The Pirates this afternoon are hosting the Padres, and they planned to proceed with a bobblehead giveaway of 3B Jung Ho Kang "despite a Chicago police investigation of sexual assault allegations against the player," according to Dan Majors of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Chicago police yesterday said that they "are still conducting interviews" with the 23-year-old woman who said Kang sexually assaulted her in his hotel room during the team’s trip there in June. Pirates VP/Communications & Broadcasting Brian Warecki said that the team "takes the allegation 'very seriously' but proceeded with the promotion -- giving Kang bobbleheads to the first 20,000 fans at the ballpark -- as 'there have been no charges filed.'” Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape Chief Public Affairs Officer Kristen Houser said that her organization "understood why the Pirates would proceed with the promotion, although she hoped some fans might turn down the bobbleheads." Majors notes the Pirates "have given away hundreds of thousands of bobbleheads since the craze took off a couple of decades ago, and usually the only controversies are whether the player deserved the honor or whether the figure looked much like the athlete." The Pirates "had three bobblehead games planned for this season." A bobblehead of P Gerrit Cole "was given away earlier this season, but the Francisco Liriano giveaway scheduled for Sept. 10 was canceled after the team traded the pitcher" to the Blue Jays (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/11).
