June 28: The Phillies and Brett Myers Fold to Pressure

The Main Event

• June 28, 2006 – Brett Myers is optioned to Clearwater in the wake of domestic abuse charges.

Brett Myers was the ace of the Philadelphia Phillies’ pitching staff in the summer of 2006, leading the team in wins, ERA, innings, and strikeouts. But on June 23, 2006, his season took a dark turn that had nothing to do with baseball. Myers was arrested in Boston and charged with assaulting his wife, Kim, in an incident that generated national headlines, organizational controversy, and a roster move that briefly sent the Phillies’ top starter to Single-A Clearwater.

The Phillies were in Boston for an interleague series against the Red Sox when, just after midnight on June 23, Brett and Kim Myers were walking back to their Back Bay hotel from a bar near Fenway. According to witnesses and police reports, an argument escalated into a physical altercation on Boylston Street. Witnesses told investigators that Myers struck his wife in the face and pulled her by the hair while she resisted and pleaded with him to stop. Police responding to a 911 call found Kim Myers sitting on the sidewalk, crying, with a swollen face. Officers located Brett Myers nearby and took him into custody.

Myers was booked on a charge of domestic assault and battery. He was released on $200 bail, which his wife posted herself. At his arraignment the next morning in Boston Municipal Court, Myers pleaded not guilty. A judge ordered him to have no contact with his wife unless she initiated it, with the threat of up to 60 days in jail if he violated the terms of his release while the case was pending.

Immediate Fallout and the Phillies’ Response

The timing could not have been worse for the Phillies, who were in the middle of a high-profile series in Boston. Remarkably, Myers took the mound the very next day as scheduled, drawing boos and projectiles from Red Sox fans during warmups. He pitched into the game’s later innings before the Phillies ultimately lost in extra innings on a David Ortiz walk-off home run.

The organization faced sharp criticism from media members and women’s advocacy groups for allowing Myers to continue pitching immediately after the arrest rather than benching him outright. In response to the mounting pressure, the Phillies and Myers agreed that he would step away from the team. On June 30, Myers was officially optioned to the Phillies’ Single-A affiliate, the Clearwater Threshers, and placed on the temporary inactive list for personal reasons. This was not a baseball demotion in the traditional sense; it was a mechanism that allowed Myers to leave the active roster and the spotlight in Philadelphia and Boston while he dealt with the legal proceedings and the public scrutiny surrounding the case. He remained away from the major league club for roughly three weeks before being reinstated.

How the Case Was Resolved

Myers’ legal situation came to a head at a pre-trial hearing in Boston on October 5, 2006. Prosecutors from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office had pushed for a tougher resolution, reportedly seeking a guilty plea to assault and battery, two years of probation, enrollment in a batterers’ intervention program, and an alcohol evaluation. Kim Myers, however, made clear in court that she did not want her husband prosecuted. She submitted a sworn statement describing the night as a mutual, alcohol-fueled argument that began after she pushed him, and she testified that she had not been seriously hurt.

Judge Raymond Dougan acknowledged in his ruling that Myers had in fact struck his wife, but he dismissed the charge after Kim Myers signed what is known as an affidavit of accord and satisfaction, a legal mechanism that lets an alleged victim formally request that a case be dropped. The judge ruled there was no evidence she had been pressured into the decision. District Attorney Daniel Conley publicly objected to the outcome, arguing that the statute being used was intended for minor disputes and was being misapplied to a serious domestic violence allegation. Despite the office’s objection, the charge was dismissed. Myers had earlier acknowledged that his actions were “inappropriate” and apologized, while disputing some details of the allegations.

Impact on Myers’ Career

In purely competitive terms, the incident had little lasting effect on Myers’ standing with the Phillies. He finished the 2006 season with a 12-7 record and a 3.91 ERA, was named the Phillies’ Opening Day starter in 2007, and signed a three-year, $25.75 million contract extension that February. He went on to serve as the team’s closer in 2007 and returned to the rotation in 2008, helping pitch Philadelphia to its first World Series title since 1980. Myers also returned to Fenway Park as a visiting player in the years that followed, telling reporters he never wanted to pitch there again given the hostile reception he had received.

The episode nonetheless remained a recurring point of public scrutiny throughout Myers’ career, frequently revisited by media whenever questions of athlete conduct and team accountability resurfaced in baseball. He and Kim Myers stayed married, citing marriage counseling that began shortly after the arrest, and the couple went on to raise children together.

Philadelphia Baseball Events for June 28

• June 28, 1887 – The Phils beat Indianapolis 24-0, the biggest blow-out in team history.
• June 28, 1909 – Team president Isreal Durham dies in Atlantic City. Durham had purchased the team the previous March.
• June 28, 1946 – In extra innings of a game against the Giants, Phillies skipper Ben Chapman announces on the bench that he’ll give $25 to any player who hits a home run. Andy Seminick, who had tied the game with a round-tripper in the eight inning, came through again to win the game and the cash prize.
• June 28, 1959 – Right fielder Wally Post throws out two runners from the outfield in the same inning, tying a major-league record. One of the two plays was a deep fly ball that Post caught then relayed to second to retire a runner who advanced without tagging before the out was recorded. The Giants win anyway, 6-0.
• June 28, 1959 – Richie Ashburn, the defending NL batting champ, ties a team record by hitting into three double plays in a 6-0 loss to San Francisco.
• June 28, 1961 – The Phils and San Francisco play a 15-inning, 7-7 tie lasting 5 hours and 11 minutes. At the time, League rules prohibited starting an inning after 12:50am local time. In extra innings, both teams scored single runs in the 13th and three runs in the 15th innings.
• June 28, 1964 – Chris Short threw a five-hit shutout to beat the Cardinals, but rookie Dick Allen fanned five times.
• June 28, 1995 – Hosting the Reds, the Phillies drop a 1-0 game decided by an error. In the fourth, Curt Schilling allowed a one-out single to Thomas Howard. Schilling later appeared to have Howard picked off, but first baseman Dave Hollins missed the throw. Howard scored when the throw to third got past Charlie Hayes.
• June 28, 2004 – David Bell hits for the cycle during a 16-6 win over Montreal at Citizens Bank Park. A triple in the seventh completed the feat. He also drew a walk.

ICYMI

• PBN Extra Innings – The Saturday 6: Six Prospects the Phillies Might Want to Hang Onto (Subscription req’d.)

Philadelphia Baseball Events for June 28

• Cal Emery (born 1937) – A pinch-hitter and first baseman who played just 16 games in the majors with 19 plate appearances, all of which came with the Phillies. Emery hit just .158/.158/.211/.369.
• Gary Wagner (born 1940) – Broke into the majors with the Phillies and played four-plus seasons (1965-1969) in Philadelphia. The right-hander went 11-5 with a 3.59 ERA in his time with the Phillies.

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