Yu Darvish will start Game 7 of the World Series to face his nemisis Yuli Gurriel

Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish seeks redemption

JAPANESE PITCHER Yu Darvish of the L.A. Dodgers will take to the mound tonight (Nov. 1), in the biggest game of his life.

UPDATE: Darvish was taken out of the game after an inning and a third after giving up five runs. Houston Astros win, 6-1, four games to three.

When Yuli Gurriel stepped up to the plate Tuesday (Oct. 31) at Dodger Stadium in Game 6 of the World Series, L.A. fans rained down a chorus of boos. Expect more of the same tonight from fans of the Los Angeles team. The L.A. region has one of the largest Asian/American populations in the country.

That fan reaction was in stark contrast to Houston Astros fans who greeted the Astros' first baseman with a standing ovation despite Gurriel's racist gesture towards Dodger's pitcher Yu Darvish in Game 4.

After hitting a homerun off the Japanese pitcher, Gurriel returned to the dugout, pulled his eyes back and called Darvish "Chinito" a disparaging remark for "Little China man." His gesture was caught by the cameras and that set off a firestorm on social media as fans, (not just Asians) criticized the racist act.

In an ironic twist that only serves to hype the drama for Game 7, Darvish will return to the mound in a chance to redeem his lackluster performance in Game 4 when he lasted only 49 pitches before being yanked.

He will - off course - face Gurriel again in a moment of high drama, as if the crucial Game 7 in one of the most interesting World Series needed it. 

Darkish admitted Gurriel's slant-eye gesture was offensive, but he downplayed the incident saying instead that he hoped everyone can use the moment to learn something.

Gurriel apologized and wanted to do so face-to-face with Darvish, but the Japanese pitcher turned down the encounter and just wanted to move on.

MLB suspended Gurriel for five games at the start of the 2018 season avoiding any punishment during the World Series.

That delayed punishment didn't sit well with some Asian/American civil rights advocates.

“By postponing the suspension until next year, MLB also makes it clear that the game of baseball, and the World Series itself, are more important than applying its disciplinary action immediately. This is a choice of priorities by MLB in delaying application of punishment,” said the Japanese American Citizens League.

The Japanese American National Museum agreed.

“We believe that allowing Gurriel to continue to play in the World Series, rather than making his suspension immediate, does not send a strong enough message about the unacceptable nature of his actions,” it said. “While this incident will serve as an opportunity to further important discussions about race and racism in our country, Gurriel’s actions must not be construed as anything other than reprehensible.”

“As Asian/American civil rights organizations, we were shocked to see the slanted eye gesture that Houston Astro Yuli Gurriel directed at Los Angeles Dodger Yu Darvish during the World Series on Friday night," said the Asian American Advancing Justice organization in a statement. 

"Although Darvish found Gurriel’s actions offensive, Darvish’s response to this incident was gracious and urged unity," the legal advocates' organization continued. "But when Gurriel pulled back his eyes, he disrespected not only Darvish but millions of Asian/Americans, for whom that is perhaps the most commonly experienced racist gesture. Ironically, Gurriel and Darvish represent teams from two of the most diverse cities in the country, both with significant Asian American populations." 

(ASAM NEWS contributed to this report.)
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Ballplayer suspended for 5 games for racist gesture, but ...

Yuli Gurriel caught doing this during the World Series to taunt Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish.

YULI GURRIEL, the Houston Astros ballplayer, who pulled his eyes back to mock Yu Darvish, a Japanese pitcher for the L.A. Dodgers, was admonished by his team and suspended for five games.

His racist gesture was caught by the cameras and sparked at avalanche of criticism on social media.

However, because of the way baseball has its appeals system set up, it was decided to mete out the punishment at the beginning of next year's baseball system.

Last Thursday, in the first inning of the third game of the World Seriess, Gurrial smakcked a home run off of Dodger pitcher Darvish. After he returned to the dugout, he did the slant-eyed thing, called Darvish "Chinito," and laughed.

