Cup of Coffee: July 31, 2024
The trade deadline has come and gone. Another Trout setback. Prodigal GMs. The GOP is lost and William Calley is dead.
Good morning!
The trade deadline has come and gone! I run down all of the trades that happened yesterday and, brother, there were a lot of them. I think the Marlins alone traded away 57 players. How they didn’t forfeit last night I have no idea.
Elsewhere: Mike Trout has experienced another setback, we hear from another prodigal GM, we look and see how the GOP is lost, and we shed no tears for the fact that Lt. William Calley, the mass murderer of My Lai, is dead. Sorry that that makes for some depressing reading at the end of today’s newsletter, but it’s just as important to mark the death of the infamous as it is to mark the death of the beloved.
Let’s get at ‘er.
And That Happened
Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Guardians 5, Tigers 0: Gavin Williams pitched five innings of shutout ball and four relievers completed the four-hitter. Josh Naylor, José Ramírez, and Brayan Rocchio all went deep for Cleveland. Ramírez’s was his 243rd career dinger, which moved him past Albert Belle into sole possession of second place on the Cleveland career home run list. He’ll have a few years before he gets to the top dawg, Jim, Thome at 337.
Orioles 6, Blue Jays 2: Corbin Burnes took a two-hitter into the seventh inning and Ramón Urías and Anthony Santander homered for the O’s, who were facing a Jays team which was probably pretty depleted given how many big leaguers they’ve traded away this week.
Rays 9, Marlins 3: Miami traded away so damn many players yesterday that I’m not sure how they rounded up ten to start this one. They musta been using ghost runners and shit. Six Rays pitchers scattered ten hits but held mostly firm and a five-run sixth inning by Tampa Bay batters put this one out of reach.
Mets 2, Twins 0: Sean Manaea was in command here, striking out 11 batters and giving up only two hits in seven shutout frames. J.D. Martinez singled in a run in the fourth and Mark Vientos homered in the fifth. Here’s an unfun factoid: Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis & Jose Miranda — the number two, three, and four hitters — combined to go 0-11 with 10 strikeouts and a walk. Woof.
Yankees 7, Phillies 6: Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit two homers for the second game in a row and drove in five on the night. Indeed, his two homers, which accounted for four runs themselves, single-handedly gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead after they had been trailing 4-1. Philly tied it back up in the ninth thanks to a Clay Holmes wild pitch and on to extras it went. After trading runs in the 11th Gleyber Torres’ 12th inning sacrifice sealed it for New York. Unfun factoid here: Bryce Harper went 0-for-5 and is 1-for-25 over his last six games. Woof.
Reds 6, Cubs 3: TJ Friedl drove in two runs on a first-inning single, Santiago Espinal hit a two-run homer in the second and Tyler Stephenson added a third run that inning on an RBI single. Frankie Montas was supposed to start this game but he got traded to Milwaukee, so David Bell used seven pitchers who were solid enough, combining to hold the Cubs to three runs on seven hits.
Mariners 10, Red Sox 6: Jorge Polanco homered in the fourth inning and added an RBI double in the sixth, Dylan Moore drove in three with a bases-loaded double in a five-run fifth. The M’s have won four of five.
Cardinals 8, Rangers 1: Welcome back Tommy Pham! The once and new Cardinal outfielder hit a grand slam in his first game back in St. Louis since 2018, turning a 4-1 Cards lead into an 8-1 Cards lead and effectively ending the competitive portion of the evening. Masyn Winn also went deep. Lance Lynn, also in his second stint with the Cardinals, picked up the win. Someone go sign Matt Adams, because it’s Homecoming Week, apparently.
Atlanta 5, Brewers 1: Bryce Elder gave Atlanta a pitching performance they needed, allowing just the one run while working into the seventh and striking out seven. Jarred Kelenic homered and doubled and Austin Riley, Marcell Ozuna, and Eddie Rosario hit RBI singles. This could’ve been worse for Milwaukee but Atlanta stranded 11 runners in the game.
