San Francisco Giants President and CEO Larry Baer is taking a leave of absence just days after the release of a video showing him in fighting with his wife in public.
The Giants board of directors released a statement Monday saying that Baer has been granted a request to take personal time away from the team after he ‘acknowledged that his behavior was unacceptable, apologized to the organization and is committed to taking steps to make sure that this never happens again.
The Giants executive team, including president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, will manage the day-to-day operations of the team in Baer’s absence.
A suited Larry Baer can be seen standing over his wife Pam’s chair. He then appears to be trying pull a cell phone from her hand and the two tussle
Baer appears to then dragg his wife to the ground, after pulling her off a chair
The clip resumes with Larry telling his wife of 29 years to ‘stop, Pam, stop’
The board says the organization holds itself to the highest standards and that will ‘guide how we consider this matter moving forward.’ The statement also said Major League Baseball is taking the lead in gathering the facts and is closely monitoring the situation.
A video posted by TMZ on Friday showed Baer’s wife, Pam, was seated in a chair when he reached over her to grab for a cellphone in her right hand and she toppled sideways to the ground in the chair screaming ‘Oh my God!’
Baer, holding the phone, says ‘Stop, Pam, stop,’ then walks away alone.
Hours after the video’s release, Pam Baer said through her attorney that she has forgiven her multimillionaire husband of nearly 30 years for the incident.
‘My husband and I had an argument in public about which we are quite embarrassed,’ Mrs Baer said in a statement Friday.
‘I took his cellphone. He wanted it back and I did not want to give it back,’ she continued. ‘I started to get up and the chair I was sitting on began to tip.’
‘Due to an injury I sustained in my foot three days ago, I lost my balance. I did not sustain any injury based on what happened today. Larry and I always have been and still are happily married,’ she said.
Reaction to Pam’s statement was mixed online, with some saying that she should be supported in her version of events, and others expressing incredulity.
‘I’m not a fan of denying someone their agency, so I’m inclined to accept her word, even if I may be skeptical,’ one Twitter user wrote.
‘Kinda sad to read Pam Baer’s statement; feels like she’s only trying to save Larry’s a**,’ another weighed in.
Another Giants fan had more pressing concerns, writing: ‘So Larry Baer and his wife Pam had an argument, who cares, they worked it out, moving on, the Giants need to go sign Adam Jones!!’
The distressing footage was captured on Friday by an onlooker in a public park who said he heard the pair arguing before the altercation.
Pam Baer has issued a statement defending her husband after the video emerged
In the clip, a suited Larry, 61, can be seen standing over his wife’s chair. He appears to be trying to pull a cell phone from her hand and the two tussle.
As Pam’s chair falls to the ground Larry, who is said to make $5 million a year, continues to try and pry the phone from her hand as she lays on the floor, screaming.
The video then cuts as eyewitness say they then stepped in to help. It resumes with Larry seen shaking his head before walking away, telling her ‘stop, Pam, stop’.
The man who shot the footage wishes to remain anonymous but said: ‘I know this guy from somewhere and another guy said: ‘That’s Larry Baer’.
‘He knocks her down off her chair and gets on top of her and puts his hands on her. She was screaming for help. She seemed pretty terrified.’
The incident, filmed in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley, is now under police investigation. A spokesman told the DailyMail.com: ‘We are aware of the incident at that location and we are investigating.’
Larry and Pamela Baer pose for a photo on the red carpet in happier times in 2017
Larry Baer tried to play down their fight, telling The San Francisco Chronicle ‘the matter is resolved’.
He added: ‘My wife and I had an unfortunate public argument related to a family member and she had an injured foot and she fell off her chair in the course of the argument.
‘The matter is resolved. It was a squabble over a cell phone. Obviously it’s embarrassing.’
In a statement issued later through the team, Larry said: ‘I am truly sorry for the pain that I have brought to my wife, children and to the organization.
‘It is not reflective of the kind of a person that I aspire to be, but it happened and I will do whatever it takes to make sure that I never behave in such an inappropriate manner again.’
One onlooker said he heard the couple, who have four children together, arguing for around 20 minutes. The row got so heated the witness said he heard Larry tell his wife: ‘Let’s go to counseling today.’
Pam, who married Larry in 1990, said in a statement to TMZ: ‘We were having a family fight about someone in my family and that’s it.’
US President Barack Obama poses with a jersey flanked by CEO Larry Baer, left. Baer was named as chief operating officer of the Giants in May 1996 and CEO in 2012
Larry’s statement was shared to the San Francisco Giants’ Twitter page
Baer was named as chief operating officer of the Giants in May 1996, team president in October 2008 and CEO in 2012.
The couple also issued a joint statement through the Giants, saying: ‘Regrettably, today we had a heated argument in public over a family matter. We are deeply embarrassed by the situation and have resolved the issue.’
A spokesman for Major League Baseball told DailyMail.com the league ‘is aware of the incident and, just like any other situation like this, will immediately begin to gather the facts’.
They added: ‘We will have no further comment until this process is completed.’
Baer was part of the ownership group that bought the Giants in 1992 to keep them in San Francisco, where the club won the World Series in 2010, ’12 and ’14. He took over as CEO on Jan. 1, 2012.
He earlier this week traveled to Las Vegas for a second time to meet with Bryce Harper, who wound up agreeing on a $330 million, 13-year contract with the Phillies.