Ex-fiancee alleges Norris put her in choke hold, grabbed her by hair
One day after accusing Derek Norris of emotional and physical abuse, Kristen Eck, the former fiancee of the Tampa Bay Rays catcher, detailed a violent encounter with the 28-year-old from October of 2015 in which he allegedly put her in a choke hold and grabbed her by her hair.
Eck, who said she is waiting to have a formal meeting with the commissioner's office, recounted the episode in a lengthy blog post Wednesday afternoon:
On Oct. 20, 2015 Derek and I were at our home in Wichita, Kan. We had been sitting out on our patio and Derek had been drinking. As it got late I went to go to bed and Derek went downstairs, as he was still drinking. I remember waking up to him kneeling at the bed telling me how pretty I was and singing "slow jams" to me, but I couldn't keep my eyes open.
I woke up a little while later. I'm not sure how long it had been. I felt that something was not right and I went downstairs to find Derek on the phone. He seemed startled and started talking "sports" to this person on the phone. I took the phone and heard a female's voice stating, "Are you going to talk to me." I knew who it was because I had seen texts and caught her calling Derek before. I took his phone and walked up our stairs to try and get this girl to speak to me. I approached our kitchen island with the phone in my hand and Derek approached me from behind and put me in a choke hold. At this time, I thought he wanted the phone. I threw the phone onto the kitchen island and tried to get away. Derek then grabbed me by the back of my hair to pull me back to him. He eventually let go and as I turned around he grabbed me by my upper arms so I couldn't leave as he tried to drunkenly explain that he wasn't talking to another female.
On Wednesday morning, Norris, who signed a one-year deal with the Rays in March, denied Eck's allegations of abuse, saying in a statement they "could not be further from the truth."
Major League Baseball has launched an investigation into the matter, a league spokesman told ESPN on Tuesday, and Norris later said he plans "to go above and beyond to assist" the commissioner's office in its investigation.