Another blow to the Braves: Derek Lowe arrested for DUI
Derek Lowe's mug shot. (Atlanta Department of Corrections)
The Hawks just won a playoff series. The Falcons moved up to take Julio Jones. And the Braves?
They’re having a week no team wants to have.
If sorting out what to do about pitching coach Roger McDowell wasn’t difficult enough, the Braves awoke this morning to learn that Derek Lowe, who has become their best big-game pitcher and who has long been considered a clubhouse exemplar of how to be a professional, was arrested on charges of DUI.
The team is expected to announce something today regarding McDowell, having spent Thursday trying to gather information. And now they get to read about Lowe being arrested smack in the middle of Buckhead.
And to think: On the field, the Braves are doing well. They finished a difficult West Coast road trip by winning five of six games and have climbed back to .500. They’ve got that going for them, if nothing else.
9:54 a.m. update: The Braves have released this statement:
Obviously we are concerned and disappointed about the events involving Derek Lowe overnight. We are currently gathering information and plan to address this matter later today.
10:36 a.m. update: As reported by colleague Mike Morris, a Georgia State Patrol spokesman says Lowe was allegedly racing another driver down Peachtree Road.
By Mark Bradley
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255 comments Add your comment
Hayseed Dixie
April 29th, 2011
10:15 am
@Braves 2011
Yeah, I can’t understand guys with millions who don’t have a driver.
If you’re a sports millionaire- get a flippin’ driver already. It’s a win-win, you’ll get to party all you want and you’ll never get in trouble.
The worst thing that can happen is you’ll alienate the driver and have to find another one. Which is much less of a headache than a DUI.
Cardog10
April 29th, 2011
10:18 am
He probably had some drinks at dinner. Who cares. I am not condoning drinking and driving, but he could be a better driver with three beers in him than most of these terrible drivers on the road sober. Lowe’s stuff looks great this year… move on and put it behind you.
EDIMGIAFAD
April 29th, 2011
10:18 am
Mark – There is no high moral ground for the Union on this. Drunk Driving kills – period.
Indifferent 2011
April 29th, 2011
10:18 am
Maybe I should become a Florida Marlin fan.
I’d fit right in with them.
They never go see their team either.
And I agree with their philosophy.
They don’t join the biding wars and wind up with ridiculous contracts they can’t wait to expire.
EDIMGIAFAD
April 29th, 2011
10:19 am
Glenn – yout comment was out of line.
Willy Wonka
April 29th, 2011
10:20 am
Anyone arrested for DUI should be summarily executed. That way the drunkard will be prevented from murdering an innocent person. Alcoholics and shysters will always slam sober people, organizations and the police trying to eradicate potential murderers from the public highways. Those of you who think DUI is “no big deal” and a “racket” need to visit a funeral home and face a family who has suffered a loss that will never be restored.
Braves 2011
April 29th, 2011
10:21 am
Yea Hayseed.
Agreed.
Give some guy out of work a job too.
I wonder what Lowe’s net worth is.
Should I demand a “trade” to the Marlins’ fan base since I’ve become a lousy fan?
Roger McDowell: Formerly in THE SPOTLIGHT
April 29th, 2011
10:25 am
D.L.
Thanks for taking that spotlight off of me, Brother!
No more extra workouts for you, My Man!
P B Orr
April 29th, 2011
10:27 am
To all the expected blatherers about people who die because of cars – it’s true, but most car deaths come about from bad driving, and the DUI racket does nothing to stop bad drivers. I’m completely in favor of yanking someone’s license for year, five years, and then permanently for dangerous driving, which includes among other things 1) speeding +30 2) any sort of weaving 3) failure to strictly obey speed limits in construction zones 4) tailgating less than 2 car lengths 5) running a traffic signal 6) driving while actually DRUNK drunk, the kind that makes the car go loopy on the road. The DUI racket is a form of prohibition that uses a convenient moral scapegoat to make political points. Traffic officers should be IN TRAFFIC evaluating actual driving, not sitting in the donut delivery van “taking pictures” and setting up roadblocks. The tacit assumptions of the DUI racketeers are wrong – and in court, you are not even allowed to prove your innocence by, say, drinking to the level of the test – say .08 – and then proving that your are not impaired in any way.
Braves 2011
April 29th, 2011
10:28 am
Is there a betting line on what happens to RM?
FIRE FREDI GONZALEZ!
April 29th, 2011
10:28 am
With the exception of Otis Nixon and Rafael Furcal, anybody notice that this type of stuff never happened on Bobby Cox’s watch?
