BOSTON -- Cade Cavalli and Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni addressed the media on Wednesday, the morning after a benches-clearing fracas at Fenway Park that was prompted by Cavalli shouting “Sit down, boy!” at Boston's Willson Contreras after a strikeout.
“I'm extremely torn up about the way that things were perceived,” Cavalli said. “Obviously, there was no ill intention behind that. My teammates know me, my family knows me, this organization knows me. I couldn't sleep because of it.
"It hurt my heart knowing if there’s a 13-year-old Black kid in D.C. that sees that, that looked up to me and thinks that, he perceived it in a way that wasn’t intended the way that it came out, and then he’s not looking up to me anymore, that hurts my heart."
At the end of the first inning on Tuesday, Contreras came off the field after being stranded at third. He walked directly in front of Cavalli and got close enough to brush Cavalli with his arm.
When Cavalli then struck out Contreras in the fourth inning, the television microphone picked up Cavalli's words. Contreras approached Cavalli and the benches cleared. Contreras threw his helmet in the pitcher's direction in the midst of the melee.
Toboni and manager Blake Butera met with Cavalli on Wednesday morning.
“As you can probably imagine, he's pretty beat up right now,” Toboni said. “He had a tough time going to sleep last night, and I think largely because of the feedback that he was receiving regarding his choice of words last night. What we talked a lot about was, we within the Nationals organization have a really good understanding of who Cade is as a person. That doesn't go for everyone else. Cade is a guy of great values, great morals, [a] great leader. At the same time, his choice of words was not ideal.
“Candidly, I think he was unaware that it might have or induce a negative reaction from folks. But we talked a lot about that, and I think now he understands it. I think it's something that in the past, he's used in the spirit of competition with his brother, with his dad, whoever it might be. But Cade being the guy that he is, now understands how it might not be received that way from other folks.
“So moving forward, it's something that he's committed to eliminating from his vocabulary because he understands it now.”
There has been a strong online reaction to Cavalli’s choice of words.
“There's a history behind that word,” Cavalli said. “That's just something that as a competitor -- like in football or basketball, playing Wiffle ball with my brother -- you don't understand it. Then it gets perceived in a way that was not my intention, and then you learn from that. It'll never happen again.”
Cavalli expressed his sentiments toward young baseball fans for what he said.
“I want to be the best role model that I can be every day,” Cavalli said. “I've made that statement that I want to be consistent in the human that I am; that matters more than baseball to me. It breaks my heart knowing that there's a kid out there that might be offended by what I said. I want to say I'm sorry, that that's not the way it was intended, and that's not who I am.”
In his first season as president of baseball operations, Toboni hopes this experience serves as a lesson for the entire team.
“A big part of it for me is: It doesn’t matter if your intent is OK because the bottom line is, there are folks around Washington, D.C., and around the country that might receive it differently than you receive it,” Toboni said. “I think this is just a life thing, not necessarily a baseball team thing, but being able to empathize with other people’s existences, that’s a huge part of being a good human being. And Cade has that. ... And baseball aside, just being a really great person and just being the best version of yourself is something that’s really important to Cade.”
Contreras, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy, Nationals right-hander Miles Mikolas and Red Sox utility player Nate Eaton were ejected during the game. The Nationals do not intend to discipline Cavalli.
"Quite honestly, I think a lot of that, in my opinion, has to do with the intention behind it,” Toboni said. “I think he used a set of words that he did not intend to demean someone in some racial way. I think if Blake and I and others felt differently about that, we would think differently about the discipline. But it's clear to us that Cade did not realize that, now he understands it and he's committed to being better going forward.”
Jessica Camerato