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Rozner: Chicago Cubs' DJ just didn't throw hard enough

Sure, it's possible that the DJ spinning records Sunday night at Wrigley Field didn't realize the song he was playing after Aroldis Chapman left the game was offensive.

It's possible that there were several songs in the mix and it was just bad luck that "Smack My B---- Up" popped up after Chapman walked off the mound.

It's possible he didn't know that Chapman was suspended 30 games by the commissioner after he was accused of but never charged with choking his girlfriend - the mother of his child - and firing a gun eight times in a garage, one bullet flying out an open window.

It's possible he didn't know it was even more offensive because of the circumstances.

But it's also possible he didn't know the song was offensive because he simply didn't consider the lyrics to be offensive.

And it doesn't matter what he did or didn't know because there is no excuse for playing that song in front of 41,000 people, many of whom were women and children - some of whom have been smacked around plenty.

The statistics tell us that is a certainty.

The Cubs fired that DJ on Monday only after it became a story, and it only became a story because they hired a pitcher who has a history of domestic violence.

Perhaps nothing is more bizarre than the actual offender continuing his employ at $11 million annually while the DJ earning something considerably south of that loses a job for playing a song.

And isn't it ironic, don't ya think?

The Cubs traded for a guy who put his hands on a woman, smacked her around and pushed her into a wall because he can throw 105 mph, and then dumped a DJ who pushed a button.

"We apologize for the irresponsible music selection during our game last night," read a statement from Cubs business boss Crane Kenney on Monday. "The selection of this track showed a lack of judgment and sensitivity to an important issue.

"We have terminated our relationship with the employee responsible for making the selection and will be implementing stronger controls to review and approve music before public broadcast during our games."

Not much of a statement about such "an important issue," if it is indeed such an important issue to the Cubs.

And whether the DJ did it on purpose is hardly the point.

This music shouldn't be on any team's playlist, and the Cubs have learned the hard way that even something as simple as song selection must be vetted.

You can be fairly certain that teams around the country - be it high school, college or pro - are checking now to make sure this doesn't happen to them.

It's also the price you pay for bringing in Chapman and his volatile past.

The Cubs are absolutely entitled to hire anyone they choose, and they chose Chapman because what matters most now is winning a World Series and ownership will do whatever it has to do to bring home a title.

And if the Cubs win it all, very few people will care about what Chapman did last off-season, least of all the Cubs because Chapman will probably be the man pitching to record that historic final out.

That's the reality of professional - and college - sports, and lest you believe anything else is naive at best.

On the day of the parade - should there be one - more than 8,000 women in America will take a beating in a domestic-violence attack, smacked around by their husbands or boyfriends.

At least three will die in that beating and one is likely to be pregnant.

The Cubs could use this as an opportunity to teach young men about domestic violence and that smacking around women is not OK.

Even if they don't care about the issue, even if it's just to manage public perception, they could impact lives by taking on the cause.

For now, they have promised that they will be more careful with their music selections and they have removed an employee no one's ever heard of, someone who can't help them win baseball games.

Too bad for the DJ that he couldn't throw 105 mph.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM.

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