Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young was arraigned on a hate crime in a Manhattan court room yesterday following his arrest for assault early Friday. Young has been accused of drunkenly making anti-semitic comments (shouting "F***ing Jews") during an exchange with four tourists, and then tackling one of them. Following the incident, Young was placed on the Tigers restricted list—and once MLB reviews the situation, Young will be back on the field playing: “I don’t know if I will find out Monday,” Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowski said. “But assuming I would find out Monday, if he is cleared to play, then he will play. Because that is the arrangement that is involved.”
Young will not be docked any pay while he's on the restricted list as well. “All I know, and I was there, is that the person was not in a very good state as far as his sobriety,” Dombrowski added. “That is not a good situation. That’s all I know. I do know that he was in a skirmish. I do know that. Beyond that, I don’t know anything else."
According to police, the confrontation began about 2:30 a.m. Friday after the four men (who were tourists from Chicago) spoke with a panhandler wearing a yarmulke outside the Hilton New York along Sixth Avenue. It's not clear why they ended up talking to Young, but he started yelling the anti-semitic remarks then. The 6-foot-3, 240 pound athlete then shoved, pushed and tackled a 32-year-old man; Young then allegedly followed the man into the hotel. Young was later sent to a nearby hospital because he was intoxicated.
According to Dombrowski, if Young is entered into an MLB treatment program, it would include anger management and cultural-sensitivity training as well. “He was apologetic at that time, although not in a very good state,” Dombrowski said. “Later on, he reached out to me and the organization, so I know that he’s very apologetic and knows there is no excuse for what he did.”
