In the 1952 Novel “The Natural” a woman shoots 19-year-old baseball sensation Roy Hobbs. Hobbs had been lured to the hotel room of a female fanatic. She asks Hobbs if he is the greatest baseball player ever. He answers “yes”. She shoots Hobbs in the stomach. Why she shoots him is left to the reader to ponder but in the movie redux, the woman shoots Hobbs to “live” forever. She would be known as the woman who killed the greatest baseball player ever.
Professional athletes have always been easy prey for women with motives. Either fame or fortune or combination of both. It is usually the latter. Although athletes are cautioned about the lure of easy sex and the consequences, men don’t often listen.
When Trevor Bauer was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was on top of the baseball world. Rich and getting richer. But soon he was accused of non-consensual sexual battery of a woman. He denied it but the Dodgers placed him on the “inactive” list and MLB suspended him. Bauer never went back on “active” status. For the better part of a year, with dwindling evidence, Bauer had to defend himself in the court of public opinion and a court of law. Bauer won on facts but lost on image. MLB didn’t care that the evidence was weak to nonexistent. Eventually he was suspended for 2 years AFTER he proved his case. A whole year already lost; no team would sign him. Although there was no evidence that he committed a crime Bauer’s fault was he had rough consensual sex with a woman who, by her own admission was after Bauer’s money. Were his sexual proclivities out-of-the-ordinary? Yes. Was any of it illegal? No. Did he have a big bank account with a giant target on it? Absolutely. His MLB career was wrecked because a woman wanted money. She admitted that it was about money, but Bauer had to sue her to gain access to text messages she sent to her girlfriend. After the case settled Bauer revealed some of this exculpatory evidence:
“‘Next victim. Star pitcher for the Dodgers,'” Bauer said in the video. “A text Lindsey Hill sent to a friend before she ever even met me. ‘What should I steal?’ she asked another, in reference to visiting my house for the first time. The answer? ‘Take his money.’ So how might that work? ‘I’m going to his house Wednesday.’ she said, ‘I already have my hooks in. you know how I roll.’ Then, after the first time we met, “Net worth is 51 mil” she said. ‘bitch, you better secure the bag’, was the response.
Bauer was a target. A money-target. That isn’t disputable. Why then did MLB not reinstate Bauer and apologize? “MeToo” is the short form answer. The default in the MeToo movement is like- The Witch Trials of Salem. You are guilty until you prove your innocence. How to prove your innocence? Drown. We are told to be believe the unbelievable – if the unbelievable is uttered by a woman that must be accepted as undeniable truth.
The grift that brought Bauer down cost Bauer about 100 million dollars.
While Bauer was being exonerated with facts (but still tarred and feathered and his MLB career drowned) a college football star was about to be tarred and feathered.
Matt Araiza was that college football player. In college Araiza punted for the San Diego State Aztecs. He was good. Really good. His nickname was the “Punt God”. In 2022 his dream of playing in the NFL seemed to be realized when the Buffalo Bills drafted him. Araiza was signed to a multi-million-dollar contract. He was on top of the world. But before he punted a single ball for the Bills, a woman crawled out from under a rock and filed a lawsuit naming Araiza and two others. She accused them of raping her the year before. It wasn’t just rape. That is bad enough but she accused Araiza of participating in a gang rape. She claimed he and two teammates gang raped her at a party. Sports media labeled him a sexual predator. The Bills voided his contract and cut him.
The woman was 17 the year before. That already sounds bad. She had filed a criminal complaint the day after the party. Ok, that sounds terrible for the players. But the San Diego DA reviewed the “evidence” and declined to charge anyone. Why? The DA concluded that there was no rape. The woman had told everyone who asked that she was 18 and she willingly had sex the Araiza’s teammates. But what about Araiza?
Araiza wasn’t even at the party. Facts had exonerated him during the criminal investigation, but media and the Buffalo Bills didn’t care. The torches were already lit. This was the Sports Illustrated headline:
Williams wrote this:
The San Diego District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday that former Bills and San Diego State punter Matt Araiza and two of his SDSU football teammates will not be charged in the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl last year, per The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Note how Sports Illustrated framed the story. The players weren’t exonerated, they “avoided” charges “in the gang rape”. But there was no “gang rape”. There weren’t three players involved. Well, unless you are writing a specious hit-piece article for Sports Illustrated.
The accuser sued Araiza. Why? She wanted money. A payout. A “make me go-away” lawsuit. As a trial lawyer I can tell you there are plenty of cases where it was obvious to me that the plaintiff was looking for a payoff, not vindication. Often, facts don’t matter.
“Pay me and I’ll drop it” was the theme of many of the civil suits I handled.
To his credit, Araiza refused to pay extortion. The case was dropped a year ago this December.
In December 2023, it was too late for Araiza to sign with a team, but with the criminal case exoneration and the civil suit nuked with facts, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Araiza this year. On Sunday night, I watched Araiza punt for a 51-yard average against the LA Chargers. Distressing, because I’m a Chargers fan – but I am very glad that Matt Araiza is back playing football and making a living.
Ray Donovan was the Secretary of Labor under Ronald Reagan. He was indicted in New York under specious, clearly bogus charges. He was tried and found not guilty, with jurors openly applauding the quick verdict. Donovan became famous for saying:
“Which office do I go to get my reputation back?”
Madison Williams is based in Kansas City. I wonder if Williams will seek out and apologize to Araiza for her garbage click-bait article and specious MeToo framing. Chances of that? About zero.