Blue Jays Player Suspended Over Homophobic Slur
NEW YORK (CBSMiami) – Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar has been suspended for three games without pay after photos of him from Saturday's game against the Boston Red Sox showed he was wearing eye-black stickers with a homophobic slur written in Spanish on them.
Photographs taken by fans and Getty Images captured the message on the eye-black that read, "Tu Ere Maricon," which literally translates to "You Are Faggots."
Major League Baseball confirmed to Canadian news outlets that the commissioner's office launched an investigation into the incident. The Blue Jays also released a statement on the matter that read in part:
"The Toronto Blue Jays do not support discrimination of any kind nor condone the message displayed by Yunel Escobar during Saturday's game. The club takes this situation seriously and is investigating the matter."
Escobar and team officials are expected to hold a press conference Tuesday afternoon to discuss the incident.
Saturday's game was played at the Rogers Centre, formally the SkyDome, in Toronto which has a retractable roof. Escobar was also wearing sunglasses, which calls into question the need of eyeblack in the first place.
Using eye-black to push messages isn't new. Former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow often put bible verses in his eye-black during college games. Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Bush also wore eye-black that had "619" on it while playing at USC to represent his hometown of San Diego.
