Toronto Blue Jays legend Roberto Alomar breaks silence on lifetime MLB ban
Photo credit: Tom Szczerbowski-Imagn Images
Toronto Blue Jays legend Roberto Alomar breaks silence on lifetime MLB ban
Five years after being permanently banned from baseball, former Toronto Blue Jays star Roberto Alomar has spoken publicly, maintaining his innocence and saying he has nothing to apologize for.
In an exclusive interview with Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons, Alomar appeared composed yet visibly frustrated as he denied any involvement in misconduct and argued that Major League Baseball’s decision to ban him was unjust.
“They said I did this, they said I did that,” the 58-year-old Alomar told Simmons.
“They said a lot of things. I said ‘Prove it to me.’
“They said a lot of things. I said ‘Prove it to me.’
They went and did an investigation. I have to be careful here about what I say and how I say it Alomar told Simmons.
“I said ‘What proof do you have?’ They never told me.
“You walk around Toronto now there’s no story out there. Nobody knows the story. I don’t know. You don’t know. They just told me that we have to do this.
“If I did something wrong, I’d take my name down (from Level of Excellence) myself. But I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“You walk around Toronto now there’s no story out there. Nobody knows the story. I don’t know. You don’t know. They just told me that we have to do this.
“If I did something wrong, I’d take my name down (from Level of Excellence) myself. But I haven’t done anything wrong.”
According to Simmons, sources familiar with Major League Baseball’s handling of the case say the league—and, indirectly, the Blue Jays—strongly pressured Alomar into signing an agreement.
This included matching MLB’s $500,000 US payment to the complainant, as well as agreeing to a non-disclosure clause that has limited what he can publicly discuss.
Simmons also reports that Alomar remains uncertain about the boundaries of what he is allowed to say regarding his lifetime suspension.
‘They made me pay. They forced me.’
“They bullied me,” Alomar said. “They say you have to match (our payment). I said, ‘What did I do? Show me what I did.’ I didn’t want to pay.
“My lawyer told me, if you go to court (against this woman), it could wind up costing you $2-3 million in legal fees just to fight this and this could last 10 years. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t afford to do that. I didn’t have that kind of money. I don’t have that kind of money.”
“My lawyer told me, if you go to court (against this woman), it could wind up costing you $2-3 million in legal fees just to fight this and this could last 10 years. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t afford to do that. I didn’t have that kind of money. I don’t have that kind of money.”
The complaint against Alomar dates back to 2014, when a woman working in baseball, possibly within the Blue Jays organization, accused him of inappropriate misconduct.
Years later, following a lawsuit filed against the league, MLB launched an independent investigation under its internal policies.
Alomar believes there were multiple investigations, three in total, which ultimately led Commissioner Rob Manfred to determine that Alomar had violated league policy.
The findings were deemed serious enough to warrant a lifetime ban from baseball.
Simmons notes that both Manfred and Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro were contacted for comment.
Manfred did not respond, while Shapiro declined to comment, citing legal constraints and the non-disclosure agreement.
MLB deputy commissioner Dan Halem was responsible for overseeing the case.
“They said I had to pay (half of the $1 million paid to settle the case against baseball). I didn’t want to pay. They made me pay. They said they’d go after me if I didn’t pay. Remember, I’m not an American. I don’t understand all this legal stuff.
All I know is I never did whatever they say I did with this girl. I knew her.
“I saw her for 10 minutes (that night). She went to bed. That was it.”
All I know is I never did whatever they say I did with this girl. I knew her.
“I saw her for 10 minutes (that night). She went to bed. That was it.”
Despite the controversy, Alomar remains one of the most accomplished players in baseball history, particularly within Toronto’s sports legacy.
While he has been removed from the Blue Jays’ Level of Excellence and largely distanced from the team’s history, his honors elsewhere remain intact.
He is still a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, as well as the Canadian, Puerto Rican, and Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fames.
His induction into Cooperstown was based solely on his playing career, and the Hall has not removed him since the ban occurred after his retirement.
