Our Jerk of the Day was chosen before most MLB games even started on Monday. According to Yahoo! Sports, on Saturday Yunel Escobar wore eye-black strips with the phrase “Tu Ere Maricon” written across them. The phrase translates to “You Are A F**got.”
Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today notes: “Even with the misspelled middle word (the correct form is “eres”), the Spanish-language sentence clearly makes an offensive remark. Ortiz also noted, “the slur he used is often tossed around by Latin players when joshing with each other.”
View a photo of Escobar with the slur.
The Toronto Blue Jays released the following statement:
“The Toronto Blue Jays do not support discrimination of any kind nor condone the message displayed by Yunel Escobar during Saturday’s game. The club takes this situation seriously and is investigating the matter.” (via CBSSports.com)
Additionally, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN tweeted:
MLB spokesman Pat Courtney says baseball is looking into Yunel Escobar eye-black situation. Nothing more at this point. #bluejays
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) September 17, 2012
So, was the message a prank by one of his teammates? Did Escobar himself write the phrase across his eye-black? Does it really matter? Someone wrote it. Someone took the time to write the phrase. The gay slur stemmed from somewhere in the Toronto clubhouse.
If it was a prank, it means Escobar (or one of his teammates) thought it was funny.
Dirk Hayhurst, former pitcher for the Blue Jays and now author and analyst, wrote on his personal blog:
‘“Okay, so, the player in me looks at this and says, “Waaaahahahahah! Got heeeeeem!”
But then the Live Analyst looks at his and says, “Ahem, that’s an unfortunate prank that got little more attention than I think these boys bargained for. It’s a shame when they don’t think about the possible ramifications of their actions. I mean, you know as a player that the cameras don’t miss any details out there… That’s the last thing the Jays needed after such a disappointing season.”’
Yes, those poor Blue Jays. Am I reading that right? It’s unfortunate because they got caught? Hayhurst clarified his blog post on Twitter:
Don’t be mad at me for knowing how a locker room operates. I’m not condoning it, I’m just saying, I (sadly) understand it. — Dirk Hayhurst (@TheGarfoose) September 17, 2012
and:
Hey, I’m not saying it was smart, okay, in good taste, or non offensive. I’m saying, Fact: baseball players are idiots. Worse in packs. — Dirk Hayhurst (@TheGarfoose) September 17, 2012
and provided some insight into the matter:
If Bautista had that message on, It’d be big news, but no talk of trading or releasing. YE metrics allow for this debate, but nothing more.
— Dirk Hayhurst (@TheGarfoose) September 17, 2012
Here’s a message to the Toronto Blue Jays clubhouse: You aren’t comedians. You are’t funny.
South Park is funny.
In their episode “The F Word” (season 13, episode 12) South Park writers take on the use of the “F Word.”
The episode’s synopsis reads “Everyone agrees they’ve had enough of the loud and obnoxious bikers that have arrived in South Park. The boys are taking on the Harley riders. They throw down the F word, and the game is on.”
South Park did the whole episode about how that word doesn’t mean what it used to mean—its meaning is what we give it … or something like that.
It works for South Park. One scene in “The F Word” cuts right to the heart of the matter in about 20 seconds:
Mayor: (Addressing assembly of students) Students, I am here because of a very serious matter. This morning it was discovered that in several places all over town, somebody had spray-painted the words, ‘Fags get out’. Many witnesses reported seeing children with spray-paint. Now, if anybody knows anything about the kids who did this, you must come forward…
Cartman: (Interrupts and raises hand) That was us.
Mayor: Excuse me?
Stan: Yeah, we did that!
Kyle and Kenny: Yeah!
Mayor: (Angrily) Why would you write something like that and be proud of it?
Kyle: Well, because we want all those fags to get out of our town.
Cartman: Yeah, everyone hates those fags, right?
(Students murmur in agreement)
Mr. Mackay: Now just what the heck is going on here? This is not what we have taught you in this school! Kyle and Stan, you’ve always been tolerate of gay people!
Stan: (Confused) Gay people?
Kyle: We aren’t talking about gay people.
Mr. Mackay: You just admitted to spray-painting that they should get out of town!
Stan: Dude, why would we want gay people to get out of town?
Cartman: Oh, they think we meant gay fags!
Kyle: Oh. Hey, that’s not very nice, Mayor! Just because a person is gay doesn’t mean he’s a fag!
In order to make light of something controversial (re: a prank) and get away with it, you either need to be intelligent or clever—perhaps both. A show like South Park is both. The Toronto Blue Jay clubhouse is neither. If that was their idea of a prank they came across as the the yuppie jocks from every 80’s movie—and those guys were always a-holes.
We’re not here to call Escobar homophobic … or even his teammates homophobic. They could just be idiots. Either way, the slur did end up on his face.
I guess that’s the difference between comedians being able to say something an athlete should never touch—and that’s why Yunel Escobar (or teammates) are today’s Instant Jerks.
UPDATE:
Escobar has been suspended three games. He addressed the media on Tuesday and told reporters (via.MLB.com):
“I’m sorry for the actions of the other day. I’d like to apologize to the fans and the Blue Jays organization. It’s not something I intended to be offensive. It was nothing intentional or directed at anyone in particular. I have nothing against homosexuals.”
Watch the press conference here.
