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Choo cited on DUI charges
AP
Photo
FILE - In this April 30, 2011 file photo, Cleveland Indians' Shin-Soo Choo, of South Korea, hits against the Detroit Tigers in a baseball game in Cleveland. The team said Choo was arrested early Monday, May 2, 2011, in Sheffield Lake, Ohio and charged with drunken driving.
Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif.
Shin-Soo Choo spent Tuesday afternoon talking to each of his teammates, one by one, to express how sorry he was for his off-field arrest on suspicion of drunken driving and the embarrassment it caused.
The Indians outfielder was arrested Monday after a breathalyzer test showed he had a blood-alcohol level of .201 — more than double Ohio’s legal limit of .08.
“I don’t want to make trouble on the team,” Choo said in the dugout before the first-place Indians opened a three-game series against the Athletics. “Every person has to learn. I regret that this happened. ... I apologize.”
After speaking to each player in the clubhouse, Choo also pulled the Indians into a tight huddle near their dugout before the team began warmups and batting practice.
Choo, the sixth major league player to be cited on a drunken driving charge this year, was arrested by police in Sheffield Lake, Ohio, after he failed a field sobriety test. An officer following Choo’s white Cadillac SUV said he was driving erratically before he was stopped.
“I talked to him. He’s human, just like every one of us,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “He made a mistake. We all make mistakes. The main thing is he’s learning from it. He’s very remorseful. He’s a guy I’m not going to look at any differently because of that. He’s a great kid, very high character and we’re moving on.”
Choo on Tuesday also formally apologized to fans, the team, the club and his family “for the attention stemming from this matter.”
“I am hopeful that this incident will not be a distraction to the Indians organization while we remain focused on continuing to play winning baseball,” he said in a statement released by the Indians.
The 28-year-old South Korean traveled with the team and was in the starting lineup in right field and batting third against the A’s. Cleveland began the week with the best record in the majors.