Ex-Brave Jordan Schafer arrested on felony marijuana charge (UPDATED)
Former Braves outfielder Jordan Schafer has bigger problems now than trying to raise his batting average. (AP photo)
(UPDATED: 1 p.m.)
The Braves traded Jordan Schafer to Houston despite believing he could still be a valuable part of their future because they were able to land a proven veteran, Michael Bourn, in return. But Schafer’s future just got a little more cloudy.
The Astros’ center fielder and former Braves’ top prospect was arrested early Tuesday in Tampa on a felony marijuana possession charge.
Schafer's booking mugshot in Tampa.
The St. Petersburg Times first reported Schafer was arrested at 1:59 a.m. at the address for The Cheesecake Factory restaurant. He was released from jail at 5:15 a.m. on $2,000 cash bond.
Schafer was found in possession of 25.9 grams of marijuana. In the state of Florida, more than 20 grams is considered a third-degree felony. According to the police report, officers conducted a traffic stop after smelling what seemed to be marijuana coming out of Schafer’s car, and upon pulling him over found him with a joint in his hand.
An email to a Times reporter from the Tampa Police Dept. indicated officers also found “three small Marijuana peanut butter cups which contained 247.8 milligrams of Marijuana, according to its packaging.”
Let me just say this about Schafer: I’ve always liked him personally, and he was well-liked in the Braves’ clubhouse this season. Veterans, most notably Chipper Jones, believed he had turned the corner in his life and career after originally seeming too cocky when he first came up from the minors a few years ago.
Schafer was suspended for 50 games in 2008 for being found in violation of major league baseball’s drug policy. But the circumstances of that suspension always were cloudy — he never was tested — and Schafer disputed that he took performance-enhancing drugs.
Schafer, who maintains a home in Haines City, Fla. (south of Orlando), also battled a lot of injury problems with the Braves. He hit .240 with 15 stolen bases in 52 games before being traded to Houston, where he hit .245 with seven stolen bases in 30 games.
He now has another obstacle to overcome.
By Jeff Schultz
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244 comments Add your comment
All I'm Saying Is....
October 4th, 2011
12:04 pm
KBB: That’s funny!
Driving a Range Rover at 2 a.m. and smoking/possessing weed…sure sounds like ‘thug’ behavior to me. Jordan Schafer: you are officially called a thug.
LET’S GO BRAVES!
Once a Druggie......
October 4th, 2011
12:05 pm
punk thug – prima donna baseball player.
Ross
October 4th, 2011
12:05 pm
How dumb do you have to be to cruise around Florida smoking a dubie in a car with expired out-of-state tags?
Pete The Petrel
October 4th, 2011
12:05 pm
Wow…Where was the Cheesecake factory when I had the munchies at that age. Big step up from the 7-11! Hope he grows up before it is too late. He has a chance to be a good player if he wakes up and smells the rosin.
All I'm Saying Is....
October 4th, 2011
12:07 pm
And, oh my gosh, I forgot to mention he also had an expired out-of-state license plate too!! The only thing else Schafer could have done to be more thuggish was to have been in possession of a firearm!! LOL! Schafer is a poster boy for thuggery!
LET’S GO BRAVES!
Hollywould
October 4th, 2011
12:11 pm
So what!! I have to burn one before I drive in Atlanta with all u idiots on the road.
ht
October 4th, 2011
12:16 pm
Horrible decision to drive around smoking one AND having close to an ounce with him. Polk co is known to produce athletes not Rhodes scholars.
Btw, I recall an si article stating mlb trainers reported that majority of players, maybe 2/3?, smoked pot. Anyone remember the specifics?
Frank Wren
October 4th, 2011
12:16 pm
Why are Atlanta columnist still on his guys d…?? He is no longer a Brave who cares
Reid in EAV
October 4th, 2011
12:18 pm
Weed is not a performance-enhancing drug. It isn’t even a career-enhancing drug.
AnotherJeff
October 4th, 2011
12:18 pm
KBB — the word “thug” appeared about 30 minutes before your posting. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll agree that the world is out to get you.
Long term contact for #24 please!
Big Ten Champs Nebraska
October 4th, 2011
12:21 pm
It’s the bogus war on drugs rearing it’s ugly…..Rear end.
It’s not a drug, it’s an herb. If it is a drug, then why did God let it grow on this planet?
Tommy
October 4th, 2011
12:21 pm
This helps explain why he’s so skinny. . . . .
Ted M
October 4th, 2011
12:24 pm
The 25.9 grams that the police report claims were in the bag exceed the 20-gram cutoff for felony charges rather than misdemeanor. Schafer also, according to the report, had three marijuana peanut butter cups in the car and claimed ownership of all the drugs.
