SAN DIEGO -- Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson on Monday addressed an incident during Sunday’s game at Coors Field in which it initially appeared a fan shouted a racial slur at him when he was batting in the ninth inning.
Earlier in the day, the Rockies announced that after a thorough investigation that included calls, e-mails and video clips from fans, media and broadcast partners, the club concluded the fan was instead yelling for Dinger, Colorado’s mascot.
Brinson, who said he didn't hear the shouts during his ninth-inning at-bat, was told postgame on Sunday what was initially thought to be said.
"My initial reaction -- I was upset," Brinson said. "Nobody wants to be called that. It's a disrespectful, disgusting word that belittles my people, Black people, and it's a disgusting word and nobody wants to hear it. So my initial reaction I was upset, and disgusted. I was in shock, one. Again, I didn't hear it initially, but definitely initial reaction was upset, shocked."
An active member of The Players Alliance, Brinson said he has watched the video at least 50 times and thought he heard the slur upon reviewing the original footage that surfaced on Twitter.
"It's not that I want to hear it. I never want to hear that word,” Brinson said. "I haven't talked to the Rockies, I haven't talked to that fan personally, but if that's the case [that he didn’t say it], then I'm sorry for any backlash or anything that he's getting right now. I'm getting a lot of love and support on Instagram and I'm sure on Twitter, and I appreciate that wholeheartedly 100 percent.
"But again, I'm a human. I have sympathy. If he was yelling for the mascot, I am sorry for any backlash or any unnecessary attention that he's getting right now. But that doesn't [take away from the fact] that this does happen in our game. I don't know if a lot of people know this, again, personally I've never been called that on the baseball field or off the baseball field, but I know a lot of Black players have, and it's disgusting, and it needs to stop like right now. There's no place for that in sports, there's no place for that in life. I just don't want to have that situation thrown under the rug. Like I said, it does happen.
"I do get maybe once a month called the n-word on Instagram by cowards. They don't show their face, they don't tag themselves on the initial post, or the DM that they send me, but I do get it at least once, maybe twice a month, and I know a lot of Black players maybe get a little bit more. We do get called the n-word on social media, and it's disgusting. We see it, try to block it out, but it's a disgusting and degrading word and it brings nothing but hate, and just disgustingness and cowardliness. But there's no place for it."
Marlins bench coach James Rowson, who is filling in as manager while Don Mattingly recovers from COVID-19, echoed many of Brinson’s sentiments, and said he appreciates the dialogue that has come as a result.
“You give the Rockies credit for doing their due diligence on it,” said Rowson, who is Black. “But in talking to Lew, and just in general to so many Black players and coaches throughout the league and throughout the years that have gone through this, I think you don't want to lose sight that this is a real thing and it happens.
“I thought it was really good to get people talking about it and saying, ‘Hey, I don't think that was right,' because I think if we moved back many years ago, it would have just been kind of swept under the rug, but the fact that we're talking about what we thought happened is important ... I think silence is the biggest enemy here.”