Royals 4, White Sox 3: Michael Wacha pitched seven strong innings, Michael Massey homered, and Bobby Witt had an RBI single to help the Royals come from behind late to hand the White Sox their 16th straight loss. Chicago, by the way, appears to have completely quit on manager Pedro Grifol. And who can blame them after learning this yesterday:
Ownership and the front office guts the team, the manager is clearly in over his head, and it’s now the players’ fault that they’re losing? And now they’re doing daily running and batting practice in the dog days as punishment? Burn the whole thing down, man. Just burn the whole thing down.
Pirates 6, Astros 2: Michael Taylor homered for the second straight game and Bailey Falter didn’t, throwing one-run ball into the sixth. Three straight wins for Pittsburgh.
Angels 10, Rockies 7: Colorado built up an early 6-2 lead but the Angels scored two in the third and three in the fourth to take the lead. The Rockies tied it back up at seven via an Ezequiel Tovar home run in the top of the seventh but Jo Adell’s solo shot in the bottom half gave the lead back to the Halos. Matt Thaiss drove in a career-high five runs with a two-run double in the third, a two-run single in the fourth, and an insurance run-scoring RBI single in the eighth.
Padres 6, Dodgers 5: The Dodgers took an early 5-0 lead but the Padres chipped back. Manny Machado’s second homer of the game made it 5-4 Los Angeles in the bottom of the ninth and then Jackson Merrill’s solo shot tied things up to force extras. Donovan Solano hit a pinch-hit RBI single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning to give San Diego the walkoff win. It was their eighth win in the last ten, in fact, and a pretty damned exciting one at that.
Diamondbacks 17, Nationals 0: The Padres are hot and have pulled to within five and a half of the Dodgers, but the Diamondbacks are hot too. They’re winners of seven of ten and are only six back in the West after this thrashing of the Nats. Eugenio Suárez hit a two-run shot off Patrick Corbin in the first, a solo homer in the sixth off Eduardo Salazar and another solo homer against Joan Adon in the seventh. He was 4-for-6 with five RBI in all. Corbin allowed 11 runs, 10 earned, and 13 hits in three innings. Dakota Hudson leads the NL in losses with 12, but Corbin is only one behind him and stands an excellent chance of catching him. If he does, it’ll be the fourth straight year Corbin leads the league in Ls. I’m pulling for him.
Athletics 5, Giants 2: JP Sears pitched seven shutout innings for Oakland while Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler, Daz Cameron and JJ Bleday also went deep. The A’s have won eight of 11 since the All-Star break
The Daily Briefing
Trades
OK, there were so many damn trades yesterday that the newsletter literally will not let me write out full summaries like I did the past two days without running out of room. So I’m gonna go pithier with them today if that’s OK with y’all.
And a big reason why it should be OK: according to Baseball America,there were zero — ZERO! — top 100 Prospects dealt the deadline. BA says that over the previous 10 years, there had never been a trade deadline where no Top 100 Prospects changed hands. Which is to say: while some of the returning pieces in these trades are somewhat interesting, most are not and aren’t super likely to make an impact. Which is to say: if I go a bit light on prospect chatter, that’s why.
Anyway:
Cubs trade reliever Mark Leiter Jr. to the Yankees for right-hander Jack Neely and infielder Ben Cowles.
- Quick Take: Leiter is a hard-thrower who misses bats and strikes out a lot of batters and his peripherals are way better than his 4.21 ERA this year. He’ll help the Yankees pen. Neely, 24, has a plus fastball and what is said to be a pretty fantastic slider and should help the Cubs bullpen a great deal going forward. Cowles, 24, has good contact but limited power and second base is probably his future.
The Red Sox acquire reliever Lucas Sims from the Reds in exchange for righty Ovis Portes.
