Yunel Escobar grabs national attention after his eye black contained a gay slur in spanish as the Blue Jays faced the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.
"Tu ere maricon" sic translates into "You are gay" or "You are a faggot."
It is still not known whether Escobar wrote this on himself or if it was a clubhouse prank, but MLB started investigating the Blue Jays' shortstop.
One Spanish professor told the Toronto Star the term carries different interpretations, but nonetheless, it is unacceptable, especially on a baseball field where thousands are witnessing live and millions watch on television.
"It is derogatory, but it's not necessarily homophobic," said Maria Cristina Cuervo, a professor of Spanish at the University of Toronto.
Dirk Hayhurst, a former pitcher for the team, believes it could have been written by another player as a prank. Escobar has the reputation of being disobedient player lacking motivation at times, but styling a phrase like this on a major league field will not be tolerated.
Talks of suspension have rolled through the air. It would be hard to repremand an entire ball club if in fact they do openly make fun of homosexuals in their locker rooms, but once it spills on to the playing field, then the MLB can obviously take action.
If Escobar purposely wore these on to the field, then he displayed a sick tastes in humor. The Blue Jays' club regardless looks irresponsible as nobody on the team took it upon themselves to prevent this from happening.
I say Escobar should get suspended and the Blue Jays should get fined.
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