Update #2: The Hummel article linked below now fleshes out most of the details related to the article now. Post-Dispatch pulls one of their awesome journalistic updates with no indication that the article has changed from original posting. Huge fan of that.
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Update #1: Miller declines to comment (via Kary Booher). More indication that suspension will be brief.
Interested to see whether StL media pursues this.
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Rick Hummel has the story at the Post-Dispatch.
We’ll see if this story has legs (my guess is yes) and more details emerge.
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I heard a rumor he was caught playing catch with his Dad…
Hilarious! Kudos, giveml!
No, it was Tony Rasmus
As much as this stinks, giveml that’s probably the funniest comment I’ve ever read on here.
Not good…
cody broke the constantino signing yesterday.
assigned to j-city.
http://www.rotoinfo.com/comments-2011_08_13_08_01_pm__St_Louis_Cardinals_Chris_Constantino_3B-90283.html
cooper moseley did not sign.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20110815/SPORTS/108150315/Area-s-three-MLB-draftees-go-unsigned
can’t find any more information on who did and did not sign at the deadline.
I’m betting he gave some lip to Warner and staff.
Hummel’s article says it apparently involves an altercation at a Springfield apartment complex that involved alcohol, and that this is the second incident for Miller. If true, definitely not good.
Rumor at VEB is that he was caught texting Colby
Another one of those “Luhnow boys.”
Strauss’s tweet implies that it’s drinking. I haven’t heard of any apartment complex thing though.
I would bet a high % that this incident that involved alcohol happen the night before his outing last Wed the 16th in which he uncharacteristically didn’t even make it out of the first inning. Possibly that he showed up at the Ball park hung over on Wed.
sorry…
happened before his outing last wed on the 10th…
Not good for sure, however, it is not a big deal at all.
How can you say that, He had a fight and hurt his hand, the team was dependent on his starts to get them through the end of the year. I don’t mind spunk on the field, but off the field issues are not good, bad publicity in a place where you have people coming out to pay bucks to watch your first round picks.
On the other hand, that’s why a lot of teams don’t pay HS players millions to sign, they let them grow up in college.
That is the point. It would be a bigger deal if he was older.
As it is, its a 20 year old kid who made some mistakes. The same mistakes many of has made as well.
Hopefully he will learn.
Bring in Scott Spiezio to counsel him
As Joe Strauss now sits at his desk cackling to himself and petting his cat…
somebody tell joe strauss there doesn’t need to be an elaborate psychological explanation involving the national media when a 20-year-old gets drunk.
plenty of guys who have never been mentioned on baseballamerica.com have been known to do that.
Good one, Tom.
This is one of the biggest non-issues I have ever heard of. Baseball bonus baby drinks too many beers. There would only be something wrong if he were NOT doing this.
As long as was at his apartment and not behind the wheel of his pickup!!
Well we have to trade him now…everyone knows when you get drunk the Cardinal way is to fall asleep in your SUV at a stop light. He just isnt Cardinal material.
Plenty of guys have not been suspended for it. That kind of makes it a bigger deal.
It may be nothing but I would not jump to that conclusion do quickly. Multiple incidents and a suspension usually means there is more to the story.
I also agree, some of you find it to be a funny situation. I don’t. First, because he is not of legal age to drink. Second, it’s his second incident and there”s a possible fight involved. Thats a concern. He tells reporters he wants to help his team get to the playoffs and now this. You can’t help your team being suspended for something as stupid as getting drunk. If that was the case. I think he should apologies to his team mates and his coaching staff. I also think this would be a great time to get him in a course to teach him what consequences alcohol can cause. Shelby is an outstanding prospect. I truly hope he learns from this mistake and moves on to be a rising Star.
Our lads are frisky and feeling their oats. Who wants a team of choirboys. Go Shelby!
Don’t be so naive, Brian.
He’s hardly naive. Alcohol has derailed plenty of careers. This isn’t likely about having a few drinks.
If the kid is developing an alcohol problem time to nip it in the bud. Freese almost keelhauled his career. I’m betting that vehicle accident leading to the initial foot injury is somehow alcohol related.
Wow. Talke about false claims.
The foot injury was now caused by alcohol. Interesting.
Do you have anything to base this on? Or are you sticking with the whole Conspiracy to keep David Freese from Getting a DWI. I beleive it happened on a highway, so it would have involved the highway patrol. So some guy would have to have risked his career to protect Freese. Don’t see that happening.
