11/05/24
April 28, 2011
Braves Pitching Coach Goes Batty: After allegedly hearing Atlanta Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell make crude and homophobic comments during batting practice Saturday, a San Francisco Giants fan scolded him that kids were present. The fan, Justin Quinn, claims that McDowell responded that kids don't belong at a ballpark, then walked over with a bat and said, "How much are your teeth worth?" Quinn said, "My kids are in panic mode ... they're like grabbing onto me. I'm talking to him, trying to calm him down and the kids are screaming." The fan gave a press conference Wednesday alongside attorney Gloria Allred in which they re-enacted a sexual gesture McDowell performed with a bat.
In other Braves news, John Rocker is selling "Speak English" T-shirts on his website.
posted by rcade at 10:17 AM on April 28, 2011
Holy, shit to that John Rocker site. I started reading another post (by a Reverend) talking about how blacks waited for the government to rescue them from Katrina.
McDowell's "apology" even makes him sound like an ass. If they were heckling, then tell us what they said that caused you to respond so inappropriately. He didn't actually contradict Quinn's statement. I guess calling him out for being inappropriate is heckling in McDowell's world.
posted by bperk at 10:50 AM on April 28, 2011
The fan gave a press conference Wednesday alongside attorney Gloria Allred in which they re-enacted a sexual gesture McDowell performed with a bat.
At 8 seconds into the 're-enactment', attorney Gloria Allred has the slightest but noticeable smirk on her face.
I agree with rcade as to how Justin Quinn is so allegedly traumatized by what McDowell did but he can re-enact stroking the bat while his kids are sitting right there. Ridiculous.
posted by BornIcon at 12:20 PM on April 28, 2011
I believe I'm now traumatized for life after watching that creepy looking woman and the guy wearing the pink tie masturbate that bat ... I'll never be able to enjoy baseball again without thinking about it.
posted by cixelsyd at 12:50 PM on April 28, 2011
Don't know what it is with those Braves. If it ain't one daggone thing, it's another.
posted by beaverboard at 01:28 PM on April 28, 2011
Two words: Gloria Allred.
posted by graymatters at 01:44 PM on April 28, 2011
This reminds me of something that happened at a minor league hockey game. I was sitting near the visiting team bench when a player let a string of obscenities fly at an official over a non-call. A mom nearby went off on the player for saying that sort of thing in front of impressionable kids.
posted by drezdn at 02:10 PM on April 28, 2011
At first I wasn't sure if the two girls were Quinn's daughters, or it Gloria Allred was training them to be her assistants. They had papers, and appeared glued to her remarks. Though, the one on the left did smirk a couple of times.
Re-enacting the masturbation scene was classic. It was as if they were making some sort of instructional film. That press conference was totally wacked.
As to Rocker, the site is old, doesn't appear to have been updated in years.
posted by dviking at 05:04 PM on April 28, 2011
As to Rocker, the site is old, doesn't appear to have been updated in years.
Embarrassing that he's kept it up however.
posted by justgary at 01:38 AM on April 30, 2011
rcade:
Gotta love the fan, though. My kids were so traumatized by watching McDowell stroke his bat that my celebrity lawyer and I are going to re-enact it in front of them and all the kids watching this press conference. I only want an apology. Preferably with five zeroes in it.
I can't see anywhere that indicates that Quinn has asked for any kind of compensation. The article says that he asked for Selig to take "appropriate disciplinary action", and that McDowell have to take sensitivity training. I'm not sure why that's seen as inappropriate by some commenters. What is sensitivity training, after all, but teaching people to be aware of those around them and the way their actions may be perceived? It seems like a buffoon who makes homophobic remarks and overt sexual gestures, in a venue where he knows he's going to be on national TV, probably should have had his coat pulled years ago. In that situation, you need to keep things pretty close to G rated.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:52 AM on May 01, 2011
I can't see anywhere that indicates that Quinn has asked for any kind of compensation.
He hasn't yet, but hiring Gloria Allred suggests to me that he's planning to sue unless he gets go-away-and-shut-up money.
Another fan who was there with a kid, Todd Achondo, is angry but taking a different approach that seems less avaricious to me.
posted by rcade at 10:24 AM on May 01, 2011
I'm a lifelong Mets fan and loved McDowell on the Mets (He was also the "Second Spitter" on the Keith Hernandez Seinfeld episode). And I deplore Gloria Allred.
