Everybody’s favorite trio of Ruben Tejada, Ike Davis and Lucas Duda should get a break from being the main topic of discussion around the Mets today.
Last night, Wall Street Journal reporter Stu Woo shared an account of pitching coach Dan Warthen using a derogatory term during a conversation with Daisuke Matsuzaka‘s translator Jeff Cutler on Tuesday.
“Jeff!”
Cutler and I turned around. It was Dan Warthen, the Mets pitching coach.
“I’m sorry I called you a ‘Chinaman’ yesterday,” Warthen told Cutler.
“It’s OK,” Cutler replied.
“I didn’t mean to insinuate –- I know you’re not Chinese,” Warthen said. He paused. “I thought it was a pretty good joke, though.”
“It was,” Cutler said, with a small laugh.
Woo felt the term was inappropriate and brought the matter to Jay Horwitz, the team’s vice president of media relations. Last night, Warthen and Mets GM Sandy Alderson issued apology statements.
Warthen should know better – this is 2014. And he should definitely make his apology face-to-face today.
Meanwhile, the pack of beat reporters will all have to ask their followup questions, and we’ll end up discussing how the Mets reacted and what is appropriate behavior in the clubhouse.
That discussion is an important one – at least for the athletes and professionals who inhabit that sphere.
But I wish we could be talking about baseball, even if the conversation does keep coming back to Tejada, Davis & Duda.
The comments are open – please share your thoughts, but remember to be respectful.
Added at 11:10 a.m.: Some of the players are starting to circle the wagons.
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So, we have a reporter overhearing an apology, albeit a slightly disingenuous one, regarding a tasteless remark and making a story out of it.
I don’t know in what context Warthen said the word “Chinaman.” But, what I know are two things: The first is that there’s plenty of crudity and juvenile behavior in in locker rooms and “Chinaman” is tame. That’s why Michael Sam is a story. Not because he’s gay but because of the environment where he works. The second is that many people will laugh at an ethnic joke but, when the joke is about their ethnic group, all of a sudden it isn’t funny. And that’s hypocritical. So, if Warthen doesn’t have a history of derogatory comments and Cutler is OK with the apology, it’s a non-story.
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Warthen should have known better. And, what is it with this franchise? One follows sports for a fun diversion from everyday chores and burdens. Yet, here is another instance where you just want to turn away, and go elsewhere for your leisure and entertainment. Jeez.
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Will,
It’s a fun diversion for you but, like it or not, it’s work for them and you’re watching them in their office. OK, it’s a lot more fun to go to their office than to go to where your friends and family work and watch them in theirs. And, unlike in your office or those of your family or friends, there are people there to report many of the crude comments they hear around the water cooler, so to speak.
I hate to tell you about some of the stuff that was said at my office. All I can say is this: A friend of mine came in on a Sunday and we were going to go from CBS to Westchester for the golf tourney. “Sunday Morning” had to do a west coast update (one of the rare times we did that and something like that is routine on the Evening News) and, instead of leaving at 10:30, we had to stick around until noon. And it was a three-ring circus complete with people yelling at each other and a few stray lewd comments. And all he said afterward was that it was amazing that people could work in an environment like that and that we were still able to do our work perfectly. And, all I could say is that I’m glad no one was there recording it for TV or print.
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markruck, it’s not salty language I’m taking a stand against. I work in facilities design and construction. I walk jobsites that are dangerous to life and limb. I don’t shy away from profanity (or giving it back) when the situation calls for it. “[You] hate to tell me…”? Don’t make assumptions about me or others. Please.
I’m just saying that when I follow baseball, I just wish—like most people—that the focus is on baseball. It’s a diversion to me. Otherwise, I go read/watch something else.
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