Minnesota Twins Miguel Sano accused of assault, Twins fans react
Minnesota Twins third baseman Miguel Sano was called out on Twitter today for a terrible reason.
On the same day the Minnesota Twins released a story on their site (since removed) about how pleased they were with the progress that third baseman Miguel Sano has been making this offseason, a tweet using the #MeToo hashtag lit the Minnesota Twins fan landscape on fire.
The accusation
The tweet came from Betsy Bissen, a photographer who has worked for a number of different Minnesota Twins events for a number of organizations and sites, including Twins Daily. She recalled an incident from 2015:
This set off a firestorm of reactions to Betsy, such that as of this hour, she has made her Twitter account completely private. However, there were notably a couple of players who offered up their personal notes to Betsy:
I’m so sorry about this. I understand why you didn’t, but I wish you would have come to me.
— Coach Trev (@trevorplouffe) December 28, 2017
I'm sorry Betsy.
— Trevor May (Not Parody) (@IamTrevorMay) December 28, 2017
Twins and Sano’s response
Sano spoke to TMZ about the incident and denied the incident occurred, making this comment within his statement:
“I have the utmost respect for women, especially those working in professional sports, and I deeply sympathize with anyone who has experienced sexual harassment. There is no place for it in our society.”
The Twins have no official statement on the team’s website, but this was sent on the team’s Twitter account:
#MNTwins statement on Miguel Sano: pic.twitter.com/ybQfQ4mcpm
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) December 28, 2017
Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reached out to Brad Davis, who would have been the first base coach at the time of Bissen’s reported incident. He got this report:
Just got off the phone with former #mntwins 1B coach Butch Davis. He denies ever making advances or asking for phone number of freelance photographer Betsy Bissen: "I never knew her name." https://t.co/QRh7iohUKV
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) December 28, 2017
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Twins fan response
Perhaps the most disheartening of the whole situation today was to see the way things played out on social media and various Twins forums.
Bissen, as mentioned previously, made her account private due to the harassment she received over the course of the day.
One of the first sites to have an article on the tweet was Twinkie Town, and the site’s moderator chose to shut down the comments on the post. That led commenters to react in a disturbing way, finding the moderator’s personal Facebook page and commenting there about her abilities as a moderator of the Twinkie Town website.
Sadly, this could all be a precurser to the response when the team’s (or further, MLB’s) investigation into Sano’s behavior is complete. Sadly, this is an issue that causes fans to assume they need to choose a side to either support their team’s player or support the accuser, which is not true at all.
Next: Should Twins still pursue bullpen?
We ask that comments on this post remain civil and on the topic at hand, understanding that this is an issue that can charge many.