Major League Baseball announced Saturday that it has suspended Athletics outfielder Matt Joyce two games without pay for directing an anti-gay slur at a heckling fan during the team’s game in Anaheim on Friday. In response, the A’s stated they’re “very disappointed” by Joyce’s “unacceptable” comments, but they “appreciate that Matt is contrite about his conduct and know he will learn from this incident.”
Joyce was apologetic Saturday, saying: “I am beyond sorry for the inappropriate language that I used and understand and agree that those words should NEVER come out of someone’s mouth no matter the situation. Â Anyone who knows me will tell you that it is not reflective of me as a person, how I treat others, how I live my life and that those hurtful words are not my views. Â I fully support and hope to help the LGBTQ community with their efforts in being treated fairly. Â I intend to let my actions speak louder than anything more that can be said about this truly regrettable moment.”
Joyce’s forfeited salary amounts to upward of $54K, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, and the A’s will donate it to PFLAG – an organization that provides support to the LGBTQ community.
More from the American League:
- The Rangers tipped their hand for the upcoming offseason when they traded minor league infielder Brallan Perez to the Orioles for $500K in international spending rights on Saturday, opines Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. To Grant, the move signals that the Rangers are retooling – not rebuilding – and will attempt to use their international money to sign two-way Japanese superstar Shohei Otani over the winter. The Rangers have coveted Otani for a while, which is part of the reason they didn’t make an effort to extend fellow Japan native Yu Darvish before they traded him to the Dodgers this past Monday, writes Grant. Big-money deals for over-30 pitchers are risky, Grant points out, and Darvish will turn 31 on Aug. 16.
- With Andrew Miller on the disabled list and Boone Logan’s season likely over, the Indians are “open” to adding another left-hander to their bullpen this month, says FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). There’s not a lot of optimism it will happen, though, as an Indians official told Rosenthal that it’s “extremely difficult” to get a lefty reliever through the waiver process.
- The Twins’ first-year hierarchy of chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine is in the midst of reshaping the organization, reports La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune in a pair of pieces. The club fired director of baseball research Jack Goin, a holdover from the team’s previous regime, on Friday. The Twins then axed four area scouts – Marty Esposito, Alan Sandberg, Ted Williams and Mark Wilson – on Saturday. More changes are on the way, but Falvey informed Neal that assistant GM Rob Antony and head of player personnel Mike Radcliff will continue to have roles with the Twins. Any alterations to the Twins’ major or minor league coaching staffs or their player development won’t come until the offseason, per Falvey.
so fans can yell same thing at players and nithing happens to them…WTH
idiot
Agree! Hopefully the jerk at least got ejected
While I am not condoning anything the fan might have said, the fan is not being paid to be there and is not being paid to be a public representative. His words and actions negatively impact both the Athletics and MLB, and he should have known better. His suspension is well deserved. And, if the fan was kicked out of the game great. This has become a problem in all major sports as the microscope has increased on everything they say and do, but they get paid the big bucks so they need to act responsibly. These words are unacceptable period.
Joyce is not “being paid to be a public representative”. He is being paid to be a baseball player,
No, he is paid to be both. Pure and simple. The Athletics are paying him to play ball, but they are also paying him to represent their team, and in a way so is MLB. Obviously, both the league and the team felt that his behavior was offensive and did not support the standards of the team and the league. So yes, his suspension is well-deserved.
When you put on the uniform you represent yourself, the organization, and the MLB.
That being said. It should be a fineable offense and teams allowed to ban over heckling a baseball player to the point they fire back. Downright harassment and probably said more than hey joyce you suck once or twice. Some fans take things too far, usually alcohol related.
That’s gotta be one of the dumbest statements I’ve ever heard.
Any time someone chooses to employ you, you are being paid to represent that employer, both with your skills and with your general demeanor….ESPECIALLY when you are effectively a celebrity in the public eye.
Like you said we don’t know what the fan said to cause Joyce to go off and he should be punished as well. And it definitely wouldn’t surprise me if alcohol was involved. The teams tell you to act responsibly and then run promotions for $2 beers, dont do nearly enough to regulate how much people are buying and let people get completely intoxicated and wonder why we get these incidents.
A baseball player is a public representative of the team he is employed by. Just as you are by your employer, assuming you have a job. If you called a customer the same thing that Joyce called the heckler, you would be fired immediately. Joyce was only suspended a couple of days.
The fan had his season tickets revoked and was banned from the ballpark. So something did happen to the fan.
That doesn’t justify the words that Joyce used.
Agreed, but I think if slurs and epithets are being tossed around, there should be consequences regardless whether fan or player. It seems this particular situation was handled appropriately.
True, players can’t even defend themselves.
In the Bay Area isn’t everyone gay? Kinda stacked against the players isn’t it?
Funny stuff and Joyce probably didn’t have time to take this into consideration before replying to the fan.. Same for anyone else yelling at obvious same type fans at San Fran and oakland.. Don’t “bite off” more than can chew or the league will look to make more examples of in this PC type atmosphere that is primo especially there.
Maybe issue ear plugs and put up tall, non see thru walls between field and stands before every game to keep weirdos and other pollutants away?
Thanks for the stereotypical bs there.
Everyone is so sensitive now. Imagine how many suspensions there would be if they had these standards in the 80s. Not even that long ago
ha just imagine john rocker playing today
So said the guy in the 80’s about the guy in the 50’s. Society progresses, pure and simple. And, one of the main reasons why people get offended by ignorant comments is because they no longer fear being offended by ignorant comments. Society has progressed so that people of the LGBTQ community no longer have to hide who they are. And, as productive parts of our society, all people no matter their race or sexual orientation etc…deserve respect, especially from people in the public eye.
