NEW YORK, May 9 (UPI) -- His fastballs might mirror masterpieces, but accountability may be a lost art for New York Yankees pitcher Aroldis Chapman.
Chapman rejoined the Yankees Monday, following a 30-game suspension. Major League Baseball's reprimand on Chapman was its first under a new domestic violence policy, agreed upon by the players association.
In a Saturday New York Times article by Billy Witz, Chapman propositioned that Latino players are targets "because of the money they make and because they were not familiar with the norms and laws of the United States."
Chapman has maintained that he did nothing wrong and was only arguing with his girlfriend last October. He was investigated last year for an incident at his home where he allegedly chocked his girlfriend. He also fired eight shots with a handgun in the garage during the incident, while his girlfriend allegedly hid in a bush outside the South Florida home. The Florida state attorney's office declined to press charges against Chapman.
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"Unfortunately, that is the way it is," Chapman told Witz. "We make a lot of money, everyone wants a piece of it, and we end up looking bad. When I had the problem, everyone thinks I did something wrong; in social media, people are saying I hit my girlfriend."
The suspension set Chapman back more than $1.8 million. He also plans to go into a counseling program and has already met with psychiatrists.
"Sometimes people talk too much," Chapman told Witz. "We have to be careful about that. We are not from this country, and people want to harm us. It's easier to hurt someone who is not from here than someone who is. People think we don't know what the laws are, and they try to hurt you. Many people want money. We have to take care of ourselves."
At the same time he pleads about "never hurting anybody" in his life, Chapman told Witz that he "should have exercised better judgment with respect to my actions."
"It was just an argument with your partner that everyone has," Chapman told Witz. "I've even argued with my mother. When you are not in agreement with someone, we Latin people are loud when we argue."
Chapman, 28, is due $11.3 million this season and hits free agency in 2017. The Cuban defector has 546 strikeouts and a 2.17 earned run average in 319 career innings.
