[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Buckle up, because this story is WILD.
The Miami Marlins were in Denver on Sunday afternoon finishing out a series with the host Colorado Rockies at Coors Field when Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson came to bat in the top of the ninth inning.
Miami was losing by a lot, but Brinson — who is Black — had already homered earlier in the game. And when he started his ninth inning at-bat against Rockies reliever Ben Bowden, something COMPLETELY unexpected happened…
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After a couple of pitches at the beginning of the at-bat, on-field cameras and microphones broadcasting the game in Denver appeared to pick up a male fan’s voice yelling the N-Word as loud as they possibly could.
No, seriously.
Watch (and listen) in this clip (below) and see what happens:
*FOUL LANGUAGE WARNING*
Absolutely despicable, like a scene from "42" except we're 75 years in the future and still dealing with the same issues. https://t.co/SF0IaQcqLG pic.twitter.com/wFcUzl6BWC
— Major League GIFs (@MajorLeagueGIFs) August 8, 2021
What. The. F**K?!?!
It was presumed to be a slur aimed at Brinson, but it’s interesting because Brinson doesn’t react to it at all. In fact, nobody on the field does, which is… weird? It’s so loud you can even hear it clearly on TV, surely it would have caused some commotion, right?
Well, the game was a blowout in the final inning, so lots of fans had already cleared out — but you’d think a guy yelling that loud down by the field would be heard by the players standing so close. But nobody reacted.
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Even so, the Marlins TV play-by-play broadcaster Paul Severino did react in real time, apologizing for the sound while calling the game on the television feed sent back to Miami fans watching their club on the road. He then tweeted this (below) confirming that, at least from his perspective, he had heard an ugly, ugly racial slur:
I’m absolutely disgusted at the language that was picked up by the mics late in the game today.
The level of hate that was displayed has no place in this world. Unfortunately it’s still far too prevalent. We need to be better. And soon.
Awful.
— Paul Severino (@SeverinoMLB) August 8, 2021
Predictably, between the video being posted on Twitter and people like Severino sharing their early reactions to it all, reactions started flooding in on social media.
After the game, later on Sunday evening, the Rockies released their own statement about the incident, revealing that they were investigating what took place:
A statement from the Colorado Rockies regarding the racial slur incident at the end of today's game: pic.twitter.com/85uN3f1pFZ
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) August 9, 2021
OK then!
Let’s find the fan, ban him for life from ever being able to attend a baseball game again, and condemn racism in all forms!
Right?
But… wait a second. There’s one other thing y’all should know about this whole situation — and it’s this guy:
This is the Rockies’ mascot, a purple dinosaur named Dinger (in baseball “dinger” is also slang for a home run). In the ninth inning of home games, Dinger likes to come down to the seating area behind home plate, so he can run onto the field after the game and wave at fans.
Rockies fans started realizing that maybe the word being yelled wasn’t a racial slur, but a loud, boisterous call to the mascot, who was literally coming down towards the home plate seats right as the call came out. A deeper look at the video suggests that could at least be a possibility:
if you look closely he was trying to get the attention of “Dinger” the Rockies mascot. pic.twitter.com/kVB8RVByXW
— rhysta (@vrhysta) August 9, 2021
Oh, boy.
Listening closely, you can almost hear what you want to hear; the audio isn’t perfect, but thousands of people on Twitter were split between which word they heard — the racial slur, or the mascot’s name.
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Overnight on Sunday and into Monday, the debate raged on. One could say it’s almost like a “Yanny/Laurel” debate but with much higher, uglier stakes…
Then, on Monday morning, a Denver-area 9 News reporter revealed that the Rockies had investigated the incident, interrogated ticket holders in those sections behind the plate, and confirmed the man had been screaming for the mascot:
Here's the video by the way. I've highlighted both the fan and Dinger in the the first clip, then zoomed in on the fan in the second clip. And Dinger in the third. pic.twitter.com/ul14jQjavx
— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) August 9, 2021
Wow.
Staeger went further, adding more reporting:
The Rockies say they worked with AT&T Sportsnet, the local broadcaster, to identify where the microphone that picked up the comment was.
— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) August 9, 2021
Later on Monday morning the Rockies’ beat reporter, Thomas Harding, confirmed that he spoke with Rockies officials and with the Marlins’ star outfielder Brinson, and that the fan had not uttered a racial slur:
… me for casting aspersions on the fan base and stadium worker. The team also tracked video and audio from both broadcasts, even talked to season ticket holders, the fan and his wife. I am happy for the conclusion.
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) August 9, 2021
Amen.
In the end, Harding’s final sentence is the right one: thank goodness the man was only yelling for the mascot!
The fact that we live in a world where it could’ve even possibly been the other alternative is unfortunate, but thankfully, it turns out to have been nothing more than a mix-up.
What do U make of this crazy situation, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF with your take on it down in the comments (below)…
[Image via MLB/YouTube/Colorado Rockies/YouTube]
The post Video Appears To Catch Fan Yelling N-Word At Black Player During MLB Game, BUT… appeared first on Perez Hilton.
