When a fan was removed from a Rays game for allegedly directing a racist comment at B.J. Upton, it was not the first time it happened to the outfielder:
“Yeah, it’s not the first time,” Upton said. “A lot of the times, it happens when I’m in the outfield of a visiting stadium. Even I’ve heard it at home, too. I think it was just a situation where everyone heard it [on Sunday].
“Put it this way — it’s not too far-fetched to hear it,” he added.
It never ceases to amaze me that people still do this. I hope Maddon standing up to one of them helps. These people should at least take some insult lesson from Cyrano.
By the way, Upton was rather gracious about the whole thing:
Upton said while he felt fans should be entitled to say whatever they want, they often took it too far.
“Some of them definitely take it to the next level,” Upton said. “I think they fail to understand we’re people like everybody else. I know a lot of us wouldn’t go to other people’s jobs and say some of the things they say. But they pay their money for the ticket.”
Well said, B.J.
Jeebus. I went to Capital City Bombers’ games in Columbia SC for 6 years in the 1990s. Even there I never heard any racial insults. Heard plenty of others, but nothing racial. At Gamecocks baseball games, the NCAA made plenty sure that inappropriate, including racial, comments would not be tolerated.
I’m surprised that someone still thinks this nonsense is o.k.
I’m studying racism in sport, both overt as this was and covert in terms of media coding etc., at university at the moment.
It’s shocking how often it still happens, both in US and British sports. Unfortunately sexism, racism and homophobia are still incredibly prevalent and relevant, and just shows that society stills needs to fight against them.
Something I forgot to mention was the ‘shift’ in racism from Black players to Latino players; various baseball authors have highlighted this, particularly in books on the Minor Leagues.