National League umpire Bob Davidson ejected a fan in Milwaukee on Tuesday after he said the fan used a homophobic slur against St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.
Davidson said he decided to throw out 44-year-old Sean A. Ottow of Waukesha, Wis., in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday night because he wanted to make sure Molina wouldn’t do something to escalate the situation.
”Molina, I thought he was going to go toward (the fan) and I said, ‘I’ll take care of it,”’ said Davidson, who was the plate umpire. ”I was going to wait until between innings and not be so obvious, but I figured after he said that, he was very intoxicated, I needed to take care of it.”
Ottow, who was cited for disorderly conduct, disputes Davidson’s account:
”I never swore at him,” Ottow said while handcuffed to a bench on Miller Park’s service level on Tuesday night. ”He just got the umpire to throw me out. We were bantering back and forth and I guess Molina couldn’t take it anymore.
A columnist for Bleacher Report said that Davidson overstepped his bounds, writing: “Nowhere in the Major League Baseball rulebook does an umpire have the power to eject a fan who never enters the playing field.”
But former umpire Bruce Froemming told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that “the umpire has the authority to eject a fan who has crossed the boundaries of decency.” Froemming happened to be at the game, and said he heard Ottow used profanity and that Davidson asked security to have him ejected.
Davidson’s actions bother me, especially in not knowing exactly what Ottow said (Molina, the catcher, would not talk about it after the game). Heckling is a sports tradition, so ejecting someone for some riding a player is excessive. Had the fan been verbally abusive and bothering other fans, they could have summoned security to deal with Ottow. But this appears to be Davidson taking it upon himself to toss the fan. Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz wrote a devastating takedown of what he calls Davidson’s tradition of grandstanding and lousy calls.
Had I been sitting next to Ottow and heard him use homophobic language, I would have told him to shut up, but I would not expect him to be ejected unless he escalated the situation.
Hat tip to Kathy for the item.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 7:51 AM
I expect the usual “Tea Party” response to Davidson’s actions, from here and elsewhere, that Bernie Miklasz is right to bash the umpire for ejecting the Sean Ottow rather than question the behavior of fans who heckle as a tactic to support their team. This behavior is magnified in sports in Europe, where drunken verbal taunts and threats frequently foretell worst behavior. Virtually all sports there are putting limits on the acceptability of such racist, homophobic or simply rowdy verbal behavior. I don’t think columnists like Miklasz will be satisfied until every fan has his every word recorded that abuses athletes in their workplaces.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 9:13 AM
“Had I been sitting next to Ottow and heard him use homophobic language, I would have told him to shut up, but I would not expect him to be ejected unless he escalated the situation.”
Have you fallen and hit your pretty little head? If the guy was visibly drunk, swearing and using slurs directed specifically at a player you think ejecting him was an overreaction UNLESS he escalated the situation? What would the escalation have to have been before you thought eject was appropriate?
silly!
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 9:37 AM
Being an abusive douchebag to players is tradition? How does that make it right? It was tradition that black players were not welcome either, but that didn’t make it right.
It’s all about keeping the dignity of the sport, an atmosphere of maturity and sportsmanship.
If you need to abuse people/players to have fun at a game, you’re not welcome.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 9:56 AM
Late night last night?
This type of abuse or any type of abuse is just not acceptable, drunk or not.
We want European soccer teams to better manage and control gay slurs coming from their fans in the stands so why not do the same with fans here on our own soil.
Kudos to Bob Davidson!
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 11:37 AM
yeah, tough guy. i’m sure you would have confronted the obnoxious drunk. the situation was handled as it should have. there should be zero tolerance at sporting events for racial, ethnic, homophobic, or misogynistic epithets — especially when uttered by an ugly drunk. what kinds of traditions were instilled in you as a youth? is it wrong to expect civility from adults? once a fan crosses the line, his/hers rights as a ticket holder should be forfeit.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 11:50 AM
“Heckling is a sports tradition, so ejecting someone for some riding a player is excessive.”
because tradition>human decency…its just a silly baseball game
“Had I been sitting next to Ottow and heard him use homophobic language, I would have told him to shut up, but I would not expect him to be ejected unless he escalated the situation.”
