The Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Friday night in Game 3 of the 2017 World Series (GameTracker).
Houston first baseman Yuli Gurriel contributed to the win with a home run early on. Yet the homer is not the act most people will remember from him -- rather, that would be what he did in the dugout afterward. That's because Gurriel, who played in Japan in 2014, appeared to mock Yu Darvish's ethnicity by placing his fingers outside of his eyes and pulling. Here's the gesture:
Did Yuli Gurriel say chinito while he made that gesture? pic.twitter.com/OLy7o3VZPE
— Eric Rosenthal (@ericsports) October 28, 2017
You'll notice Gurriel appears to say the word "chinito," which loosely translates to "little Chinese boy" in Spanish. That's not technically a slur, but combining it with the act makes it hard to draw any conclusion other than Gurriel was being insensitive -- and, at minimum, borderline hateful. Gurriel himself seems to know as much, too:
Yuli Gurriel (through a translator) to reporters in Houston about his gesture after he hit a home run off Yu Darvish: pic.twitter.com/nC7K4uKeZp
— Joshua Thornton (@JoshuaThornton_) October 28, 2017
Perhaps predictably, Major League Baseball will look into Gurriel's actions -- remember, players like Kevin Pillar and Matt Joyce have been suspended for using homophobic slurs:
I've been told MLB will interview Gurriel about the dugout gesture toward Darvish and consider discipline.
— Tyler Kepner (@TylerKepner) October 28, 2017
Darvish, meanwhile, showed remarkable restraint while calling for MLB to punish Gurriel:
In Japanese Darvish told reporters there should be some punishment for Gurriel from MLB
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) October 28, 2017
Yu Darvish said Yuli Gurriel’s gesture was “disrespectful.”
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) October 28, 2017
Darvish on Gurriel: “He made a mistake. He’ll learn from it. We’re all human beings.”
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) October 28, 2017
We'll have more on this news as it develops.