Jody
April 29th, 2011
10:30 am
Derek Lowe = THUG!
Curious George
April 29th, 2011
10:30 am
Was Courtney Fuhrmann in the car with Derek?
Mark Bradley
April 29th, 2011
10:31 am
You might recall that both Brian Hunter and Keith Mitchell were arrested on similar charges on the same night during the pennant race of 1991.
Spider29
April 29th, 2011
10:31 am
What the heck is going on? This stuff is very un-Brave-like. The Braves for so long have seemed to have such “good citizens” that it make these two occurences even worse. I want to read about the team winning 8 of ten games not being two for two in bad behavior.
Braves 2011
April 29th, 2011
10:34 am
Point taken Jody.
Thug is a word thrown around almost always toward black athletes.
I would argue we not use it but we know how much influence I would have.
None.
So your solution to use it toward all may be a good one.
Frank C.
April 29th, 2011
10:34 am
Wasn’t Saint Bobby (as in Cox) charged with wife beating or something similar several years ago?
P B Orr
April 29th, 2011
10:35 am
What’s going on? Baseball players are human – they don’t like being heckled by morons when they are having a bad day, and they like a beer or two now and then, and they do stupid things. Teachers and priests get DUIs, just like bank robbers and baseball players.
PureEvil
April 29th, 2011
10:35 am
Anyone who drives drunk is a complete idiot but, this is not a big deal no reason for this to have an effect on the team. Deal with the punishment make an apology and move on!!!!
JT
April 29th, 2011
10:35 am
All you tee-totaling, probably tea partying, and most likely gun toters need to get a grip on reality. Guns kill more people that alcohol but if someone comes from your rifles all hell breaks loose. Fact is the BAC level considered illegal in this country is no where close to what would even begin to impair a grown man, and thats the truth. Lumping everyone that has a couple of beers together with someone who can barely stand and gets behind a wheel is like putting every gun owner in the category with gang members and murderers, get some perspective. Just like they say about guns, alcohol doesn’t kill people, people kill people.
Braves 2011
April 29th, 2011
10:35 am
Fredi is not getting much of a honeymoon with soon of us.
Curious George
April 29th, 2011
10:35 am
Will the public now start to blame Roger McDowell as a bad influence on the pitching staff?
Jody
April 29th, 2011
10:35 am
Thanks Braves 2011, that was my exact point
biz
April 29th, 2011
10:36 am
I agree about the mug shot. Looks like Olan Mills or Glamour Shots started working with the APD.
PureEvil
April 29th, 2011
10:37 am
Maybe I should become a Florida Marlin fan.
BYE BYE…. have fun with that!!!!
Curious George
April 29th, 2011
10:37 am
Do you think Roger McDowell had the bartender spike Derek’s drinks last night with 100-proof alcohol and then make an “anonymous” phone call to police to report a drunk driver to deflect attention from himself?
JT
April 29th, 2011
10:38 am
Our alcohol laws are antiquated to say the least. An 18 year old can risk his life in the army and choose the leader of the free world but can’t have a beer? Give me a break.
OtisTheDrunk
April 29th, 2011
10:40 am
Curious George…don’t be a freakin PINHEAD bringing out the race card crap and your non-correlation between the two coaches! Didn’t even make sense ya moron.
JT
April 29th, 2011
10:40 am
http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2011/04/29/mark-richt-gets-feisty-with-whiny-fan-at-macon-bulldog-club-meeting/
Looks like D-Lowe might not be the only one having a few drinks…
Mr. Obvious
April 29th, 2011
10:40 am
The way Fredi Gonzalez and Frank “Wrong Again” Wren are handling this team so far this year, Cal Ripken, JR. would be arrested for statutory rape if he were playing here right now under their watch.
BG
April 29th, 2011
10:42 am
How many games will he be suspended? LOL!
Mark (another one)
April 29th, 2011
10:44 am
This will be dealt with by the legal system, and if I remember correctly, the team’s only recourse is to waive him. They would then need to fight him in court over the remainder of his contract. That is very unlikely.
If it is a first offense (and I can’t remember any other legal issues in his past), he will probably be offered a program of some sort, and community service. I hope he takes his punishment like a man, apologizes to his teammates, the Braves organization and the fans, and moves on. Hopefully the leason is learned (Lowe is smart) and he avoids future issues.
JT
April 29th, 2011
10:44 am
Yeah Mr. Obvious you’re right, Fredi Gonzalez should be with every grown man on his team at every moment of their lives. May cause some awkward bedroom situations but at least they’ll stay out of trouble.
Robbie
April 29th, 2011
10:45 am
Stupid on Lowe’s part…., very stupid….