you are a terrible gay man , and set a terrible example…by being ejected it set the tone that the behavior will not be tolerated…lets just replace you with a 15 yr gay kid with his friends and parents. if Ottow’s actions had not been curbed, who is there for him, i’m not so sure he’d take a brave stand like you claim… leave the ballpark feeling marginalized and belittled just for existing
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 11:52 AM
I think it was handled the right way look at the tennis match the other week those people now can not go to a tennis match for two years i think it is. Look yes he was drunk but that is no excuse not even if there was not homophobic slur what if your son or daughter was at that game and was over hearing everything that was said would you wont your kids to have to hear that we need to clean up are behavers in public everyone dose he should have been kicked out
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 12:43 PM
You should go to a game and just shout the N word at players then…same exact bullshit. And by your logic, totally acceptable.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 3:34 PM
Why would Molina be offended by being called the f word? Seems to me a good deal of pro athletes use that word rather liberally.
It’s true I don’t personally know Molina, but I’m not naïve to assume he’s not used the word toward many others.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 3:50 PM
Kudos to Davidson for doing the right thing.
Just b/c you bought a ticket, it doesn’t give you a free pass to behave like a horse’s ass.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 5:00 PM
I think the point is that Davidson shouldn’t be the one ordering a fan be ejected. His job is to umpire the game. This isn’t Little League with kids needing to be protected from obnoxious parents.
And he and the other umpires had already ejected the Cards’ pitching coach and the Brewers’ manager and centerfielder prior to the fan being ejected.
If the fan’s behavior was out of line, security should have had him removed right away. If he was drunk and rowdy all night, it shouldn’t have taken an umpire’s order to have him removed in the 7th inning — it should have been done by stadium personnel a lot earlier. And if he actually wasn’t disorderly, as he claims, and was just heckling Molina, then he shouldn’t have been ejected.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 5:17 PM
I hope this is the beginning of a trend. Why should anyone be allowed to direct homophobic langage at anyone else, regardless of whether that person is gay or not. Some British soccor teams have adopted this policy so why shouldnt MLB? Why would we ever expect a pro player to come out of the closet if at the same time we suggest fans should be allowed to attack their sexuality. Heckling their playing is one thing, attacking their sexuality is quite another.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 6:52 PM
What Joe Guckin said.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 10:28 PM
Joe, what do you mean by “just heckling”? Would using anti-gay slurs fall under “just heckling”?
What about you Jim B?
Besides, I was under the impression that the umpire called for security to remove the guy. So it actually was security that removed him, even if at the umpires request.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 10:31 PM
And the fan never said he didn’t use an anti-gay slur. He said he never SWORE. I don’t think most people consider calling someone a “f*ggot” or “queer” is “swearing”.
It’s quite a leap to assume that by, “I never swore at him” the fan was saying that he didn’t use slurs.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 10:32 PM
Zeke, if you can tell me exactly what the guy was yelling, please post. My problem with everyone’s reaction is that no one has said what he supposedly said. The umpire is the only one who has said a homophobic slur was uttered. The player isn’t talking, the fan denies it and I can’t find comments from any other fans. Hence, my hesitation in supporting what the ump did.
on Sep 10th, 2010 at 1:23 AM
“The umpire is the only one who has said a homophobic slur was uttered. The player isn’t talking, the fan denies it and I can’t find comments from any other fans. Hence, my hesitation in supporting what the ump did.”
Jim, to be a sports nut who also writes for a sports site, if you truly believe the fan, who was heckling bad enough for the umpire to eject him, WASN’T using some derivative of fag/gay/homo, you, quite frankly, are a fucking idiot.
Have you ever been to a sporting event and heard the heckling? Because it’s the easiest, most accessible, and most piercing insult one can hurl, you never hear the drunk guys hollering something offensive that ISN’T homophobic. Quit trying to defend your gay-apologist views and accept that you’re just a scared gay guy who thinks homophobic insults are okay.
