The most dangerous place in sports? The Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen
.JPG "Cincinnati Reds’ Yasiel Puig (66) pulls away from Tucker Barnhart (16) as he attempts to re-enter a bench clearing during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Sunday, April 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)")
The most dangerous place in the sports world at the moment might be the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen.
Weird, violent — and now illegal — situations keep emanating from the Pirates clubhouse, specifically, their bullpen.
The latest and most serious situation broke on Tuesday when their All-Star closer Felipe Vazquez was arrested in Pennsylvania for solicitation of a child and statutory sexual assault after the mother of a now 15-year-old girl discovered texts from Vazquez on her daughter’s phone. Vazquez apparently started a relationship with the girl when she was 13.
But things have been unraveling in the Pirates’ bullpen for a while now.
▪ Last week reliever Kyle Crick had surgery to repair a tendon in his right index finger after suffering an injury during a clubhouse altercation with Vazquez. in San Francisco. The teammates were both fined by the club.
▪ Former Rangers reliever Keone Kela was suspended for 10 games after arguing with coach in July.
▪ Bullpen coach Euclides Rojas was suspended two games for an altercation with Crick in July.
▪ Crick and Kela also had starring roles in a brawl with the Cincinnati Reds on July 30. Kela threw a pitch over the head of a Reds’ batter that lit the fuse.
This story was originally published September 17, 2019 at 4:07 PM.
