The professional baseball career of Danry Vasquez is unfortunately now marred by multiple instances of violence on and off the field.
Vasquez, a former MLB minor league player in the Houston Astros organization, used a sucker punch on an opponent that started a wild brawl in a Mexican summer baseball league on Sunday.
It is the latest episode of violent behavior by Vasquez, who was released by the Astros in 2016 after he was arrested for hitting his then-girlfriend in the face multiple times inside a stairwell of a minor league stadium in Texas.
The sucker punch thrown by Vasquez during Sunday’s game seemingly came out of nowhere on a routine baseball play.
Rodolfo Amador was on the receiving end of the punch after applying a light tag to Vasquez’s body to record an out on the third base line. Vasquez also kicked Amador while he was on the ground from the initial punch.
In an attempt to defend his teammate, first baseman Ryan Hernandez hit Vasquez with a clothesline that also sent Vasquez to the ground. It was costly, though, as Hernandez reportedly broke his arm in the melee.
Video of the chaotic brawl can be seen below.
The physical confrontation also led to online discussion about Vasquez’s past transgressions off the field.
The outfielder agreed to a plea deal in a 2016 assault, which can also be seen in a video below, of his then-girlfriend in Texas. Vasquez was released by the Astros soon after, but he did not serve any jail time because the case was dismissed due to the completion of his probationary sentence that included anger management classes.
Video of the domestic violence incident did not emerge in public until March 2018, when Vasquez was playing for a team in Pennsylvania called the Lancaster Barnstormers. The Barnstormers then cut ties with the outfielder.
Vasquez’s punishment for the fracas on Sunday was handed down swiftly by Liga Mexicana de Beisbol.
“The Executive Presidency of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol Banorte reports that player Danry Vásquez of the Tijuana Toros club is suspended immediately and indefinitely from the LMB Banorte for the events that occurred this Sunday, Aug. 2, in the third game of the series between the Monclova Steelers and the Tijuana Toros,” the league said in a statement issued Monday, per worldbaseball.com. “LMB Banorte condemns this type of aggression and any type of violence, which are not compatible with the League’s values of fair play and respect for the opponent, and which endanger the physical integrity and career of a fellow professional.”
Vasquez, a native of Venezuela, was initially signed as an international free agent by the Detroit Tigers in 2010. The contract was reportedly worth $1.2 million, and Vasquez was just 16 years old at the time.
As a result of the renewed attention on his past due to Sunday’s brawl, it could now be even harder for Vasquez to find another job playing baseball. Fabiana PĂ©rez, who was Vasquez’s girlfriend during the 2016 assault, spoke to the media after the video went viral in 2018.
“That is unforgivable. I shouldn’t have been so passive,” PĂ©rez said, according to People Magazine.
She added: “May God bless him and enlighten his path and his mind. “I hope those classes he took make him change.”