Ian Happ was asked about Addison Russell and the Cubs versatile player set a pretty good example on how to answer. As we all know, MLB suspended Russell 40 games in October after the league investigated domestic violence accusations that first appeared in 2017.
This was a much better response from Happ than what Kyle Hendricks offered up during an interview on Saturday. Here’s what Happ said regarding Russell’s status with the club during an interview Wednesday on the Bernstein And McKnight Show on 670 The Score.
"Addison's got a lot of personal stuff to work on before he's back w/ us. We're all going to be there to support him if he's taking the proper steps. That's our job as teammates to welcome him back, if, in fact, he does everything he needs to do to get back…with us." -Ian Happ
— Bernstein & McKnight (@Bernstein_McK) January 16, 2019
Firmly keeps all the responsibility on Russell to actually show he’s taking the steps to earn the support from his teammates. Sure, like Hendricks said, obviously the best outcome is for Russell to be genuinely remorseful and become a better person, but it was everything else he said that just wasn’t the best optics when talking about Russell, who allegedly choked his ex-wife Melisa Reidy in front of their children.
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Kyle Hendricks Wants Addison Russell To Be A Better Person, He Should’ve Stopped There
Good on you, Ian Happ for not trying to minimize the situation and blindly supporting Russell without first seeing he’s actually trying to be better.
By the way, I really need Joe Maddon to stop talking about Addison Russell.
More Maddon on Russell situation: “He’s going to have to face a lot of obstacles or tough questions. We all are. He’s taking culpability.”
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) January 16, 2019
Poor Addison, he has to answer questions about terrible things he’s done.
