Colin Cowherd appears to be in some hot water with the Major League Baseball Players Association after suggesting Dominican baseball players are not intelligent.
Cowherd, an ESPN radio personality who is set to leave for FOX, was discussing Miami Marlins general manager-turned-manager Dan Jennings on his radio show Thursday. The Marlins have been the target of some criticism since naming Jennings manager despite a lack of on-field experience. Cowherd isn’t buying the criticism because, in his opinion, baseball is a relatively simple game.
“It’s too complex?” Cowherd said on his ESPN radio show. “I’ve never bought into that ‘baseball is too complex.’ Really? A third of the sport is from the Dominican Republic.”
According to a report from Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today, the MLBPA “will consider withholding cooperation” with ESPN and FOX due to the lack of response from the networks.
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Cowherd also drew the ire of Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista Thursday night over his comments about Dominicans.
https://twitter.com/JoeyBats19/status/624352136822820864
Here is a complete transcript of Cowherd’s remarks, via HardBallTalk:
“It’s too complex? I’ve never bought into that ‘baseball is too complex.’ Really? A third of the sport is from the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic has not been known in my lifetime as having world class academic abilities. A lot of those kids come from rough backgrounds and have not had opportunities academically that other kids from other countries have. Baseball is like any sport. It’s mostly instincts. A sportswriter who covers baseball could go up to Tony La Russa and make an argument and Tony would listen and it would seem reasonable. There’s not a single NFL writer in the country who could diagram a play for Bill Belichick. You know, we get caught up in this whole ‘thinking-man’s game.’ Is it in the same family? Most people could do it. It’s not being a concert pianist. It’s in the same family.”
Update: Major League Baseball issued the following statement regarding Cowherd’s comments:
“Major League Baseball condemns the remarks made by Colin Cowherd, which were inappropriate, offensive and completely inconsistent with the values of our game. Mr. Cowherd owes our players of Dominican origin, and Dominican people generally, an apology.”
Update: MLBPA executive director Tony Clark released a statement regarding Cowherd’s comments:
“As a veteran of fifteen MLB seasons, I can assure you that our sport is infinitely more complex than some in the media would have you believe. To suggest otherwise is ignorant, and to make an ignorant point by denigrating the intelligence of our Dominican members was not “clunky” — it was offensive.
These recent comments are particularly disappointing when viewed against the backdrop of the important work being done to celebrate and improve the cultural diversity of our game. Baseball’s partners and stakeholders should help such efforts, not undermine them.”
Update: ESPN PR has announced Cowherd will no longer appear on the network.
