MLB will not punish Brad Ausmus over controversial spousal abuse comment

Major League Baseball released a statement this afternoon in regard to the controversy swirling around Brad Ausmus' unfortunate spousal abuse joke. Thanks to his quick acknowledgement and apology for his ill-conceived "wife beating" joke, Ausmus will not be punished further by the league office.

"Based on Brad Ausmus' immediate acknowledgment that he had made a mistake and his multiple apologies for his insensitive remark, we do not plan to look into this matter further."

Tigers' GM and President Dave Dombrowski also addressed the controversy, saying the team has handled the matter internally.

"We did discuss his insensitive remarks that he certainly regrets making, and we stand by his apology."

Ausmus apologized for the "I beat my wife" joke immediately after saying it, and issued an more formal apology this morning.

"The truth is I wasn't trying to trivialize or marginalize the problem of domestic abuse or minimize how awful a thing it is, and I'm sorry. There's people in this room that know me. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone and I certainly wasn't trying to offend anyone. If I did, I really am honestly sorry for that, because that's not what I was trying to do."