Ripken said. "I don't know how it got all out of whack. He apologized and said he used the wrong words. There was no abuse, there was no hazing. It doesn't do anything for team unity. He knows that and everybody who knows me knows that."
That report, however, went on to say that horseplay did take place involving Ripken that wasn't confined to rookies. It went on to say that rookie Armando Benitez was livid when veterans took his suit out of his locker and provided outrageous clothes to wear and that Ripken was the one who "calmed him down and stayed with him."
CBSSports.com said Brady Anderson, also part of the veterans Zaun claimed were in on the abuse, denied the allegation.
"I never did that to anyone," Anderson said. "I don't believe in rookie hazing or status based on tenure and that nonsense. Hated it then and wouldn't put up with it as a rookie, and certainly didn't carry on a tradition I thought was absurd."
For his part, Zaun later said his words were twisted by the media and apologized for any drama he caused, saying that he was trying to say that he was cocky as a rookie but guidance by Ripken and others helped humble him toward the game and that it was a good experience."
But as CBSSports.com noted, Anderson didn't defend Ripken; he just said he was never involved in what Zaun described and never denied that hazing didn't take place.
Do you think Gregg Zaun's comments about Cal Ripken were blown out of proportion? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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