Raul
October 4th, 2011
12:25 pm
Hey (extremus)great post. You’re so right. God Bless..
Raul
meh
October 4th, 2011
12:34 pm
Schafer is not a thug. he’s just an idiot.
Matt
October 4th, 2011
12:35 pm
“Haven’t seen the word “thug” thrown at Jordan yet. I wonder why?”
“Thugs” used to be used when describing cowboys and gangsters many years ago. In more recent times Tupac used the term to describe himself and now every rapper brags about being a thug like it’s a good thing it’s easy to see why a young black mail who dresses like them, emulates them, grew up like them, etc. would be labeled and called a “thug”. If Jerry Rice, Chris Carter, Warren Moon, or Michael Jordan were arrested today for the same crime nobody would label them as a “thug”.
Simply smoking pot doesn’t make you a thug. Get off your racial high horse.
Kimbrel rocks
October 4th, 2011
12:35 pm
who cares about marijuana felony or not
iTiSi
October 4th, 2011
12:38 pm
Should have swapped JS to the DAWGS for Washington. Would fit right in there. DLo needs a “designated driver” so maybe would work out for both teams. Isn’t that what Washington was doing, being a DD for the other 3 in the car, including a young lady. If MR had a pair he would have suspended him for the season!
retired
October 4th, 2011
12:38 pm
pot should be legal, Once a Druggie should count his (or her) prescriptions and listen to Rush and crack another sixpack. Good luck Jordan seems you need it.
DawgNole
October 4th, 2011
12:39 pm
Good response to KBB, AnotherJeff. Obviously, his obsession with use of the word “thug” clouded his ability to read the earlier post–and prompted him to make his inane, irrelevant, and inaccurate contention that the term had not been previously used to characterize Schafer.
oldfart
October 4th, 2011
12:43 pm
It is a crime that possession of approximately an ounce of a particular plant is a felony. That being said, he deserves some punishment for being stupid. Disagree with the law all you want if you know it is there don’t be rollin’ and smokin’ in front of the Man. In a vehicle with an expired tag to boot? Here’s your sign.
Gumby
October 4th, 2011
12:44 pm
“Felony marijuana”. Oh my GOD run for the hills before he goes crazy like in Reefer Madness.
Go ahead, lock him up with Willie Nelson and waste more taxpayer money on the wrong people.
reebok
October 4th, 2011
12:45 pm
grow up, jordan.
Confused...
October 4th, 2011
12:46 pm
Big ten champs – ummm, cocoa leaves grow on this planet also, does that make coke not a drug? And so do mushrooms, are they not a drug? Just because something grows naturally doesn’t make it not a drug…
Wigger Hunter
October 4th, 2011
12:48 pm
He’s just a little wigger
Poke-a-robe-a
October 4th, 2011
12:48 pm
Marijuana peanut butter cups? How do you?….er, um….where do you?…interesting idea!
Hollywould
October 4th, 2011
12:48 pm
Yall look out. I am headin down 85 now and burning away. Hope I don’t get lost on 285.
blue
October 4th, 2011
12:48 pm
Najeh; even if they legalize it, if you don’t see the issue with driving a car while stoned, then you’ve got issues.
dean
October 4th, 2011
12:50 pm
Jordan must have gotten he plays for MLB, not the NBA.
dean
October 4th, 2011
12:50 pm
and I left “for” off of “forgotten”. See what that stuff does to you!?
Uh-oh, Jordan Schafer arrested in Florida – Snap Shots - GoUpstate - Spartanburg, SC - Archive
October 4th, 2011
12:53 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal-Constitution article [...]
TechRon
October 4th, 2011
12:54 pm
Let’s get Schaffer back here next year! He is the only one on our team this year who has an excuse for sleepwalking through the games.
All I'm Saying Is....
October 4th, 2011
12:56 pm
DawgNole and AnotherJeff: You can both dance around KBB’s point if you want but the bottom line is thug would have been used a thousand more times along with a whole lot more words long before now for someone behaving like Jordan if they were any other race except Caucasian. Currently, the leader in the clubhouse is ‘idiot’ which is all anyone needs to say when someone no matter what their race behaves like one.
By the way, why so apologetic for this idiot, Schultze? Why don’t you pile on like you typically do? This is just the latest in stupidity and bad decision making for Schafer isn’t it? But instead you practically say that his 50 game suspension was not credible, that he was traded after he had turned the corner, and that he is just so likeable — as if that has anything to do with on the field performance which he never displayed. Plus as I recall, after winning the CF job, Schafer was so dumb he got hurt and didn’t tell anybody which no doubt only made his injury worse putting him on the shelf for an even longer period of time.
