Early morning Tuesday, April 16, Milwaukee Brewers right-hander was arrested on allegations of drunk driving.
Milwaukee County Sheriff’s spokeswoman, Fran McLaughlin, said another driver had called 911 for suspected drunk driving. The caller reported they saw a driver repeatedly swerving between lanes. When deputies spotted the vehicle, they saw the Gallardo driving alone at 40 mph in a 55-mph speed zone.
Gallardo was pulled over at 2:10 am on I-94 South near 76th Street.
“He was very cooperative,” stated McLaughlin. “He said he had a couple beers.”
The beloved pitcher had told the deputy he had been drinking at a nearby bar very popular among Brewers fans: Left’s Lucky Town.
Gallardo’s arrest report states that he had red glassy eyes, slurred speech, and an odor of alcohol. Along with these signs of drinking, Gallardo also failed field-sobriety tests. Authorities say that the breath test revealed he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.22, nearly three (3) times the legal limit of 0.08. Resulting from the sheriff’s findings, they arrested Gallardo and his black Ford F-150 pickup truck was sent to the impound lot.
After the incident, the Brewers made a statement:
“We have been made aware of the situation with Yovani and we take this matter very seriously. We have expressed our disappointment to him and know he understands that behavior of this nature is of great concern to everyone in the organization. Yovani has acknowledged the seriousness of this incident and is taking full accountability for his actions.”
Lucky for Gallardo, the maximum penalty for the citation is $300, but there can also be additional dines depending on the person’s blood-alcohol level. Since his breath test revealed such a high number, Gallardo was also fined the maximum penalty of $178.80 for blood-alcohol.
Also in Gallardo’s favor, he will not be suspended from playing. Under the Major League Baseball (MLB) collective bargaining agreement with the player’s union, a team is not allowed to suspend a player for driving while under the influence or intoxicated. However, the CBA says that it is mandatory for the accused player to refer to a treatment board.
“The Treatment Board, as defined under the Joint Drug Program, will be responsible for creating and supervising individualized treatment programs for Players with an alcohol use problem or Players who have engaged in off-field violent conduct. Referral to the Treatment Board will be mandatory when: (a) A Player is arrested or charged by law enforcement authorities with driving while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol, or any other criminal violation relating to the use of alcohol.”
Although Gallardo will not be suspended, as he is scheduled to pitch again San Francisco, teams are allowed to fine players for breaking team rules, such as curfews. Since the Brewers have a curfew of 2 am, it is likely Gallardo will be fined for staying out later than curfew.
“You obviously know why I’m here,” Gallardo said. “I just want to start off and (say) what happened last night, I made a bad decision. I made a mistake. I made a mistake and I’m sure I lost a lot of respect from the fans, my teammates, my family.
“Like I said, it’s just a bad call. Something I shouldn’t have done. I regret it. At this point, obviously, there’s nothing I can do about it now. It happened. I just want to apologize to the whole organization and the people of Milwaukee for my actions.
“It’s just…It’s not very easy. It’s one of those things where I truly am sorry. I’m going to make sure something like this never happens again. Whatever the circumstances or consequences, whatever I have to do so this won’t happen again, I’m going to do it.
“At this point, I wish I could answer questions right now, but it’s just one of those things where it’s an ongoing process. I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get this cleared up, the whole situation that happened. The main thing I came out here is to apologize, especially to the people that look up to me and things like that. Obviously, it’s something that I regret and I’m going to make sure it never happens again.”