Former Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy walked back some of his remarks in the aftermath of Abner Uribe’s wild celebration against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 26, when Lucroy questioned the Brewers’ veteran leadership.
Lucroy apologized for his remarks and said he reached out to members of the Brewers to offer a mea culpa.
“This is what happens when you don’t have veteran leadership in clubhouse,” Lucroy wrote May 27 on X, the morning after Abner Uribe directed a series of gestures toward the Cardinals dugout following a strikeout to end the eighth inning. “Some people think it’s funny, I think it’s horse***t. If he was my teammate, he and I would have a major issue.
“Kids come to these games and emulate us. That is a responsibility we must uphold to the highest standard. This isn’t the WWE.”
That post was still live as of Monday, June 1, but Lucroy also followed up with his apology.”I want to make a public statement that I very clearly misspoke and was wrong for saying it the way I did,” Lucroy said on the same platform June 1. “Yeli and Woody [Christian Yelich and Brandon Woodruff] are the leaders of that clubhouse. They are both legendary @Brewers players and represent themselves, the Brewers, and the community very well. They have had a ton of success, and are very respected amongst the players and the league as a whole.
“I reached out to Murph [Brewers manager Pat Murphy], Yeli, and Woody and conveyed my apologies to them for disrespecting them. In no way did I mean for that to happen, however, I was clearly wrong and I did a terrible job at conveying my thoughts using the words I did.
“Being a distraction to the team is the last thing I want to be. I want nothing but success and championships for this team, city, and the @Brewers organization.
“I will be better and will clarify my words better moving forward. I talk a lot about taking responsibility and having humility in the face of a mistake. This was a mistake that I made and am making it right.”
Uribe was suspended one game for the gestures, a decision he’s appealing. Uribe apologized for the action, something Murphy himself called unacceptable, but Uribe also said he was reacting to what he perceived as a threat levied by Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol over hitting players with pitches.
One day after the in-game moment, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol admitted annoyance with the Brewers for what he considered sign-stealing actions that crossed the line, but he denied that he ordered any pitches thrown at Brewers hitters.
Neither team took obvious escalatory action in the series finale May 27.
Lucroy, a two-time Brewers all-star, played 12 years in Major League Baseball, seven with the Brewers. With Milwaukee, he posted a .779 OPS and hit 79 homers with 387 RBIs. He’s a member of the organization’s Wall of Honor.
Lucroy is not officially among the small number of players listed as an attendee by the Brewers for the upcoming alumni legends game, but he was portrayed in the club’s graphic.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ex-player Jonathan Lucroy apologizes for criticizing Brewers leaders
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
