Tigers' Norris Responds To Questions About Alleged Domestic Violence Incident
(97. 1 The Ticket) For Tigers' catcher Derek Norris, the first day of spring training with his new team brought a host of pointed questions from the media.
Norris was suspended for the final month of last season and fined $100,000 after his ex-fiancee accused him of physical and emotional abuse, including an incident in October 2015 in which she claimed Norris put her in a chokehold and pulled her by the hair.
Norris denied his ex-fiancee's claims, and she did not press charges. But Major League Baseball still found him guilty of violating its domestic violence policy.
After serving his suspension, which he did not appeal, Norris was cleared to sign with any team this offseason. The Tigers inked him to a one-year minor-league deal in December.
In a long question-and-answer session with reporters at the Tigers' spring training facility in Lakeland, Fla. on Wednesday, Norris, 29, was adamant about his desire to move forward.
"MLB completed their investigation, we fully cooperated and we're just looking forward to getting started this year and trying to turn the page," Norris said, via the Free Press.
His past is hard to ignore, but it apparently wasn't much of a concern to the Tigers. In his discussions with assistant GM David Chadd prior to signing, Norris said he was never asked about his ex-fiancee's claims. Instead, Chadd asked him about baseball.
"Like I said, just baseball. They just asked me if having the time off, if I'm ready to go and I spent a lot of my off-season working out real hard, it's the strongest I've ever been, I'm feeling really good about my swing and defensively, I'm feeling really good about where I'm at and I'm looking forward to showing it in the spring," Norris said.
Asked if he was questioned specifically about the alleged incident in 2015, Norris said, "I think I just answered you. It was just all baseball."
At the Winter Meetings in December, shortly after the Tigers had signed Norris, GM Al Avila said the team was comfortable with MLB's investigation into the matter.
"(The MLB) felt that at this point, that we certainly should sign the guy. That he was suspended, they described what the situation was and that's the way the process should work. There was a mistake done, they investigated it and they encouraged us to do the signing because they said, 'Hey, this guy made a mistake, he was punished for it and now he should be back at work,'" Avila said.
Chadd, who's known Norris and his family for a long time as they're from the same town in Kansas, told The Athletic on Wednesday the Tigers did all the background work they needed to.
"We did our due diligence that was absolutely necessary. We vetted all the information that was provided by Major League Baseball after their thorough investigation, after they spoke to all the parties involved, and they came to their conclusions. We followed the protocol set by Major League Baseball," said Chadd.
Toward the end of Norris' interview session, he was asked a third time whether or not the Tigers asked him about his ex-fiancee's allegations of domestic violence. Here's how the exchange transpired, via the Free Press:
Reporter: "There will inevitably be certain people who are uncomfortable with the Tigers signing you just because of the suspension. What would you tell those people?"
Norris: "That I plan on working hard and playing good baseball for this club. People are allowed to their opinions. They're allowed to their opinions regardless of anything so it's part of what you have to deal with and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger so I'm just going to go out there and do what I love doing and that's playing baseball."
Reporter: "I know you said, 'all baseball,' but just to be accurate here, did the Tigers question you about the situation?"
Norris: "Are you going to keep asking me the same question, over and over?"
Reporter: "Just for clarity's sake."
Norris: "I'm just here to play baseball, man. We came to an agreement about how I can help the ballclub out here and that's why I chose here."
In 53 games with the Rays last year, Norris hit .201 with nine home runs and 24 RBI. He was an All-Star with the Athletics on 2014.
He'll vie for the backup catcher's job behind starter James McCann.