- Quick Take: Sims is a totally serviceable setup man with good strikeout numbers who can help get from the middle innings to Kenley Jansen. Portes is a 19 year old so it’ll be 500 years before we hear from him. Think of it as a surprise to your future self, Reds fans.
The Marlins trade lefty Trevor Rogers to the Orioles in exchange for infielder Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers.
- Quick Take: Rogers has been meh over 21 starts but he’s been much better over his last 10-11 outings. He’s under team control for two more years and, in addition to helping provide a boost this year, will provide rotational depth for a couple more seasons. Norby, 24, has a decent bat, but given how stacked the Orioles’ lineup is, he should be pretty dang happy about going to Miami. Stowers, 26, has power but a big swing with lots of holes. He too will get more chances with the Marlins than with the O’s. It’s a nice haul for the Marlins, no question.
The Marlins trade first baseman Josh Bell to the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash considerations.
- Quick Take: The Marlins had DFA’d Bell, but found a match for him with Arizona, who lost Christian Walker to an oblique injury on Monday night. Bell hit .239/.305/.394 (92 OPS+) with Miami, and that’s a big falloff from Walker, but if you don’t have a first baseman there will be a LOAD of errors on grounders.
The Guardians acquired righty Alex Cobb from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for lefty Jacob Bresnahan and a player to be named later.
- Quick Take: Cobb, 36, has spent the entire season on the IL with hip and shoulder injuries but is poised to return to action as soon as this week. He’s experienced, sure, and he has been a consistently above-average starter over the previous four seasons, but he’s risky given his health. Bresnahan was a 13th-rounder a year ago, but despite being a late-round pick he has been fantastic so far in rookie ball, with a 2.70 ERA in 12 games and a K/9 of 11.9 and a BB/9 of 3.2. Obviously a long way to go before determining what kind of prospect he really is.
The Royals acquire reliever Luca Erceg from the Athletics in exchange for righty Will Klein, outfielder Jared Dickey and righty Mason Barnett, all minor leaguers.
- Quick Take: Erceg, 29 has a 3.68 ERA this year with a K/9 of 10.1 innings. He has great stuff but shaky control and he’s been a bit more hittable than you’d like to see. None of the prospects were in the top-10 in the Royals system.
The Rangers get lefty Andrew Chafin from the Tigers for right-handers Joseph Montalvo and Chase Lee
- Quick Take: Chafin has a 3.16 ERA (135 ERA+) in 41 appearances in Detroit this season. It’s his best year since his last stint with the Tigers in 2022. A solid pickup for the Texas pen. Montalvo is a 22 year old in High-A but he’s pitching well and could be something. Lee is 25, a reliever, and has been stuck at Triple-A for some time and gives off organizational-depth-at-best vibes.
The Royals get shortstop Paul DeJong from the White Sox for pitching prospect Jarold Rosado.
- Quick Take: DeJong has hit 18 home runs in 102 games and that’s something of a bounceback for him, but it’s not like he’s really good and it’s not like he is going to play any shortstop in this Royals team given the presence of Bobby Witt. A utility guy/right-handed pinch-hitter.
Mets acquire starter Paul Blackburn from the A’s in exchange for pitching prospect Kade Morris.
- Quick Take: Blackburn, who had been the longest-tenured Athletic, had a 4.43 ERA ast season and has pitched more or less as well this year, though it’s only been in nine starts due to a foot injury. He’s pretty hittable but has his moments, such as when he began the year with a 22-inning scoreless streak. Nothing sexy, but with Kodai Senga out, the Mets need arms.
Mariners get reliever JT Chargois from Miami for minor league righty Will Schomberg
- Quick Take: He has a flashy 1.62 ERA but that’s smoke and mirrors based on his FIP and his other peripherals. Chargois knows his way around whatever they’re calling Safeco now, at least, as he pitched for the M’s back in 2021.
