Former Reporter Kat O'Brien Says She Was Raped By Ex-MLB Player in 2002

Former MLB reporter Kat O'Brien wrote in the New York Times that she was raped in 2002 by a Major League Baseball player. 

O'Brien did not name the player, writing that "it would only open me up to the possibility of having dirt thrown on my reputation; even all these years later and in the wake of the #MeToo movement, a former professional athlete wields considerable power. I hope I can help bring about systemic change rather than seek unlikely-to-come justice for one horrible act."

She wrote she was a 22-year-old reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and was working on a story about foreign-born players and how they adjust to life in the United States.

She was interviewing a player in a hotel room for the piece when he "moved suddenly to kiss me. I said, no, no, I don't want that, but he pushed me over to the bed. I tried to shove him. I said no, stop, no, stop, over and over. He pushed further, getting on top of me, pulling off my skirt, and having sex with me against my will."

O'Brien did not tell anyone about the alleged sexual assault, fearing it would ruin her career and that "most people in baseball would have rallied to protect the athlete."

She said after the assault that she was at the ballpark in Arlington when an "All-Star player stared at me, saying my name and the name of his teammate, the man who had raped me. Suddenly I realized he must have told people, making himself out to be a stud and me some girl who was there to pick up ballplayers instead of do my job. I felt humiliated and ashamed."

She said that All-Star player continued to make her feel uncomfortable and would stare at her throughout her career covering baseball whenever she encountered him. She said the assault made her turn down other jobs in the industry, including an offer in the city where the player who allegedly raped her was playing. She also avoided applying for jobs where his All-Star teammate was employed. 

O'Brien also detailed her experiences with a sexist culture within both the sportswriting industry and some clubhouses. One reporter told her he "heard a false rumor that I got my job covering the Rangers because I slept with a team executive."

She said one MLB coach nicknamed her "Legs," while players would openly question in her presence if she was wearing a thong or any underwear at all. Another player asked her what sexual positions she preferred. She wrote that one manager had a blowup sex doll in his office, and she once was in the locker room when a team was watching porn with reporters present.

In January, The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli outlined her own experiences within professional baseball culture, writing that in 2012 a Baltimore Orioles player told her he had information for her and invited her to his hotel room, only to make a sexual advance toward her. 

She immediately fled the room, but in the article, Ghiroli detailed other instances of sexism and misogyny within the sport, such as a coach in San Francisco asking for her room number in an elevator or a member of a front office telling her it was “sexy" how she worked hard on stories.

Another front-office executive gave her sexist advice: "You want to be hot enough so guys want to talk to you, but not so hot that people think you are f--king them.”