According to Simmons, Alomar is saddened of his separation from the Blue Jays.
He is no longer welcomed at the stadium, has not been included in celebrations marking the team’s 50th season, and is absent from official team recognition.
He is also affected by the fact that his No. 12 jersey is no longer available for purchase at the Rogers Centre.
Even so, Alomar continues to spend significant time in Toronto, where he has family and hosts an annual golf tournament in nearby Hamilton.
“I’m going to be a Blue Jay for life,” Alomar said. “That’s how I feel. I don’t care what they say about what happened. To me it’s not the fans saying it. People seem to love me in Toronto. Sometimes they ask me ‘Roberto what happened? We don’t know.’ There’s no story out there. People don’t know why I got suspended.
“Do you know? Nobody knows. Not even me.”
“Do you know? Nobody knows. Not even me.”
Details from the investigations have never been publicly released, and the underlying facts of the case have not been openly contested.
What are Alomar's thoughts on Mark Shapiro?
According to Simmons, Alomar does hold a grudge of sorts against Blue Jays president Shapiro, who he first got to know when he played for what was then the Cleveland Indians.
He doesn’t believe Shapiro supported him in any way through the baseball investigations in Toronto.
“Toronto never turned their back on me,” Alomar told Simmons. “Only one person turned their back on me and that’s Mark Shapiro.
“If you go back, I never saw eye-to-eye with him from Day 1 in Cleveland. I signed to play there for four years. I bought a house. My brother (Sandy) was there. It was one of the greatest times of my life. Sandy was going to be a free agent and Mark became GM and asked me if I was OK if my brother leaves. I said I’m happy here, I just had my best year as a player. We have a good team. I’ve got Omar (Vizquel) at shortstop. “He said ‘Good, we want to build around you.’
“Two days later I was traded to the Mets. He didn’t call me to tell me I was traded. I found out from a radio guy. Then my agent called. Mark never called. He never shook my hand. That was the last time I spoke to him before he came (to the Jays).”
“If you go back, I never saw eye-to-eye with him from Day 1 in Cleveland. I signed to play there for four years. I bought a house. My brother (Sandy) was there. It was one of the greatest times of my life. Sandy was going to be a free agent and Mark became GM and asked me if I was OK if my brother leaves. I said I’m happy here, I just had my best year as a player. We have a good team. I’ve got Omar (Vizquel) at shortstop. “He said ‘Good, we want to build around you.’
“Two days later I was traded to the Mets. He didn’t call me to tell me I was traded. I found out from a radio guy. Then my agent called. Mark never called. He never shook my hand. That was the last time I spoke to him before he came (to the Jays).”
Years later, Mark Shapiro would describe the decision to trade Roberto Alomar as the worst move of his professional career.
Major League Baseball assigned an independent law firm, with no ties to the sport, to investigate the allegations against Alomar.
That investigation ultimately determined he had violated league policies and recommended a permanent ban.
Alomar was never put through a formal trial process, yet both MLB and the Blue Jays concluded he was guilty.
After declining requests for several years, Alomar chose to sit down with the Toronto Sun for this interview, saying his deep connection to Toronto was the main reason he finally agreed.
“I wanted to see a nice story about Toronto,” he said. “I miss Toronto. I miss being in the ballpark.
“Over the years I’ve gotten calls. From Devo (Devon White), from Cito (Gaston), from Kelly Gruber, from Juan Guzman and George Bell. They just said they supported me. They didn’t ask a lot of questions. I didn’t talk to a lot of people about this because I don’t talk to a lot of people.
“Nobody asked me what happened. They just supported me. There’s no story out there. There’s never been a story out there … This is so damn disappointing.”
“Over the years I’ve gotten calls. From Devo (Devon White), from Cito (Gaston), from Kelly Gruber, from Juan Guzman and George Bell. They just said they supported me. They didn’t ask a lot of questions. I didn’t talk to a lot of people about this because I don’t talk to a lot of people.
“Nobody asked me what happened. They just supported me. There’s no story out there. There’s never been a story out there … This is so damn disappointing.”
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