The Mets acquire righty reliever Tyler Zuber from the Rays for Double-A pitcher Paul Gervase
- Quick Take: Zuber, 29, only has 3.1 innings pitched in the majors this year and before that hadn’t pitched in the bigs since 2021 due to shoulder problems. Hell, earlier this year he was pitching for the Long Island Ducks. He throws hard, though, and people say he’s looked good in the minors so he could be useful. Gervase is 6’10” tall and he’s a hard-thrower who strikes out and walks the world. I’m sure the Rays are eager to see if they can harness that stuff a little bit. I’m not sure why the Mets wouldn’t try a bit more to do so rather than give him up for a likely marginal reliever, but it’s not like it’ll make a difference most likely.
Padres acquire closer Tanner Scott and RHP Bryan Hoeing from the Marlins for LHP Robby Snelling, RHP Adam Mazur, IF Graham Pauley and IF Jay Beshears.
- Quick Take: Scott has been fantastic over the past two seasons and will definitely help the San Diego pen. The prospect haul is pretty notable, at least for this year, as three of the four guys the Marlins are getting back were top ten guys in the Padres system.
The Pirates get OF Bryan De La Cruz from the Marlins for righty Jun-Seok Shim and infielder Garrett Forrester
- Quick Take: De La Cruz has 18 home runs and 51 RBI on the season so he’ll be an improvement over all Pirates outfielder other than Bryan Reynolds. Seriously, compared to what Jack Suwinski, Michael A. Taylor, Edward Olivares, and Joshua Palacios have done this year and De La Cruz looks like Ralph Kiner. Shim and Forrester were Pittsburgh's Nos. 17 and 18-ranked prospects, respectively. In the future, the Pirates will employ all of baseball’s Brayans. And De La Cruz/Cruzes. I have foreseen this.
Pirates get utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Blue Jays for Double-A outfielder Charles McAdoo.
- Quick Take: Kiner-Falefa is on a rehab assignment after missing a month with a bum knee, but he’s useful and has hit .292/.338/.420 (115 OPS+) with 33 RBI in 281 at-bats this season. The left side of the Pirates infield is more than set so he’ll probably play a lot of second base in the absence of the injured Nick Gonzales and give the other guys days off. McAdoo is the Pirates' No. 29-ranked prospect.
Diamondbacks get reliever Dylan Floro from the Diamondbacks for Triple-A 3B Andres Chaparro.
- Quick Take: Floro has a respectable 2.06 ERA over 52.1 innings though his strikeout rates and velocity are nothing special. Still, he doesn’t walk guys and keeps the ball on the ground. He, along with fellow recent pickup A.J. Puk. and late inning guys Ryan Thompson and Kevin Ginkel will help the hot-of-late Snakes make up for their recent rotation problems.
The Angels trade reliever Luis García to the Red Sox for first baseman Niko Kavadas, infielder Matthew Lugo and pitchers Yeferson Vargas and Ryan Zeferjahn
- Quick Take: Garcia has been solid this season, posting a 3.71 ERA and notching 40 strikeouts over 43.2 innings pitched. He should serve as a setup man for closer Kenley Jansen and can close in a pinch, as he did earlier this year for Boston.
The Orioles get reliever Gregory Soto from the Phillies for righty prospect Seth Johnson.
- Quick Take: That’s a couple of deals between the Phillies and Orioles in the last week. It’ll be fun if they meet in the World Series. Anyway, Soto didn't have a real role in Philly’s bullpen and he’s gonna get kinda expensive for a fourth or fifth bullpen arm after this year, so I get why they dealt him. He throws gas, though, so the O’s can use him.
The Padres get left-hander Martin Perez from the Pirates for pitching prospect Ronaldys Jimenez
- Quick Take: Perez has posted a 5.20 ERA in 83 innings, spent some time on the IL, and has had some pretty bad peripherals. I guess he eats innings. And I guess the Padres taking him saves the Pirates some money.
The Dodgers get center fielder Kevin Kiermaier from the Blue Jays for lefty Ryan Yarbrough.