Braves 2011
April 29th, 2011
10:46 am
@PureEvil.
Point was I’d fit in better with them since I’ve stopped attending pro sports.
And I don’t like the ridiculous pay.
The Marlins win a championship and then clear the deck.
Hurts attendance but they have one more than us.
NO MORE IDIOT FANS
April 29th, 2011
10:47 am
Mr Obvious
It’s obvious you’re an idiot!!
SawThat1nce
April 29th, 2011
10:47 am
If I was Lowe, I would fight this charge all the way to a jury.
Gman
April 29th, 2011
10:49 am
There should be graduated penalties for DUI. Having 2 beers in one hour is not the same as getting blasted and plowing through pedestrians on the sidewalk.
Seems like over the years there is no distinction made to the degree of intoxication. .08 illicits the same penalty and social stigma as a 1.8. If I’m out and had 3 beers in 2 hours I try to get a ride or cab- not because I’m blind drunk and might kill myself or others, but because the penalty and social
stigma are disproportionate to the actual offense.
I realize innocents are slaughtered by drunk drivers but I’d like to know how many times serious accidents occur solely because of a BAC of .08. Seems like texting and distracted driving are every bit as bad or way worse than impairment at .08
JT
April 29th, 2011
10:49 am
Blaming Fredi and Frank Wren is moronic. Does your bosses attitude (if you even have a job) affect the way you behave outside of work? I hope that as an adult you have aren’t that weak of mind.
Ken Stallings
April 29th, 2011
10:51 am
Wow! Great job, pitching staff!
Been a Braves fan forever, but this is really getting old! Come on, people! Grow up and take the responsibility that you are representing an important sports franchise and getting paid very handsomely to uphold the standards of performance the job requires!
NO MORE IDIOT FANS
April 29th, 2011
10:51 am
How many games will he be suspended? LOL!
0
Good god people he got a DUI…..yeah it’s bad but LUCKILY he didn’t kill anyone. He’ll deal with his punishment from Atlanta and issue an apology then we should all move on.
PureEvil
April 29th, 2011
10:52 am
Enter your comments here
ThePriceIsWrongBitch
April 29th, 2011
10:52 am
Hire a driver, a cab, a limo, call a friend or call a freakin fan man!
This really pisses me off. I don’t care if he only had 2 beers- in his position, he has a lot of responsiblity!
Now go out and keep pitching well and maybe we’ll forget about this incident.
As far as McDowell goes, I want to say fire his ass, but since the “celebrity” attorney is handling this, I don’t know if we are getting the truth.
Wow- I’m glad we plan again tonight so I can just watch a damn game and not read about stupidity…
Smack
April 29th, 2011
10:53 am
Rodrigo Lopez went from being the scheduled starter tonight to being replaced by Julio Teheran. Braves seem to be setting him aside in the off chance they need to recall him to take D-Lowe’s start on Sunday.
SawThat1nce
April 29th, 2011
10:53 am
Have you ever seen some of the bullcrap that a Police Officer request a driver to do in field sobriety test?
How many people can say the alpahbet backwards? Yeah, that is used sometime in the field test.
Keep Hope Alive!
April 29th, 2011
10:54 am
Who would have thought that Chipper would actually look like the BOY SCOUT on the team now?
What will the Braves PR & Marketing departments do when the police blotter has the
“Heyward, Jason” in it?
Gman
April 29th, 2011
10:54 am
Did anyone perform sobriety tests on Dimitrioff after the trade with Cleveland last night?
I like Julio but they had many needs and have mortgaged this draft and the next one for a player that might have 5-10 touches per game-IF he is a star. How many players have EVER cost that many draft picks?
Braves 2011
April 29th, 2011
10:55 am
I agree with the folks arguing that the degree of intoxication should make a difference.
Like 75 in a 65 gets a different fine than 95 in a 65.
Ken Stallings
April 29th, 2011
10:56 am
JT,
I don’t think this thread should be turned into a referendum on gun rights, but the fact is your statement was wrong. Death and injury both from DUI greatly exceeds those by firearms in America — not even a close comparison!
Further, gun rights are specified in the Constitution as an expressed liberty. Alcohol consumption is not. However, neither do I support a return to Prohibition as we know what that misguided effort did to America when it was actually tried!
Between both extremes lies a very nice middle ground called personal responsibility, where you are free to drink but also required to avoid endangering the public when doing so!
Braves 2011
April 29th, 2011
10:56 am
Especially since our restaurant and bar businesses make so much off drinks.
We as a society encourage light drinking.