Myers Rejoins Phillies; Management and Players to Get Sensitivity Training

The Philadelphia Phillies say pitcher Brett Myers is rejoining the team following his arrest on wife-abuse charges several weeks ago in Boston.

The Phillies gave Myers some time off following a public outcry over the allegations and the team's apparent lack of response (see related story).

Myers was scheduled to make "brief comments" to the media when he rejoins the team Friday afternoon in San Francisco, and he is expected to pitch on Sunday.

The team says that during his time off, Myers and his wife Kim participated in counseling sessions both in Florida and in the Philadelphia area.  Team management says the counseling will continue, as part of the Phillies' employee assistance program, after Brett rejoins the team.

Also, Phillies officials say they have met with representatives of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) to begin work on plans for joint efforts to address problems of domestic violence. 

Those plans include the training of Phillies' front office and player personnel on domestic violence issues; establishment of domestic violence policies and protocol; attendance at, and support of, the December 7, 2006, Domestic Violence Summit; and assistance with public dissemination of information about the problems of domestic violence and the resources to combat it. 

KYW's Hadas Kuznits reports that Judy Yupcavage, with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, says she contacted the Phillies last week while they were dealing with Brett Myers because her organization was getting inundated with calls:

"I made a call to the Phillies, their public relations delaprtment, saying, 'You know, maybe you're not aware that we're here in Pennsylvania and possibly we could be a resource to you.' "

Since then, she says, they conducted their first meeting:

"It was the beginning of a conversation."

And that's not all:

"Coincidently, our coalition is sponsoring a statewide summit on domestic violence in the workplace in December, and we extended them an invitation to be a sponsor for the summit and to participate."

Yupcavage says they accepted, and she expects to work with the Phillies in the future to help them come up with proper domestic violence-related protocols and proceedures.