- Quick Take: A former Ray for a former Ray. Kiermaier has had a nightmare season at the plate but his defense is as good as ever and a contender with a good lineup can carry a glove-first CF way easier than the Jays could. And it’s not like L.A. has gotten much production from their existing center fielders. Yarbrough gives the Jays long relief and their taking his salary helps offset the greater salary the Dodgers are taking on via the acquisition of Kiermaier.
The Rays pick up former prospect Dylan Carlson from the Cardinals for right-handed reliever Shawn Armstrong.
- Quick Take: Carlson was once thought of as a future star but he’s hit just .239 with only 34 home runs and 161 RBI in his first five major league seasons. If there has been a pattern to the Rays acquisitions at this deadline it’s taking projects or diamonds in the rough with an eye toward fixing them. There are worst things to do while you muddle through a disappointing year.
White Sox send Eloy Jiménez to Baltimore for minor leaguer Trey McGough
- Quick Take: A salary dump for Chicago, a Jiménez finishes out the final year of the $43 million deal he signed before making his big league debut. He earned his monty for three of the first four years of it but over the past couple of years injuries have derailed him. This season he’s hitting a miserable .240/.297/.345 (81 OPS+). Weirdly, he has hit the ball hard this year but he also leads all active players in groundballs, which is not a combination a guy like him should have. Maybe the O’s can fix his swing on the fly and get something out of him before paying the buyout on his option for 2025.
Dodgers acquire starting pitcher Jack Flaherty from the Tigers for catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and shortstop Trey Sweeney
- Quick Take: Flaherty was one of the best arms available on the market and the Dodgers got him for a couple of marginal dudes (Liranzo and Sweeney are the No. 8 and No. 22-ranked prospects in Los Angeles' organization, respectively). Like, they paid less for him than two or three teams paid for far worse starters. Magic. Anyway, Flaherty has 133 strikeouts and a 2.95 ERA over 106.2 innings and he'll absolutely help bolster a Dodgers rotation that has struggled with injuries all season.
Giants acquire outfielder Mark Canha from the Tigers for minor league reliever Eric Silva.
- Quick Take: I have no idea what the Giants are doing. They sold off some dudes, kept some dudes, and acquired a rental in Canha. It’s like they and only they know that there’s a prize to be won for finishing with, like 80 wins, and they’re gonna be damned sure they hit the mark. Anyway, Canha is having one of his worst seasons in years but he hits lefties well so maybe they’ll figure out a platoon of some sort for him. Aim medium!
The Orioles pick up OF/1B Austin Slater and infielder Livan Soto from the Reds for cash considerations or a player to be named later.
- Quick Take: I hope Slater didn’t unpack after being traded to Cincinnati from the Giants three weeks ago. The Reds got Ty France, though, making Slater redundant. He mashes southpaws, though, and Baltimore can certainly find a use for that what with their sending Austin Hays off earlier this deadline. The O’s front office seems to have a Livan Soto fetish. They claimed him off waivers from the Angels in February but the Angels claimed him back soon after. They claimed him a second time in April but put him back on waivers where the Reds claimed him and now they have him again. They can’t quit you, Livan!
OK, I think that was all of ‘em, If I missed one I am sure it was minor. Hallelujah! Where's the Tylenol?
Mike Trout suffers another setback, may not play again this season
Angels outfielder Mike Trout suffered yet another setback in his recovery from knee surgery yesterday. And now, says GM Perry Minasian, it's unclear if he will play again this season.
Trout exited the first game of his minor-league rehab assignment last week because of knee soreness. He had an MRI that came back clean and was back out there yesterday. He was scheduled to play five innings but played only two before being removed, soon after which Minasian said what he said.
Trout, who turns 33 next week, has not played in an MLB game since April 29 after tearing the meniscus in his left knee. This is will be the fourth season in his last five in which has been marred by injury, and even 2022, in which he was relatively healthy, he played only 119 games. When he’s been healthy he has hit. He just hasn’t been healthy, and now he’s moving on from being in the conversation as one of the greatest players of all time to one of the greatest “what ifs?” of all time.
