Rozner: Cubs' Chapman reminder that winning comes first

It would be foolish at this point, in this inexorable crawl from the cave, to expect professional sports teams or leagues to care about domestic violence or sexual assault.

There's simply too much evidence to suggest otherwise.

Pro sports are about winning, making money and franchise value. Argue about which is the chicken, which is the egg and which is the frying pan, but winning produces more cash on hand, and EBITDA generally allows for more victories.

But it's still a surprise when there's a lack of pretense, when some are so socially unaware that they don't even try to make a case for those who have suffered at the hands of others, which brings us to the Cubs' rollout of Aroldis Chapman.

Tom Ricketts and Theo Epstein made it clear they were aware of his past, and worked hard to fight the perception that they didn't care.

They went to great pains in their statements and news conferences to ensure the faithful understood they had a long talk with Chapman about what was expected in Chicago during his three months here.

Chapman's statement, on the other hand, contained little of the same.

"As you know, earlier this year I accepted and served a 30-game suspension from Major League Baseball resulting from my actions of October 30, 2015," read Chapman's statement. "I regret that I did not exercise better judgment and for that I am truly sorry."

Sorry that he didn't use better judgment?

He was accused of choking his girlfriend - the mother of his child - and throwing her against a wall before firing a gun eight times in a garage, one bullet flying out an open window.

When he met the Chicago media he seemed to have no memory of what Ricketts and Epstein talked to him about on a conference call, when they stressed that he must be a model citizen in Chicago.

It was a bad look for the Cubs, who had spent most of the previous 24 hours talking about how they were convinced by Chapman that he would behave in Chicago.

That forced Epstein to come back out and repeat - only an hour later - that they indeed had that conversation, leaving the Cubs no choice but to claim something had been lost in translation.

But Chapman had been asked about it six times, and seemed entirely tone deaf in regard to a scary moment for everyone within earshot of those gunshots.

And then postgame Wednesday he refused to talk to reporters because he thought he had been treated unfairly, speaking only when convinced to by a teammate.

Joe Maddon didn't help matters when he used misdirection, wondering whether Ty Cobb was a good guy, mentioning the Black Sox scandal and tossing out the tired offering of how we've all made mistakes.

Said Maddon, "I think we've all been less than perfect in particular moments that nobody's ever known about."

Actually, I don't know anyone who's choked a woman and then fired a gun while angry, so minimizing his actions as if he got drunk in college and threw up on his shoes doesn't feel quite right.

Those who analyze the team used phrases like, "Get past the story," "Move past all the noise," "Things that happened to him this winter," and "Get back to what's most important. It's between the lines."

Noise? Things that happened to him? What's most important?

According to U.S. Department of Justice statistics, more than 8,000 women are physically abused every day.

On average, more than three women are killed every day in a domestic attack.

Homicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant women.

A national survey of more than 6,000 American families found that 50 percent of men who repeatedly assaulted their wives also frequently abused their children.

It takes an average of 35 hits for a victim to get out, and women attempting to leave an abusive relationship are killed at a rate that some advocates believe is as high as 50 percent.

Noise? Try getting hit 35 times and then being homeless with your children.

Maddon says he will judge Chapman for himself and make his own decision about his new closer. Everyone is entitled to decide how they will judge Chapman and whether they will root for him when he pitches.

Judging by the 41,000 who gave Chapman a standing ovation simply for walking in from the bullpen Wednesday night, Cubs fans will certainly embrace him as long as he throws 100 mph and gets the job done.

This is usually how it works in sports. Fans are able to compartmentalize. Some don't care. Those who are disgusted by him will cheer for the uniform and hope this is really the year for the North Siders.

Sports are always about winning. The "noise," inevitably, is drown out by cheers.

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 and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.