On Wednesday, September 24, ex-MLB pitcher, “Wild Thing” Mitch Williams filed a lawsuit against the MLB network and news outlet, Deadspin.
The suit Williams is bringing claims wrongful termination and defamation against the network, where he was an analyst since 2009 until his firing this year, and defamation against Deadspin. The suit arises from alleged incident at his son’s little league baseball game in May this year. Deadspin ran two articles on the story, reporting that Williams, a coach for his son’s team, argued with the umpire, yelled profanities, called kids on the other teams obscene names, and ordered his pitcher to throw a bean ball.
After the incident, he took a leave of absence from the MLB Network and apologized for his behavior through twitter. The lawsuit states that he was then approached by the network to sign a new contract barring him from attending any of his kids’ sporting events. After refusing to sign the contract, Williams claims he was fired. The ex-MLB pitcher seeks $2 million for the balance of his contract and his lost positions at mlb.com, The Sports Network, and Fox Sports.
In response, an MLB Network spokesman stated:
“We are aware that Mitch Williams has filed a law suit against MLB Network. We have not received it, but we have reviewed the reported claims in the statement issued today by his lawyer and there are inaccuracies included throughout . . . [w]e believe that the behavior he demonstrated at the youth baseball tournament speaks for itself.”
Throughout his 11 MLB seasons with six different teams, Williams recorded 192 saves.