I hope your quisling attitude allows you to fit in since it’s obvious you’ll sell out your own dignity and integrity in exchange for a seat with the morons you view the cool kids (who hate you).
on Sep 10th, 2010 at 1:56 AM
With all respect due to you, Jim, I must say that your “situational temerity” profoundly disappoints me. We, as the diverse folks of a minority whose members frequently suffer death by battery & teen suicide, should be jumping up & down in the family-filled stands of stadia when someone or anyone in authority at a game starts the wheels in motion to demonstrate zero tolerance for homophobia. Your argument’s assertion that it wasn’t the ump’s “job description” seems to me to be timid nit-picking. “Throw the bums out!”
on Sep 10th, 2010 at 3:18 AM
Tommy/Lewis, I don’t need a lecture on raising the issue of homophobia in sports, which we’ve been doing more than anyone else in the world on Outsports for 10 years.
How about somebody tell me what was actually said first before you start spouting off and telling me I’m some sort of homophobe-embracer. Give me a break.
on Sep 10th, 2010 at 2:50 PM
I’ve heard plenty of heckling that didn’t include foul language or homophobic slurs. I’ve heard plenty of heckling that included both. We still have a he said/he said situation here, unless someone can prove exactly what this fan said, and it would also be helpful to verify how much (if any) alcohol he consumed that may have caused him to be so rowdy that the umpire wanted him ejected.
One of the articles I read said that even after being taken into a holding area for processing, the guy saw Molina strike out on a monitor and started yelling again — something like “I don’t care how much this costs me, you’re still a loser!”
And I still want to know, if he was that bad, why did security wait until Davidson told them to remove him in the 7th inning? What about the first 6 innings?
on Sep 10th, 2010 at 9:10 PM
We should all send Mr. Davison a thank you letter. This is about respect. We have all been to many sports events. There is a code of conduct at all stadiums. I do not want to hear someone using my sexuality as an insult especially at a sporting event.
These are the little steps that help change behavior. What Mr. Davison did should be encouraged by our community. There will always be those with negitive opinions. Who cares. Lets look at this as a brave act in a very homophobic sport. We as a community need to be saying enough is enough. Thank you Mr. Davison.
on Sep 10th, 2010 at 9:17 PM
I don’t care if what was said was homophobic or not. I don’t care if verbal abuse is tradition or not. It is unacceptable, and I can’t believe that an ethical human being would support it in the guise of tradition. Homophobia, sexism, racism, anti-semitism are all traditions. It doesn’t make it right.
I believe that I have a human right to an abuse free workplace. The same goes for athletes. While I understand that a little jocular teasing may be all in good fun at a sporting event, when it crosses the line into vulgar language and abuse, it should bed brought to a halt immediately.
The umpire did the right thing. Hopefully he sets an example for other umps to follow and we can knock this “tradition” of verbal abuse in its head.
on Sep 10th, 2010 at 9:27 PM
And one more thing: Jim you seem to be trying a bit too hard to prove yourself to not be one of the “radical” gays. You seem to be trying too hard to prove you are mainstream enough to be an acceptable gay for your sports fan friends and colleagues.
A while back you all ran an article condemning commenters at the Advocate for raising concern about the infiltration of sports culture into the LGBT community. Your view expressed here gives those concerns credence. If being a sports fan means that you are going to go out of your way to defend possibly homophobic, and most likely indecent behavior, then perhaps the LGBT people who expressed concerns that sports were bad for the LGBT community were right in their assessments even if they took it too far.
What I find more despicable is your assertion that you think it is better that you take matters into your own hands (“I would have told him to shut up”) rather than allow the proper authorities to take care of the situation.
on Sep 10th, 2010 at 9:31 PM
@Joe Guckin — Athletes don’t heckle you at your workplace, why should you be allowed to heckle them at theirs? If the fan was heckling he should have been ejected.
on Sep 10th, 2010 at 9:56 PM
Ditto on what Dawson & Robert said, and then some. Just a thought, and a simple & short thought at that: Just how long should the USA wait? As long as did Australia, Britain, & Europe to “criminally enforce” anti-hooligan laws of great severity?
on Sep 10th, 2010 at 11:03 PM
Jim
just admit that you got it wrong.
on what basis would you doubt the umpire over the player (silent) and the drunk fan who’s denying it. i bet you need proof that the earth isn’t actually flat since it doesn’t “seem” round.
on Sep 11th, 2010 at 1:36 PM
If anyone thinks other fans can quiet a drunken gay-baiting fan, he has a hard lesson to learn. Why would the umpire make up the charge of homophobic language?
on Sep 11th, 2010 at 9:32 PM
“Athletes don’t heckle you at your workplace, why should you be allowed to heckle them at theirs? If the fan was heckling he should have been ejected.”
