Sizemore regrets semi-nude photo flap
February 4, 2010
CLEVELAND (AP)—Fully clothed, Grady Sizemore(notes) faced his public with nothing tohide.
Stung by having semi-nude photos of him posted on the Internet, Cleveland’spopular center fielder said he never intended for the photos, which Sizemoremaintains were stolen from an e-mail account, to be viewed publicly and that heregrets the embarrassment their exposure has caused.
“It’s tough,” he said. “This is a situation where it’s a private matterand personal photos were stolen illegally. I’ve always tried to represent myselfand the Cleveland organization as best as possible and to put everybody throughthis is a terrible feeling and I apologize to everybody.”
In November, the photos—one of Sizemore standing nearly naked in front ofa bathroom mirror—appeared online. Sizemore, who said he took the photos forhis girlfriend, contacted Major League Baseball officials to stop them fromspreading to Web sites.
On Wednesday night, Sizemore was a presenter at the Greater Cleveland SportsAwards. After appearing on stage, Sizemore addressed the scandal but failed toaccept culpability in the photos going public.
“This is a private matter,” he said. “I never intended for any of this toget out. I hate to have to put everybody through this, but in the end it justwasn’t meant to come out. It was meant for me and my girlfriend and it justhappened to work out the way it did.
“You always have to be careful, but this was something that was stolen outof an e-mail account. It wasn’t like we intended for these pictures to goanywhere. We weren’t flying them anywhere. We weren’t showing them to friends.This was stolen out of an e-mail account.”
While Indians fans may move on, there’s a chance Sizemore may hear moreabout the photos in opposing ballparks.
“I’m not going to speculate as to what people are going to do,” he said.“I’ve put it behind me and I’m looking forward to this year.”
A two-time Gold Glove winner and three-time All-Star, Sizemore underwentoffseason surgery on his elbow and abdomen. He has been cleared by doctors andwon’t have any limitations when training camp opens in a few weeks.
“I’ve been hitting and throwing and lifting and running and everything hasfelt good,” he said.
Sizemore batted a career-low .248 with 18 homers and 64 RBIs before decidingto stop playing on Sept. 4.