The Yankees sign Brett Phillips as a pitcher
The other day a video went around of former big league outfielder Brett Phillips hitting 97 mph on the radar gun while pitching in the independent leagues. Yesterday the Yankees signed him to a minor league deal as a pitcher. Hey, why not?
Phillips played in the bigs for seven seasons with five clubs, seemingly retiring after last season with a batting line of .187/.272/.347 (71 OPS+) over 971 career plate appearances. He did pitch a bit in the big leagues, appearing in blowouts five times, allowing nine runs in five and a third innings.
Now, at 30, he’ll try to make it back to the bigs as a full-time pitcher.
Anyone can get a writing gig these days!
Yesterday I spent some time going after disgraced former GM Jim Bowden and marveling that he’s still given space to write things. Later in the morning i learned that he isn’t the only disgraced former GM out there getting writing gigs:
Bowden resigned during the course of an FBI investigation into bonus-skimming but somehow managed to avoid being banned by Bud Selig. Coppolella, in contrast, was permanently banned for tampering and his own flouting of international signing rules. Bad infractions, too, in which he violated rules that are put in place to keep people from taking advantage of 13-15 year old kids (note: he took advantage of said kids). He did, however, own up to it and apologize and was reinstated in 2023, so good for him I guess. Bowden would have you believe none of his business ever happened and that he’s still some sort of sharp insider.
Anyway, I figure there’d have to be some ex-front office people who could write stuff like this whose baseball careers did not end in infamy, but maybe they’re just harder to get a hold of.
Timely merchandise
This is an ad I got served to me on Facebook yesterday. Not in 2018, but yesterday:
I can’t decide if “Hamilton”-inspired t-shirts are more outdated or if references to Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. on Red Sox merch is more outdated. Either way, I can’t really see Red Sox fans buying stuff this depressing in the Year of Our Lord 2024.
Other Stuff
Foiled!
This is some taunting I can get behind:
I personally don’t like pineapple on pizza, but no one needs to be an extremist about it and if this irks some Italians, well, tough.
The GOP ticket is lost in the woods
Here was J.D. Vance, publicly, the day after Joe Biden dropped out of the race:
“I don’t think the political calculus changes at all. We were running against Joe Biden’s open border, Kamala Harris’s open border. Kamala Harris supported the green new scam . . .
J.D. Vance at a private fundraiser a few days later:
“All of us were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch. The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because whatever we might have to say, Kamala is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.”
They’re shook, folks.
They can’t run the “Biden is old” campaign they wanted. They also can’t shake the “Republicans are weird” framing that has taken hold over the past week because where do they go from there?
They can’t go all high-minded and say calling people names is wrong because they’ve spent much of the past decade calling anyone they disagree with a pedophile. They can’t pivot to issues because their issues — wanting the government to monitor women’s pregnancies, wanting to criminally investigate and imprison women who have miscarriages, and send kids down into coal mines are deeply, deeply unpopular and help support the argument that Trump/Vance are absolute oddballs who want awful things for Americans.
Eventually the campaign dynamics will shift because campaign dynamics always shift, but for now the best they seem to be able to do is to whine about how it’s unfair that they are being called weird for making bigotry a party plank and advocating for deeply disturbing policies.
You hate to see it!
Mass murderer William Calley Jr. dead at 80
The Washington Post reports that William Calley Jr. died in late April in a hospice in Florida at the age of 80. The fact of his death was discovered by a random check of Social Security records.
