Years later, he would claim that during the game, he was tripping on LSD. Initiations included a game called “beer boxing,” which required two players to drink beer until one player vomited.ĭuring the last road trip of the season to Long Beach State on May 28-30, players were drinking on the bus ride back to Davis, witnesses told investigators.Īnd although the report stated “the evidence did not establish a team culture of drug use,” witnesses did express “credible accounts of multiple players using drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, Molly, LSD and mushrooms.In 1970, Dock Ellis, a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, threw a no-hitter. In addition to the initiation rituals, the report concluded that “the baseball players established a team culture of alcohol use and pressure to use alcohol.” High school players on recruiting trips were pressured to drink and excessive drinking was central to the initiation rituals. Initiations also included eating goldfish, drinking “mystery shots,” engaging in a game called “Don’t F- Your Brother” where two teams of first-year players “raced to drink a jug of alcohol,” and, in at least one case, players were expected to consume a 1.75-liter bottle of alcohol before 10 a.m. Some 2020 rookies who stated they had heard similar comments claimed they knew they were a joke.”Īccording to the report, the initiations sometimes ended with new players barely coherent from binge drinking getting blindfolded and receiving lap dances from veteran players and then from strippers. The report stated, “For example, upperclassmen made comments, telling rookies to shave their ‘buttholes,’ trim their nails, and not wear underwear to initiation. Sexual contact was implied by veteran players before and during initiations, which dated back to at least 2009, but there wasn’t evidence that sexual contact actually occurred. “Many framed the initiation as an overall positive bonding experience, but with negative elements in terms of certain undesirable activities or excessive intoxication,” the report read. The possibility that Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer could be suspended might raise a thorny question: Just what is the appropriate length of a suspension? All UC Davis athletes will be required to complete training intended to prevent hazing.Ī wrinkle in MLB’s domestic violence policy may complicate a Trevor Bauer suspension
A university spokesman said unsupervised team activities will be prohibited and an administrator will travel with the team to and from games. The team was prohibited from practicing until about five weeks ago. The report stated “evidence was insufficient to establish that assistant coaches knew or should have known about the initiation tradition.” Lindgren has left the program and Acosta will continue as an assistant at least until a new head coach is hired.Īll three coaches were placed on administrative leave when the investigation was launched in July.
Ten of the players on the 2021 team are from Southland high schools. The Aggies were 8-32 in Big West Conference play. UC Davis struggled in 2021, posting a record of 14-43. Vaughn was the Aggies head coach for 10 years and part of the program since he was a pitcher from 1989-92. However, the report did not conclude that Vaughn’s “behavior established gross misconduct and improper governmental activity under the University’s Whistleblower Policy.”