Washington Nationals' Dusty Baker backs Aroldis Chapman, domestic violence policy

Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker questioned the accusations of domestic violence against relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman while saying he supports Major League Baseball's new policy.

Baker's comments at baseball's winter meetings on Tuesday about Chapman and domestic abuse raised some eyebrows.

The 66-year-old Baker managed Chapman for four years when he was with the Cincinnati Reds and said "I don't believe reports" that Chapman pushed and choked his girlfriend during a dispute on Oct. 30. Davie (Fla.) Police said Tuesday that they are no longer pursuing the case because of insufficient evidence.

"I'm not one to judge on how the whole thing happened," Baker said. "I mean, who's to say the allegations are true. And who's to say what you would have done or what caused the problem."

Baker admitted that he didn't know exact details about the case but said he believed Chapman was a "heck of a guy."

"I'll go on record and say I wouldn't mind having Chapman," Baker said. "He is a tremendous young man with a great family, mom and dad, and what he went through to get here and what his family had to go through to get here. I was with him through the whole process."

Baker, recently named Nationals manager, also expressed his opinion on MLB's domestic violence policy.

"I think it's a great thing," Baker said. "I mean, I got a buddy at home that's being abused by his wife. So I think this policy needs to go further than the player. I think the policy should go to whoever's involved. Sometimes abusers don't always have pants on."

The 66-year-old Baker realized later that his comments about Chapman and domestic violence might have been misconstrued.

"I did an interview earlier and apparently I'm in hot water for what I said," Baker told ESPN. "What I should have said, and what I was trying to say, is that 'Hey man, I don't condone violence at all.'

"Because, I mean, I wasn't raised like that. I don't know anybody else that should've been raised like that. The thing that I really, really want to tell everybody is that you have to wait to see what happens. And, I'm not one to judge prematurely. But there's no way that I condone domestic violence. I'm one of the guys that is most against it. I haven't seen the police report. I haven't seen anything."