Freese’s foot injury was in from an accident in the morning. Unless he was up all night drinking, I don’t think alcohol had anything to do with it.
It’s not naive. Saw one of my friends in college screw up his life the same way. I’d say the opposite view (“he’s just sowing his oats”) is naive.
Given how Freese nearly screwed up his own career by drinking (and driving), I’d rather they over-react before Miller does something similar and send a message.
If you want to be a pro, help set yourself up for success by maturing quickly, both on and off the field. Nothing naive about that.
Agree. And hopefully he learns his lesson.
But still, he is only 20.
Mutliple alcohol-related problems while underage and a potential assault and battery? Yes, nothing to see here. Very naive to be worried about that. That never leads to problems down the line. Young people with self-discipline issues just wake up one day fully mature without guidance or taking responsibility for their actions, amirite?
Don’t be so naive, Jeff.
Potential Assault and battery? I would be juping to conclusions while calling somebody naive.
I saw plenty of fights when I was that age and was involved in a few. They were hardly assault and battery.
You obviously don’t know the definition of assault and battery.
Actually i do.
And you obviously like to jump to conclusions.
Little has been reported and no deails were really given.
Yet, you claim Assault and battery (which is redundant) and then say I don’t know the definition.
Honestly, you don’t. You say you saw plenty of fights and were involved in a few and then say they were “hardly assault and battery.” A single punch thrown is assault, if it lands, it’s battery. The two terms are not “redundant” – that you think they are shows that you don’t know the definitions.
Also, I said “POTENTIAL assault and battery” and it has been reported that there was an altercation. No “jumping to conclusions” occurred.
Nice backtracking.
The fact that you think every little scuffle in this country ends up as a criminal action is just assinine and not even logical, but yet you set on your high hourse and others for what you don’t understand.
Assault, is the threat of violence, Battery is the action of it. So it is redundant.
So there i guess there is also a POTENTIAL for attempted murder, kidnapping, hate crime and whole other onslaught of other crimes.
It seems nobody was arrested that night, so its even more unlikely that anybody will be now.
Assault and battery doesn’t need to be a criminal action; it can be a civil one. And the terms are still not redundant; a threat and action are two different things (I guess it’s possible you don’t know what redundant means though). I don’t understand why you mention potential attempted murder or any of those other things; I didn’t mention them. I also don’t see where I’m “backtracking.” Honestly, this is a dumb conversation; feel free to have the last word. I come here to talk about Cards prospects, not to give a vocabulary lesson.
Well this is upsetting but I’m not seriously concerned. I don’t know anyone who never drank before 21. Its somewhat troubling if he got in a fight, but as someone who was 20 just 2 years ago I can say that sometimes “fights” are serious but 90% of the time they’re nothing at all. I once watched two of my best friends pummel the hell out if eachother and wake up acting like nothing had happened. I’ll wait until te details come out, but right now the only thing bothering me is that it happened the night before a game.
Yes but remember that it’s not like the old days that you can just fight and it’s over. Now you fight and people can go to jail. Again, no one knows all the details and I pray it’s no big deal.
I can’t believe there is a discussion about the potential problems of alcohol abuse and nobody mentions the ultimate potential terrible outcome…..Josh Hancock.
I’ve been around college athletics for 20 yrs. This stuff happens. It’s the process of growing up. Some do it faster than others. You nip it in the butt and hopefully he learns from it. This stuff also happens in the minors all the time. KIDS make mistakes. Sometimes it gets covered in the media but most of the time it does not. Just happens it was our top spec and he got suspended. Was the first incident covered, I did not see it? You guys are really blowing this out of the water.
Whitey Herzog, while considering the impression of higher injury rates, has said players should eat more steak and drink more beer, as in the good old days. Sounds like Shelby is following at least half that prescription.
I’m surprised and pleased that the club did what they did. I suspect that we would not even know about the incident had the team not suspended him. Most of us drank and screwed up in other ways when we were 20 but the team would be doing him no favors ignoring this or helping him out of a jam. I agree we shouldn’t assume Shelby’s a budding alcoholic or a bad apple but I’m glad the team dealt with it.
