The “Slant Eye Thing”
Baseball is over. We’re now into football, basketball, soccer and other games. But I’m still in a twit over the World Series and how Commissioner Rob Manfred handled what one sports reporter called the “Slant Eye Thing.”
As far as I’m concerned, Manfred blew it.
He missed a golden opportunity to send a truly powerful message that racist behavior will not be tolerated in major league baseball. I’m referring, of course, to the action he took —or more precisely, didn’t take — after Houston’s Yuli Gurriel pointed to the corners of his eyes in a mocking gesture at Japanese-American pitcher Yu Darvish following his home run in the third game of the Series.
Instead of suspending Gurriel immediately, the commissioner ruled that the Astros first baseman would have to sit out the first 5 games of next season.
The commissioner explained that he didn’t want to penalize other members of the Astros “at such a critical moment” or do something that would take away from the color and excitement of the World Series.
Ah, yes. Priorities! Musn’t do anything that might upset players and fans.
Astro’s Manager A. J. Hinch blew it, too.
He could have promptly benched Gurriel following the incident. Instead, he said he agreed with Manfred’s decision. Could the fact that the Cuban slugger was swinging a hot bat in the Series have had anything to do with that?
Earlier in the season, on April 15, major league players wore number 42 on their jerseys to commemorate the day Jackie Robinson made his major league debut.
I wonder what his take on the “slant eye thing” would have been.
And how many times do we have to go through stuff like this before lessons are finally learned?
In 2012, Yunel Escobar was suspended for two games for wearing black eye stripes with gay slurs written on them. Escobar, of course, apologized, as did Gurriel who later tipped his hat to Darvish when they next met.
Darvish, to his credit, handled the affair with class, saying he hoped everyone could learn from the incident.
I doubt, however, that anyone will really be thinking about it months from now when the next baseball season begins and Gurriel sits out those first 5 games. Sure, there’ll be a few stories on the sports page but it’ll feel like ancient history.
Commissioner Manfred was right when he said, “There is no excuse or explanation that makes that type of behavior acceptable.” Where he’s wrong was in concluding that an immediate suspension of the 33-year-old Astro would have detracted from the World Series. In truth, it would have elevated it.