I’m never surprised how ‘understanding’ some journalists can be when an athlete they ‘like’ is a bleeping idiot.
LET’S GO BRAVES!
Matt
October 4th, 2011
12:57 pm
IF they legalize it, which they won’t because their is no way to tax it, then the same rules would apply when driving under the influence of alcohol.
TechRon
October 4th, 2011
1:00 pm
To be serious about this: The guy can’t hit and is not a bad CF. “Felony” posession of marijuana does not bother me one bit. He had less than an ounce. Sure, he was/is stupid. So is this marijuana law. Can you believe that a charge like this 30 years ago could have netted someone 20 years in prison? What insanity.
Brian Asselstine
October 4th, 2011
1:00 pm
Cant believe we traded this guy for a 300 hitte than steal bases. WOW maybe we can swap them back. Sorry Houston, you now have our problem.
Joycee Banicheck
October 4th, 2011
1:01 pm
Right, because taxing alcohol and tobacco never worked either. This actually has potential to be Jeffy’s best blog ever…
Fredi Must Go
October 4th, 2011
1:03 pm
I really hate to hear that about Jordan. We gave him a chance, and now hes messed up again. I really hated it when he was traded. Sounds like we didn’t have the whole storay; imagine that.
While I am here, I must agree with Hershel on firing the fred man. I agree, but its not going to happen. I think the upper management looks with the one eye they have on the backside.
VaBravesfan
October 4th, 2011
1:04 pm
If he is convicted, will he get suspended again? Or is weed not on the list?
Tee off
October 4th, 2011
1:06 pm
Schafer had over 20 grams of weed on him which constitutes a 3rd degree felony in Florida. No wonder he couldn’t hit. He was apparantly stoned the entire time. Great job by the Braves to get rid of him. He’ll be out of the league by next year. What a bust and I don’t feel bad for him. Cocky player, used roids, smoked weed, took everything for granted and now he’s about to have nothing. Sucks for him.
TechRon
October 4th, 2011
1:07 pm
Matt — There is indeed a way to tax it. Of course, people could grow their own and that would not be taxed. People can make their own beer and wine now, too. Of course, they don’t do that too often because it is too much trouble. They just go buy it in the stores. If pot were legalized, it could be manufactured and sold in liquor stores with ID’s checked just like alcohol. Consumers could be assured of quality. The real “thugs” who traffic the stuff now would be out of business. Those are the scum who are murdering people who get in the way of their “business.” Legalization would end that. Politicians are not acting on this because they are afraid of being branded as soft on drugs. I am a hard conservative, but I think this is definitely the way to go.
RAMBLE ON!!!
October 4th, 2011
1:07 pm
“Let me just say this about Schafer: I’ve always liked him personally, and he was well-liked in the Braves’ clubhouse this season. Veterans, most notably Chipper Jones, believed he had turned the corner in his life and career after originally seeming too cocky when he first came up from the minors a few years ago.”
That’s a really nice thing to say Jeff.
Quite the opposite of what you said about Rush Limbaugh and his battle to over come PRESCRIPTION pain relievers.
I believe you call him “Drug addict”.
Najeh Davenpoop
October 4th, 2011
1:08 pm
“Najeh; even if they legalize it, if you don’t see the issue with driving a car while stoned, then you’ve got issues.”
The point is if weed were legal he wouldn’t have been arrested for felony marijuana possession. Give him a DUI and move on.
On an unrelated note, I drive a lot slower and more safely after I smoke, although I can’t guarantee that it has the same effect on everyone else.
Mitchell
October 4th, 2011
1:09 pm
Maybe it’s all part of the disappointment he must be feeling having to sit at home in October while the team he was traded from in July is battling in the playoffs… oh, wait.
Ezekiel
October 4th, 2011
1:10 pm
If he was in California the cops would have driven him home and tucked him into bed.
TechRon
October 4th, 2011
1:12 pm
I should have mentioned that if pot were sold in stores, taxes collected would be huge. People under the influence of pot are far less dangerous than alcohol drunks. Part of the tax money could go to the “Fire Fredi Gonzalez” fund.
Joycee Banicheck
October 4th, 2011
1:13 pm
If he was in Colorado we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Rocky Mountain high…
bird
October 4th, 2011
1:14 pm
In Fla, anything over 7 grams is a felony.
Mitchell
October 4th, 2011
1:16 pm
You druggies.
I shoulda known you all were a bunch of drug smokers.
Damn hippies.
bird
October 4th, 2011
1:17 pm
@Ross, don’t forget with the windows down.