Coach Gets Two Week Suspension for Anti-Gay Outburst, Threatening Fan with Bat

Two weeks suspension is the punishment Roger McDowell, the pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves, faces for having hurled anti-gay insults at a group of fans and then seemingly threatening a man with a baseball bat, Reuters reported on May 1.

Major League Baseball handed down the punishment after McDowell was put on leave on April 29 during an investigation into the incident, which took place at AT&T Park in San Francisco on April 23.

Fresno resident Justin Quinn was in the stands watching batting practice at AT&T Park with his wife, twin 9-year-old daughters, and other relatives, when McDowell allegedly began to hurl homophobic abuse at several men in the stands.

An April 28 Associated Press report said that McDowell yelled at the men, "Are you guys a homo couple or a threesome?" McDowell then used a baseball bat to mime in a sexually suggestive manner.

When Quinn called out that there were children present, the response he reportedly got from McDowell was that "Kids don't fucking belong at the baseball park." McDowell then allegedly approached Quinn, baseball bat still in hand, and asked the father, "How much are your teeth worth?"

At that point, Quinn told the media, his children became terrified that their father was about to be beaten.

"My kids are in panic mode... they're like grabbing onto me," Quinn told the AP. "I'm talking to him, trying to calm him down and the kids are screaming."

With fans booing and taking their children away from the scene, McDowell eventually left. Quinn reported the incident right away, first to a Giants staff member, and then to the San Francisco police.

He also engaged the services of attorney Gloria Allred. The attorney and Quinn had a press conference on the incident, calling for an apology from McDowell.

The coach did issue a statement subsequent to the press conference, in which he said, "I am deeply sorry that I responded to the heckling fans" and added, "I apologize to everyone for my actions." But McDowell did not mention Quinn or offer the family an apology.

Allred said that no one had contacted her client regarding the incident. "If they're doing an investigation, one would think they would want to talk to my client," Allred said, the AP reported in an April 29 follow-up story. "This may not be an isolated incident."

Added Allred, "I have been contacted by another fan in another state who alleges another incident."

The alleged second fracas, as described by Allred, bore striking similarities to the April 23 incident in that it "involved what the fan believed to be angry and inappropriate words directed at him and his wife who had her young children with her," Allred said. "This fan has authorized me to supply his information to the commissioner."

"The Atlanta Braves and Major League Baseball must take real disciplinary action and send the message that anti-gay slurs have no place in sports," the head of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Jarrett Barrios, told the AP. "Professional sporting events should be an environment that all fans and families can enjoy, not a place where children are exposed to violent threats and discriminatory language."

Allred spoke with Fresno radio station KMJ-AM on April 28, telling listeners that McDowell's verbal harassment of the three men was even more explicit than initial reports indicated. While miming a sexual act with that bat, Allred said, McDowell asked the man, "Are you three men giving it to each other [in the ass?]."

"We consider Coach McDowell's behavior to be completely unacceptable and outrageous," Allred said, going on to say that she and her client were seeking an apology from McDowell "in person to the family."

"We think that 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' shouldn't mean that fans and their families are forced to endure these kinds of homophobic slurs and sexually explicit behavior," Allred continued, adding, "It's interesting to me that Coach McDowell did apologize yesterday, but he didn't really say what his was apologizing for."

The Braves placed McDowell on leave April 29. The punishment of two weeks' suspension without pay is retroactive to that day, Reuters reported.

"Major League Baseball is a social institution that brings people together and welcomes all individuals of different races, religions, genders, national origins and sexual orientations into its ballparks," Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, said in a May 1 statement.

"Conduct by people associated with MLB that shows insensitivity to others simply cannot and will not be tolerated," Selig continued. "I understand that Mr. McDowell is very contrite about his conduct, and hopefully this incident will be used to increase public awareness of the importance of sensitivity to others."

"I understand the decision made today by the Commissioner," McDowell said in a statement. "I am embarrassed by my actions and I plan to give a personal apology to Mr. Quinn and his family. I would also like to offer a public and heartfelt apology to the fans of San Francisco, to the Atlanta Braves organization, my family and to Major League Baseball."

Dave Wallace will serve as the Braves' pitching coach for the two weeks that McDowell will be suspended.