UPDATED on May 13th at 5:30 PM
Current Mississippi Athletic Director Scott Stricklin told Matthew Stevens the following about the case:
“We are aware of the lawsuit filed by former baseball player Forrest Moore. We are confident that we operate our baseball program in compliance with the rules of the Southeastern Conference and the NCAA. We will allow the university’s general counsel to comment further on this legal matter.”
Current Mississippi State head coach John Cohen and Senior Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations, Corporate Development Mike Nemeth are among three defendants named in a lawsuit brought by former MSU pitcher Forrest Moore. Moore made 29 appearances on the mound including 11 starts in his Mississippi State career between 2008-09 and compiled a 3-3 record with a 7.17 earned run average with one save and 87 strikeouts.After the 2009 season, John Cohen was hired by Mississippi State from Kentucky to take over from Ron Polk.
Moore was then not a member of the 2010 team but was drafted in the 38th round but did not pitch a single inning in their rookie league.
Matthew Stevens of SDN Bulldog Blog posted the following about the case:
Moore’s representation, Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh PLLC, one of the largest law firms in Memphis also with offices located in Oxford, Miss., is charging the MSU, Cohen and Nemeth with the following:
- Breach of contract
- Intentional/tortious interference with contract
- Civil conspiracy
The summary of the claim being brought by the representatives of Moore are as follows:
- Once Cohen was hired, the MSU head coach informed several former players recruited by former head coach Ron Polk that their scholarship allotment would be decreased.
- In the fall after Cohen was hired, he initiated workout routines that violated the NCAA rules on practice hours in the offseason and in order to cover up the violation prohibited several former players including Moore from filing the required time limit forms.
- In that same fall of 2008, the claim says Moore began dehydrated during a practice and “required hospitalization and was near death according to information provided by Moore and his doctors”. Moore was required to throw more pitches than he should have allowed to engage in during preparation for the 2009 season and in order to cover up that fact, Cohen had the former players sign and uncompleted practice time sheet form. (It is this statement of fact that is the basis of the reason for Moore’s assertion to Cohen being responsible for the deterioration of Moore’s pitching arm.)
- After suffering a broken nose, Cohen required Moore who according to the claim “had two black eyes and blood streaming down his face” to catch up on his required running and made him do additional running with the injury when he failed to meet the required time on his run.(The claim establishes this behavior as the first step in Cohen’s attempt to drive the pitcher away from the program because he had a 80 percent scholarship.)
- March 23, 2009 – Moore informs MSU trainer Allen Thompson that he had pain in his forearm/elbow area and the right-hander was referred to MSU’s team physician Dr. Rusty Linton and he was diagnosed with forearm tendonitis.
- March 24, 2009 – One day following Dr. Linton’s diagnosis, Cohen required Moore to throw a bullpen session under the supervision of MSU assistant coach Nick Mingone. Once Mingone notice instability in Moore’s elbow, he informed Thompson who then again called over Linton. According to the paperwork, it was at point Dr. Linton said “nothing was wrong with Mr. Moore”.
- March 27, 2009 – Dana Moore, Forrest’s father, requested his son have an MRI scan and Thompson told Dana Moore that “nothing was wrong with him” and “to quit worrying”. Forrest Moore was then required to throw in the bullpen twice (over 100 pitches according to the court document) during a Southeastern Conference series at Arkansas (Moore never saw action in a game that weekend).
- April 1, 2009 – Moore started against Lousiana-Monroe three days after the bullpen sessions the weekend before and allowed one earned run on just two hits while striking out 11 and getting a no-decision in the Bulldogs 7-1 loss.
- April 13, 2009 – After pitching with the tendonitis in a series against Tennessee the previous weekend, Moore demanded an MRI scan and the university provided one. The MRI radiologists Dr. Michael Buehler reported a strain to the ulnar collateral ligament (similar to what was first reported on last year’s injury to current MSU starting pitcher Nick Routt) or a possible tear. Dr. Linton reviewed the scan and reported a muscle strain.
- April 24, 2009 – Following Linton’s diagnosis, Moore started and was dominated by Vanderbilt for seven earned runs off just four hits in 1 2/3 innings of work despite telling the MSU coaching staff that his arm “had nothing” (It’s this pattern where Moore’s representation are trying to establish Dr. Linton as a less-than-credible medical opinion on the matter).
- May 4, 2009 – Moore met with world-renowned specialist Dr. James Andrews(the same surgeon that performed the season-ending Tommy John surgery on current MSU pitcher Ben Bracewell this past summer)in Birmingham, Ala., and Dr. Andrews confirmed Moore had ligament damage to his elbow and “should not have been pitching for several weeks.”
- May 6, 2009 – Upon hearing that Moore needed surgery to repair the ligament tear in his elbow, Cohen informed Moore he would not be granted a medical redshirt and that his scholarship was being taken away.The documentation claims Moore was not given written notification of his scholarship being taken away and not given a hearing opportunity that is required according to NCAA rules. (This is the reason Mississippi State University as a whole is named in the lawsuit). The suit claims Nemeth and Cohen “knowingly, maliciously, and without right or justifiable cause refused Mr. Moore a hearing” and therefore“denied his rights under the scholarship contract”.
This is an interesting development and needs to be followed in the coming months. Some of these charges are severe including trying to run a player off the team to get back his scholarship money and continuing to make the player workout while being dehydrated among other things.