Freese accident was in the morning, only problem is he was on the other side of the river from where he lives.(strip clubs) I have heard from multiple people the 1st accident was alcohol related
The kid is 20 years old… A few people have said that they are glad to see he’s a “normal kid” by having a few beers and I agree with that completly! If he was some strict hugger then I think we’d be sitting here worrying about nerves or something because he doesnt know how to handle the pressure. For those of you who think that 95% or more of the 20 year old in the minors aren’t drinking…. seriously get a clue.
And to Shelby, next time you’re in Chicago let me know and I’ll take you to a good titty bar and we can have beers and shots….. THAT IS WHAT 20 year olds do.
A 20-year-old who has been paid millions to play baseball, and has been placed on a career track toward that goal that includes more personal care and feeding than most of us will get until we’re in hospices, is NOT in any way a “normal kid.” He needs to be held to a higher standard than a “normal kid” is, because of the investments that have been made in him. “95% or more of the 20 year old in the minors” don’t have (and will not justify) that kind of investments in them, and frankly, I don’t give a rat’s ass whether they are drinking underage or not. A situation like Shelby’s is different.
This said, I’ll join the growing line of FR people who saw Shelby patiently sign a large pile of autographs and handle himself well in public, at an age when “normal kids” can barely behave civilly at all (if my memory of myself and my friends at that age is at all representative). I hope this thing serves as the wake-up call for him that it is intended to be.
Wake up call yes, higher standards no way.
Higher standards, ABSOLUTELY.
I am an American male of a certain age (what age really doesn’t matter) and therefore am theoretically susceptible to the behavioral peccadilloes of other American males my age. However, I also happen to hold a security clearance, which most American males my age do not. That clearance, in return for which I get certain professional opportunities that would not be available to me without one, dictates that my avoidance of some of those behavioral peccadilloes isn’t just healthy, or a good idea, or something that I’ll have to grow into. Avoiding them is MANDATORY, NOW. That is the price I pay for the advantages that that clearance confers. I knew all that when I signed up to get the durn thing, without which I would have had a less … interesting career to date.
Shelby Miller’s right arm is his security clearance. It gives him opportunities most of us cannot imagine. It also imposes certain standards on him that the typical 20-year-old can ignore. This isn’t a boys-will-be-boys situation.
This is probably the best explanation of this side of the position – well said.
Agree 100%.
But here is the catch, at what age were you given that clearance?
That learning curve does need to be much sharper than most other 20 Year olds.
Age really doesn’t matter. What matters is that I was expected to eschew certain behaviors starting IMMEDIATELY, with potentially baleful consequences if I didn’t. (If it helps, I was older than Shelby — but I know people who got that clearance at a younger age than he is now.)
Another anecdote. My boss for a while was a guy who went from that job to become a Very Important Person in government circles. I once heard him counseling another of his people, who’d had one of those peccadilloes, thus: “Look. You remember when you signed the clearance form saying you wouldn’t join groups that conspired against the government, did XYZ bad things, etc.? Before I took this job, I _did_ all of those things. What you have to do is admit it, and then make freaking sure you never do them again.” He didn’t do them again, and the guilty employee, who has also gone on to a position of considerable power (and one that continues to require a clearance), hasn’t either, to the best of my knowledge.
Nobody is asking — now — whether Shelby got into adolescent tiffs before becoming a professional baseball player. That’s irrelevant to his current situation. What is relevant is that he NEVER DO IT AGAIN. I don’t know what got him this suspension; frankly, it is none of my business. If he learned his lesson from it, as David Freese appears to have done with his DUI, then life goes on. But the last thing he needs is enablers saying “boys will be boys.” Steep learning curve? Yeah. So was his asking price.
Zuke- just stop. He’s not suing every scuffle leads to criminal charges. And the terms are not redundant, at least in the eyes of the judicial system. And yes, if Shelby punched someone, it is assault and battery. Doesn’t mean cops are involved, or that he will be charged, but it is still assault and battery
Volsn, Please stop.
This person wanted to take an atricle and make a mountain out of a mole hill. This is no different that many others like it. Was anybody arrested? No. Which means no one probably will. But that didn’t stop the poster from calling somebody naive did it?
I do think people take crimes involving booze too lighlty.
Its interesting how people still boycott Vick, but nobody really hasseled Lenord Little.
I’m just saying your understanding of the terms assault and battery are off, and that you were putting words into Bc’s mouth. And bc only called Jeff naive after Jeff said the exact same thing. And that naive comment had nothing to Di with my post