Yankees' owner Hal Steinbrenner slips up in discussion of Aroldis Chapman's past

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner attempted to speak on behalf of fans when he was asked about Aroldis Chapman's checkered past with domestic violence on Thursday. If the phrase is still commonly known as "forgive and forget," that wasn't quite the message Steinbrenner delivered. In fact, he broke it in half. “[Chapman] admitted he messed up,” Steinbrenner told Bob Nightengale of USA Today at Major League Baseball's owners’ meetings in Palm Beach, Fla. “He paid the penalty, right? Sooner or later we forget, right? That’s the way we’re supposed to be in life. He did everything right, and said everything right, when he was with us, as far as I’m concerned.’’ But was something lost in the translation? Later in the day, Steinbrenner clarified his statement to reporters, saying instead, "Sooner or later, we forgive, right?" "I thought I said ‘forgive,’” Steinbrenner said. “We forgive. That’s what we do — forgive.” Chapman, who signed a five-year, $86 million free agency contract with the Yankees this offseason, was traded in July to the Chicago Cubs for a bevy of prospects. Before that, the 28-year-old reliever played his spring ball in New York after the Yankees acquired him in a 2015 offseason trade with the Cincinnati Reds. But it wasn't Chapman's blistering fastball that made his trade candidacy so intriguing. It was the Reds' astonishingly low price, due to domestic violence allegations surrounding Chapman's name that winter. He ultimately wasn't charged because of insufficient evidence and his girlfriend's failure to cooperate with the police's investigation, but Major League Baseball's own investigation found Chapman in violation of the league's domestic violence policy, which placed him under suspension for 30 games. Despite receiving criticism from some women's groups and fans at the time, it was still good business for the Yankees, and once Chapman was allowed back on the field, his actions became water under the bridge, according to Steinbrenner. "[Yankees fans] love him," he said. "There are so few baseball players that I feel can really get fans to buy a ticket and bring their kids to their game, and he's one of them. “It’s a lot of money for a reliever, but obviously, he’s a special player. He’s about as strong a guy as you’ll ever come across. He’ll be great. The fans are excited. This is a good place for him. We’re going to have two very young pitchers in our rotation, so our feeling is if we can shorten the games for these kids, it can only be a benefit.’’ With 90 strikeouts in 58 innings last season, perhaps it's easy to forgive Chapman -- or forget.

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