Did A’s try to troll Domingo Germán over domestic violence suspension in 9th inning?

Just to put this all out there before anybody tries to call us out on anything Domingo Germán-related, here's EVERYTHING this website has written in opposition of the New York Yankees' right-hander:

• New details on German’s alleged domestic violence incident should force Yankees' hand
• We're good on the whole 'Domingo Germán' thing, Yankees
  
• Domingo German’s release is imperative for Yankees to avoid distractions
  
• Domingo German couldn’t even get his prepared apology right
  
• How can we build on Zack Britton’s moral stand against Domingo German?

And there's more! Apologies for celebrating his historical triumph on Wednesday, though!

We've been outspoken against Germán's actions as well as the Yankees' decisions after the pitcher's domestic violence suspension back in 2019 -- something that contributed to derailing New York's playoff run that year and then left them short-handed in 2020.

If the Yankees cut Germán tomorrow, most fans wouldn't bat an eye. He's not an integral player for the future of the organization. Fans are still a bit perturbed the Yankees stood by him and Aroldis Chapman despite the disturbing allegations that led to their suspensions.

But is the constant, relentless outrage really necessary? Does everyone have to make sure they're at the front of the line with their witty tweets outing a player for past transgressions every time said player experiences a shred of success? Are you actually contributing to the conversation or guiding it to a place where it needs to be? Or are you just doing this for your own self-righteous needs, since you can't get in the heads of Germán or his now-wife to learn about his potential growth or her mental state? Is laughing at the horrific situation the most helpful thing for you to do?

Admittedly, we know nothing either! We're just not going to make the same references every time Germán is in the news. And for the Athletics to seemingly take a shot at the right-hander with their music selection before the start of the bottom of the ninth inning -- if that was the intent -- is further juvenile behavior.

Did Athletics troll Yankees' Domingo Germán over domestic violence suspension?

They might have! Unless they were truly using Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time" as some odd metaphor for the A's to hit the ball. But since they hit Germán zero times, "one more time" isn't really applicable.

Was it funny? Yeah! We're not devoid of a sense of humor, but we'd probably argue it wasn't necessarily called for -- again, if the intent was to take aim at Germán's 2019 domestic violence suspension.

It happened four years ago. The Yankees turned him in to MLB. He served his suspension. He apologized. His teammates eventually vouched for him (which clearly didn't come easy, if you followed Britton's public comments and the saga). He's done absolutely nothing wrong since (at least to our knowledge). So why are we egging on the masses that continue to pile on about something they don't really care about, but pretend to so they can ensure they're on the right "side" of anything related to Germán?

By no means should we conveniently forget what Germán did. It was indefensible, deplorable and horrific. But do we need to swing in the other direction and make it the only reason we'll ever know or talk about this guy? He threw the 24th perfect game in baseball history on Wednesday. That doesn't absolve him of every wrongdoing, but it certainly doesn't create a platform for everybody to further magnify what the baseball community has already thoroughly discussed ad nauseam for over three years.

Hat tip to the A's scoreboard operators, if we're viewing this through a comedic lens. Hat tip to the social media warriors ensuring they stayed up past midnight on the east coast to get their message out there to remind YOU that they don't like this guy and that he was once upon a time very bad.

But perhaps this is all a bit toxic? Germán is now married, seems to be in a better place, and has moved past/hopefully learned from his, what many would consider, unforgivable mistake back in 2019 (if we're to believe the people he spends the most time with). You don't have to celebrate Germán, but you also don't need to make it your life's work to bring him down.