"I did not mean it to be offensive at any point," Gurriel told ESPN's Scott Lauber. "Quite the opposite. I have always had a lot of respect [for Japanese people]. ... I've never had anything against Darvish. For me, he's always been one of the best pitchers. I never had any luck against him. If I offended him, I apologize. It was not my intention."

Makng it even worse, Gurriel, who later apologized, also said he was aware that “chinito” is racist as hell.

“In Cuba and in various places, you don’t say ‘Japanese,’ you call all Asians ‘chinitos,’ ” Gurriel said. “But I was in Japan and I know they are offended by that.”

What? He knew what he did was offensive, but, he did it anyway? 

So ... Gurriel ... meet Chris Rock. Rock, you will remember, was the comedian hosting the Oscars two years ago and made fun of Asians in a poorly received joke against Asians. Apparently, it is still OK to make fun of Asians. Imagine the uproar if he had poked fun against an African/American player?

By the time Gurriel serves his punishment, people would have forgotten what he did. If MLB really wanted to make an anti-racist statement, it would have been more fitting to have the Astro third baseman sit out a game immediately during the World Series, when his absence would have more impact.

A day after the incident, during the broacast of the fourth game of the World Series, nobody said anything about what Gurriel did. It's already been forgotten.

Sorry MLB, you missed the opportunity to really make a strong statement.

"Slant eyed" insult caught on camera in the World Series

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Astros ballplayer Yuli Gurriel went from "hero to zero," with this racist gesture.

WHAT? REALLY? Did this really happen in baseball's World Series? The same night a ballplayer was making fun of an Asian player, he was getting an Asian/Amerian baby named after him.

The Houston Astro's first baseman Yuli Gurriel mocked Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish by pulling his eyes back to make those infamous slant eyes.

Just about every Asian or Asian/American has suffered the indignity of stupid bigots who want to make fun of people from Asia by pulling back their eyes. The hateful gesture, as harmless as might seem to non-Asians, is destructive to kids' self-esteem and still gets the blood boiling, even as adults.

Gurriel had just hit a homerun last night (Oct. 27) off of starting pitcher Darvish putting his team ahead 1-0. Back in the dugout, cameras caught Gurriel making that racist gesture while saying "Chinito," Spanish slang for "Little Chinese," then laughing.

Darvish, who is half-Japanese, said the gesture was "disrespectful" and "offensive to everybody," while calling for Gurriel to be reprimanded.

“I’m sure the Astros have Asian fans, too," he told journalists in Japanese.

Well. Gurriel had at least one Asian/American fan. And after last night, he has at least two.

Ironically, the same night Gurriel was acting like an ass, a Japanese/American fan Rickie Sakamoto from Houston was naming his newborn son Yuli, after the ballplayer.

As of late last night, there has not been any apology from Gurriel or Astro's management.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is expected to meet with Gurriel Saturday (Oct. 28) to discuss the incident and will "consider discipline," per the New York Times.

MLB's Sam Dunn wrote: "Yuli Gurriel may have himself two home runs in the World Series, but he just went from hero to zero.

​"To say that this is not okay is a titanic understatement."

According to MLM, there's precedent for suspension for making derogatory comments of gestures, though none applied to race or occurred during the postseason, let alone the World Series. Yunel Escobar was suspended three games in 2012 for featuring a homophobic slur on his eye black, while Matt Joyce and Kevin Pillar each received two-game bans in the last year for making anti-gay remarks during games.

In this era of heightened sensitivity because of the racially insensitive - or to be kind, racially ignorant -  leadership in Washington and the reemergence of the presence and teachings of white supremacists, racist gestures, words or actions - intentional or unintentional - need to be pointed out and condemned. As people of color, we can no longer remain silent and just internalize the emotions stirred up by those situations.

It may have not been Darvish's night. In his first World Series appearance, he lasted only 49 pitches before being pulled. The Dodgers went on to lose the game 5-3, giving the Astros a 2-1 advantage in the best of seven World Series.

Despite his poor performance, Darvish doesn't deserve that. Nobody does.

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