This is such an idiotic statement. Do you understand the concept of sports, and being a fan, and cheering for teams? Sporting events aren’t typical workplaces. To make such a comparison is utterly moronic. That doesn’t mean I support homophobic comments or vulgar language. Heckling can be done without both.
on Sep 11th, 2010 at 9:48 PM
Hey there, Joe Guckin, you! Your Momma wears army boots! You go to a “hair stylist!” You’re such a bad batter that I bet you miss! Na-na-nuh-na-na! Girly man! Gosh darn you!
Is that how heckling “should” be done?
on Sep 11th, 2010 at 9:48 PM
This reminds me of when I was at a Yankees – Jays game a couple of years ago. I was with a gay friend and we had 2 older guys (I’m guessing 65) next to us. Through the first few innings we occassionally chatted with them about the game and other idle chit chat. Throughout the game my friend and I were talking about everything including some conversations that made it obvious we were gay.
I had not noticed until I thought about it later that they had not talked to us for a few iinnings but with the Jays up by a run in the top of the 8th a Yankee player got a single. Coming up to bat was a Yankee who had already hit 2 homeruns that night (I forget who) and one of the old guys said something about intentionally walking him. I said that would be nuts because it would move the tying run into scoring position. They did not respond at all. That batter did end up walking (not intenionally) and sure enough the next batter got a lame blooper excuse me single and as the runner scored from second and tied the game I turned to the old guys and good naturedly said ‘And that’s exactly why an intentional walk wouldn’t have been a good move.’ Well then I was shocked as these two guys with anger on their faces screamed at me – one saying I think f-off and the other guy ‘I don’t need some f*&^%n faggot talking baseball to me’.
I was so shocked I sat there in stunned silence for a few seconds and then said ‘What does me being gay have anything to do with knowing baseball?’ At that point the two guys got up and left the seats and within seconds the top of the inning ended,
Between the top and bottom of the inning an usher stands a few feet from where we sit so I leaned towards her and said ‘If these guys come back can I lodge a complaint’ and then briefly explained what had happened and what they had said. To her credit the usher said that not only would I be right to lodge a complaint but she would personally escort the two guys out of the Rogers Centre – and as she said that a few people around us applauded which was a comforting reaction for me. Even moreso when the straight couple in front of us turned said they would have lodged a complaint if I had not.
The old guys never came back but we all laughed when after the end of the bottom of the 8th the usher said ‘Besides you were right – it would have been stupid to intenionally walk the guy.’
on Sep 12th, 2010 at 12:31 AM
heckling is overrated. when i go to a game, i’m paying to see the athletes, not to hear some dope who thinks he’s funny or a sports genius shout at the players and other teams’ fans.
doesn’t matter where the fan is or what they’re doing — whether they are running out onto the field to tackle a player or shouting incessantly at the players from the seats, if someone is interfering with the game, they should be tossed. maybe i’m should old, but i’ve got no tolerance for that kind of crap anymore.
on Sep 13th, 2010 at 11:36 PM
Boyz please
The ump had the balls to kick out a fan who said what the ump heard as a homophobic sulr!
Other people were apparently asked to remove the unruly fan, but for whatever reason didn’t, so the ump took matters into his own hands, as he should.
Give the ump a break
on Sep 15th, 2010 at 12:13 AM
Awesome! Just goes to show that attitudes are changing. This is great news, and a great day. That ump should be thanked and honored for what he did. If the same fan were using racial slurs, I’m sure he would have been ejected, and this negativity wouldn’t have been brought upon the ump. Furthermore, saying that the fan wasn’t being verbally abusive, what do you call a homophobic slur then? What is that? Verbal abuse no matter how you look at it. There was also a comment about not removing a fan unless they’ve crossed onto the field, well, in this particular instance, no the fan wasn’t physically on the field, but he sure as hell was when it came to his voice, the noise he was making, and the interference with the game that was being caused.