On March 16, 1968 Calley, then a 24 year old army lieutenant with poor qualifications and a poor service record, led a company of soldiers into the village known to the army as “My Lai 4” or “Pinkville” near the east coast of South Vietnam in search of a Viet Cong battalion believed to be hiding out there. There the company entered the village and proceeded to murder somewhere between 350 and 500 unarmed civilians who were offering no resistance, including men, women, children, infants, and the elderly. Those who did not walk into the irrigation ditch where they were being herded and where most were killed were bayonetted or killed by hand grenades inside their huts. Soldiers raped women and children as young as 12 and mutilated corpses. There was no evidence whatsoever of a Viet Cong presence in the village.
It’s worth noting that, initially anyway, three soldiers, led by a helicopter pilot named Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr., had tried and to some extent succeeded in halting the massacre and rescuing hiding civilians, at one point turning their guns on their fellow soldiers, though not firing, in order to save civilians. As part of what would become a year and a half long coverup, the three were initially given medals that erroneously credited them for heroism in battle, despite the fact that there was no battle, leading Thompson to refuse his medal in protest. Later, when the events of that day finally came to light, the three were shunned by fellow soldiers and were even denounced as traitors by several U.S. Congressmen. It would take thirty years until Thompson and the other two servicemen were recognized and decorated, one posthumously, for shielding non-combatants from harm in a war zone. You can read about them here.
But back to 1968.
No one but its participants knew about the massacre at first and the Army attempted to cover it up. In the meantime Calley was awarded a bronze star and a purple heart. Eventually the facts came out thanks to soldiers who told the truth of what happened and the work of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who later won a Pulitzer Prize for his work uncovering the facts of My Lai.
Twenty-six soldiers, including two generals and a captain who were above Calley in the chain of command were charged with crimes in connection with the massacre but most had their charges dropped before trial. Seven soldiers were court-martialed. The trial began in November 1970. Calley gave three days of testimony during which he expressed no remorse.
Indeed, Calley insisted that he had only followed orders given by his captain to kill all villagers and livestock and to poison the wells in My Lai. Several witnesses supported Calley’s account that those were the orders, though Calley’s Captain and many others contradicted that, saying Calley was only ordered to kill enemy soldiers found in the village. As we know, however, both from precedent in international war crimes tribunals and from the lowest but most obvious of moral and ethical bars, “I was just following orders” is no defense to the carrying out of an atrocity. If Calley was telling the truth about his orders that would not absolve him. It would merely mean that people above him should have also been charged and tried.
In March 1971 only Calley was convicted. He had been charged with personally murdering 102 villagers but was found guilty of murdering “no less than 22,” with the number hard to determine given that the army did not count the dead. Calley was given a life sentence, which led to widespread outrage among politicians ranging from then-governor Jimmy Carter, who thought his conviction would hurt troop morale to George Wallace and others who couldn’t countenance the idea of an army officer being held accountable for killing who they considered to be the enemy, regardless of their civilian status. Many in the public believed that Calley was guilty but that he was made a scapegoat for a U.S. military which had been conducting a brutal and often lawless war for years. Some, however, joined the politicians who took the position that he did nothing wrong because, hey, war is Hell and the Vietnamese got what was coming to them. The massacre, of course, also led to mass outrage around the globe and intensified opposition to the United States’ presence and actions in Vietnam. No one argued that Calley did not lead the troops who committed the massacre and that he did not, himself, murder dozens if not scores of people, because he manifestly did.
Years of legal wrangling and political grandstanding ensued following Calley’s conviction during which he was mostly confined to his apartment at Fort Benning or barracks at Fort Leavenworth. He never saw the inside of a prison cell. In the end he served only three-and-a-half years under house arrest following President Richard Nixon commuting his sentence in 1974.
After his release Calley got married and worked as a jewelry salesman for his father-in-law. He had a son. He got divorced. He kept a mostly low profile until 2009 when, addressing a Kiwanis Club meeting in Columbus, Georgia, he offered an apology of sorts:
“There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai. I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry.”
“What happened,” not “what I did.” “Who were killed,” not “who I killed.” I don’t know if there is a Hell, but if there is, I don’t think the use of passive voice can keep a person out of it.
Have a great day everyone.
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