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CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs have indefinitely banned from Wrigley Field fans who used what appeared to be a racist gesture behind an African-American television reporter during a game played in front of their audience.
The Cubs on Wednesday sent a letter to the bearded man who waved the offensive sign on the back of Cubs veteran Doug Glanville, who was working for NBC Sports Chicago on Tuesday night. The team said that they could not contact the fan by phone and did not identify him publicly.
The president of commercial operations, Crane Kenney, said the range could be sued for violation of criminal property if he tried to enter the stadium.
"The person in charge will not be welcome to Wrigley Field," said Cubs spokesman Julian Green.
Green said that the man had bought his ticket on StubHub. Another fan reported his gesture to the team via SMS during the match against the Miami Marlins – by the time safety arrived, the man was gone.
Glanville, who played three seasons for the Cubs, stood next to the canoe to discuss the Chicago attack when the man in the background began to make gestures.
Wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue pants, he placed an "OK" sign upside down near Glanville's head during the broadcast. The gesture is associated with the juvenile "circle game", in which someone tries to make a friend or a brother look at him, then hits him in the shoulder.
But the symbol has also become a sign of white supremacy.
"It does not matter," said Green. "It was a bad judgment on the part of the individual. Whether it's a sophomoric behavior or another stunt, use this in conjunction with a respected journalist, who happens to be African-American, and do his or her job to procure some pleasure to our fans is an ignorance. This has no place in Wrigley Field.
Glanville said in a statement that he had been informed of what the fan had done after the segment. He congratulated the Cubs and NBC Sports for their "responsiveness".
"They have contacted me and supported my role in the show and continue to want to maintain an inclusive environment at Wrigley Field," he said. "They were sensitive about the impact it could have on me as a person of color. I am supporting their efforts to conduct a thorough investigation into the case and I will make further comments once the investigation is completed. "
NBC Sports Chicago Vice President and General Manager Kevin Cross described the fan's behavior as "reprehensible".
Kenney had earlier said "that such ignorant and repulsive behavior is not tolerated" and that "any individual behaving in this manner will not only be removed from the stadium, but will be permanently banned from Wrigley Field".
Baseball operations president, Theo Epstein, called the move "really disgusting" and said it "gave me shivers to watch that."
"We have clearly shown how blatant and unacceptable this behavior is, it has no place in our society, in baseball, and certainly not in Wrigley Field," he added.
The Cubs are on a roll, taking the lead of the NL center after a slow start. But they also dealt with difficult problems.
Field player Addison Russell joined the squad on Wednesday after being suspended for 40 matches for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy and spending more time getting ready.
Last month, the MLB opened an investigation into racist messages sent to Instagram, Carl Edwards Jr., a member of the Cubs team, on Instagram. These messages came from several people, said agent Lee Long at the time. Edwards had a difficult start and was sent to Triple-A Iowa a month ago before being called back on Monday.
The Cubs also distanced themselves from the team's patriarch, Joe Ricketts, in February because of e-mails he wrote with Islamophobic comments, as well as plots about the place of birth and death. former President Barack Obama's education.
"There is no further incentive to be proactive and to take action against racism and hate speech," Green said. "When you see something wrong and offensive, you take a quick time."
The Cubs are certainly not the only team dealing with racial incidents.
The Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL banned four fans last season from running racist taunts against Washington Capitals forward Devante Smith-Pelly.
The Boston Red Sox banned another fan who had uttered a racial insult from singing the performance of the national anthem sung by a Kenyan woman. This incident occurred just days after Adam Jones of Baltimore was subjected to racial taunts at Fenway Park.
The MLB issued a statement Wednesday noting that it had a policy banning offensive words and actions on its baseball fields and asking clubs to have an intervention plan.
"Our inclusion efforts, policies, and bullying prevention programs are designed to make our sport and playgrounds welcome to all, and we will do our best to achieve that goal," said MLB. .
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