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SF Giants CEO Larry Baer Assaults His Wife on Camera, So Where's the Outrage?

SourceSan Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer was involved in a physical altercation with his wife at a public park Friday … with his wife screaming as he knocks her to the ground — and it was all captured on video.

Multiple people witnessed Baer and his wife, Pam, in a loud verbal argument around noon on Friday at a park in San Fran. At one point, Larry was trying to pry a cell phone out of Pam’s hands, which she clearly did not want to give up. …

Baer spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle about the incident … saying, “My wife and I had an unfortunate public argument related to a family member & she had an injured foot and she fell off her chair in the course of the argument.”

I’m not one to engage in Whataboutism. But allow me for a moment to engage in Whataboutism.

If you want to see what real terrible behavior from a pro sports executive looks like, there it is. It’s a rich, privileged man physically grabbing a woman and ripping her to the ground as she screams for him to stop. It’s a power dynamic. And disgusting. Unconscionable. A bigger, stronger person overpowering someone who can’t defend themselves while she pleads for help.

What it is NOT is a widower getting a Rub & a Tug & a Hug from a consenting 58-year-old professionally licensed massage therapist.

But I’m sure the reactions to these two incidents will be very much the same. I’m looking forward to the indignant, widespread outrage from across the media landscape, blaming Larry Baer for the worldwide scourge of domestic violence. For the angry, desk-pounding demands the Giants lose all their draft picks. For the righteous howls that a man engaging in such acts is a black eye on the face of MLB and the Commissioner has to step in now and force Baer to step down for the good of the game.

I mean, I haven’t heard that yet. Or anything close to it. “Larry Baer” is not trending on Twitter. I had to comb through ESPN’s home page to find a headline and even then it was just about his “apology.” But I’m sure the national reaction is coming because it’s not like we’ve got two sets of standards in pro sports, one for Mr. Kraft’s team and one for everybody else, right?