Red Sox analyst Steve Lyons on leave due to domestic battery charge
Boston Red Sox analyst Steve Lyons hasn’t appeared on NESN recently due to a reported domestic battery charge from January, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
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The 57-year-old Lyons, who spent five seasons with the Red Sox, was arrested and charged with domestic battery. If the charges are not dismissed, he will go to trial in September, according to the report.
A request for dismissal has been filed by Lyons’ lawyer Richard A. Hutton. Hutton expects his client to be “100 percent vindicated.”
“His girlfriend, Stacey, told authorities within 36 hours of the incident that he had never struck her or touched her in an offensive way. And we expect him to be vindicated either prior to trial or if it goes to a jury trial,” Hutton said.
Hutton emphasized that Lyons “never laid a hand on her.”
“Steve and Stacey have been together since the incident,” Hutton said.
The charge, according to Hutton, comes from a friend of Lyons’ girlfriend. That friend was at Lyons’ house on the day of the incident. The police report says the two got into a verbal argument which turned physical. Hutton claims the friend never witnessed that, however.
We should emphasize that most of this information comes directly from Lyons’ attorney, so it’s going to be heavily slanted in his favor. We have not heard from the other side yet, and may not, considering Lyons’ girlfriend is not a public figure. What Hutton says paints Lyons as innocent, but that’s also his job.
Major League Baseball has attempted to crack down on domestic incidents in recent years. The league introduced a new domestic violence policy in 2015. Prominent players such as Aroldis Chapman, Jose Reyes and Jeurys Familia have been suspended under that policy. In all those cases, charges were dropped against the player, but the league still intervened.
That doesn’t apply to Lyons, though it could explain why he’s stepped away while this is going on. NESN is partially owned by Red Sox owner John Henry, so that provides a connection to the team that goes beyond Lyons simply being a broadcaster.
It’s unclear how long Lyons will remain away from the station.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