That being said, the issue here is not that absurd press conference. It's McDowell's homophobic insults, cursing in the presence of kids and threats when called on his bad behavior.
There's an easy solution. Fire his ass. If he wants to coach, let him go back to minors and ride the bus. To focus on the press conference instead of the McDowell's actions feels a bit too much like blaming the victim to me.
posted by cjets at 11:51 AM on May 01, 2011
Why can't there be a pox on both houses? McDowell was an ass who deserves to pay for his actions *and* Quinn's a shameless opportunist.
posted by rcade at 12:30 PM on May 01, 2011
Because I'm not convinced yet that Quinn is a shameless opportunist. Maybe he's just an angry dad, humiliated in front of his daughters and ignored by the Giants, Braves, MLB and SFPD, when he filed his complaints (the braves have already supposedly found "witnesses" - no doubt other members of the Brave's organization - to refute what Quinn said he heard).
If he felt like his complaints were ignored, he might see an attention whore like Allred as his key to getting some payback, monetary or otherwise.
For me, it really depends on his motivations and I can see a plausible reason for hiring Allred that don't involve being a shameless opportunist.
And, of course, if McDowell doesn't act like a horse's ass in the first place, there is no opportunity to shamelessly exploit.
posted by cjets at 12:43 PM on May 01, 2011
Maybe he's just an angry dad, humiliated in front of his daughters
So humiliated in front of them that he brought them to the press conference and then re-enacted the obscene gesture with the bat.
posted by grum@work at 04:27 PM on May 01, 2011
McDowell threatened to kick his ass in front of his young daughters. If you don't think that's humiliating, then you must not have kids.
posted by cjets at 04:59 PM on May 01, 2011
McDowell threatened to kick his ass in front of his young daughters. If you don't think that's humiliating, then you must not have kids.
Again, it was so humiliating that he brought his kids to the press conference to remind them in front of the entire world about the obscene gesture and the threat against him.
"Remember that time when Dad was humiliated, and the bad man did that bad thing? You do? Good, now sit here while I talk about it (and show it) to all of these reporters. You'll get to see yourself on TV and in the newspapers! Your friends (and mine) will love it!"
I agree that what McDowell did was bad (and deserving of punishment and an apology to , but holding a press conference to explain to the world exactly how things went down is not something I consider a smart move (if you aren't looking for publicity/money/payback).
posted by grum@work at 08:16 PM on May 01, 2011
Quinn's a shameless opportunist
Not yet, he isn't. If you're so sure it's going to play out that way, surely it won't hurt you to wait a few days to be proven right.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:06 PM on May 01, 2011
McDowell threatened to kick his ass in front of his young daughters. If you don't think that's humiliating, then you must not have kids.
I have kids. Getting a beating in front of them would be humiliating. Getting a verbal threat would not.
posted by rcade at 09:11 PM on May 01, 2011
Not yet, he isn't.
True. I was just trying to say it's possible both sides could be in the wrong.
posted by rcade at 09:13 PM on May 01, 2011
True. I was just trying to say it's possible both sides could be in the wrong.
It's possible, but only after the fact. In the initial dispute, the fault was clearly all on one side. To grasp at straws in an effort to discredit the other side seems tantamount to downplaying or ignoring the original offense. Putting a hypothetical attempt to get a payout on a par with the very real yelling of homophobic insults and threats does not seem appropriate to me.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:27 AM on May 02, 2011
I agree that what McDowell did was bad (and deserving of punishment and an apology to , but holding a press conference to explain to the world exactly how things went down is not something I consider a smart move (if you aren't looking for publicity/money/payback).
And I agree that it was an absurd press conference (as I said earlier). But as I also said earlier, if the Dad felt that he was being ignored by authorities, he may have been told, on advice of counsel, that this was the best way to make his case. Allred may be an attention whore, but she's also effective.
Or......what LBB said.
posted by cjets at 10:29 AM on May 02, 2011
McDowell allegedly taunted fans with the comments "Are you guys a homo couple or a threesome?" and "Are you three giving it to each other up the ass?" He should be suspended at least as long as John Rocker.
Gotta love the fan, though. My kids were so traumatized by watching McDowell stroke his bat that my celebrity lawyer and I are going to re-enact it in front of them and all the kids watching this press conference. I only want an apology. Preferably with five zeroes in it.