The deal breaker in my humble opinion is targeting. If you target someone based on their race/preferences is wrong. However this was not the case. Joyce cussing back at a heckler. Not a big deal there shouldn’t be a suspension at all
If he had just thrown out the F-Bomb then I wouldn’t have an issue with it, but his words, intentional or not, did target a group of minorities in this country who have fought hard for equal rights. It;s not so much what he said to that particular individual, but what he said to the general public, and as I said before he is in the public eye, and represents his team and the league, so his bad decisions rightfully brought about a suspension. Hopefully, he and other players learn from this.
Your society in fact regressed to the time of Roman Empire. But hey, no one forbids you to consider yourself civilized.
Ya, try again. I get what you’re getting at, but it’s a very poor example. I take back that try again, please don’t.
My example is perfect, but the citizen of the country that is only like 250 years old will not understand that until it’s too late. Well, time will fix everything once again.
HAHAHAHA! If you think it’s regression to not punish people for being gay anymore then I don’t know what to say to your empty head.
Apparently, society doesn’t progress on this board. the neanderthals will still vote down anything that is common sense or plain good manners. Could you imagine what your parent would have done to you if you said what Joyce said back in the 80’s or in the 50’s. Beatings would have ensued. Seems some people on this board need those beatings to ensue.
my my my, Brad Hand would looked great in an Indians uni
Brad Hand would look good on any contending team
No chance Hand clears waivers or falls to them.
Clayton richard.
….. is garbage.
Not for the Miller package Preller was pushing for.
What are you talking about?
My, my my…Indians would never have given up what they’re looking for in a package for Hand, they didn’t need him that bad. They’ll be fine, Miller will be back in a couple of days and the young lefty they have (Olson) is doing well. They also signed Breslow to see what he has left in the tank.
Olson isn’t “young”. He’s 27 and been a career minor leaguer.
Career minor leaguer sounds so long, all four seasons, three of which he spent time in the majors. He’s not there to fill Miller’s role, he’s filling Logan’s and doing pretty good so far. Goody could be described in similar terms and yet he’s been pretty damn good this year as well.
From what I’ve seen in the Yankees series against the Indians so far, they look pretty good to me without bending over for the ridiculous package the Rock Star GM wanted for Hand in a trade.
The Indians will be fine.
Thank you, my sentiments exactly. Miller will be back in a few days and the need to dump their top prospects for Hand will no longer be necessary.
What exactly did he say to the fan?
I can imagine it was a homophobic slur. The suspension is warranted. The fan(s) who provoked him should have been ejected as well if they weren’t, but with kids in the crowd, Joyce couldn’t exactly attack the fan(s) either physically or verbally. Nothing good ever comes from that. The player should complain and have the fan or fans removed.
Another example of political correctness. Never mind what the a-hole fan was saying. Yes, it matters
I get it, but seriously, if you got paid league minimum and one of the stipulations was don’t call people “a bundle of sticks” – would you take the money? He represents a much larger team, league and organization and if he doesn’t represent them well in a public forum, he should be disciplined how they see fit. I can imagine that fan wouldn’t last long with that kind of badgering.
Maybe I’m not up on the latest offensive insults but why would he call a fan kindling?
because that’s the definition of the 6 letter F word that is usually used as a homosexual slur, which is usually shortened to the 3 letter version which British use for “cigarette”… it always has been and always will be “a bundle of sticks”… buy a dictionary
These should be separate posts. This is significant Twins news hidden under the Matt Joyce debacle. .
Nah man, Connor’s too busy in the comment sections of Hoops Rumors making stupid fake trade proposals.
yet your reading them
I am? I don’t really follow the NBA, so coming up with NBA trade proposals would be a weird thing to do on my part.
Connor, why feed the troll? He’s tipping his hand to you. “troll” in his name and comments.
The Angel radio guys said the fans were brutal to Joyce after Cron made a great play on him.
Joyce has apologized and no one knows for sure what was said.
It’s over.
I just hope the usual courteous Angel Stadium fans don’t become like the classless fans up the 5 frwy at Dodger Stadium.
The fan that Joyce addressed, an Angels season ticket holder, was kicked out of the game and banned from Angel Stadium. He was described as being abusive and using profane language and possibly intoxicated.
Every fan base has some obnoxious people
When Joyce was with the Angels – I hesitate saying he played – he was so terrible that he wasn’t shot. He was just pissed at a fan who called him out for what he is / was.
People complaining about political-correctness are likely bullies/racists/homophobes themselves: if you have ever been on the receiving end of such comments, there’s no way you could condone them as simple “ball busting”. Usually, the people complaining about us being too PC these days never tend to be minorities, I find, and thus are clueless.
Wrong pal. I’m a minority and just about everyone I know is. And we all know that pc thinking hurts minorities worse than anything else. We don’t need another crutch.
No, people complaining about PC are tired of things like:
Racism/homophobic/etc being the go to reason anything happens (why doesnt kaepernick have a job? Racism! In a league of 70% black people),
Cultural appropriation (cause two white girls making burritos from recipes they learned from hispanic women in mexico definitely is a serious issue in this country and something needs to be done about it!)
And people thinking their feelings getting hurt means they’re right or their way is correct.
Has nothing to do with people being bullies, homophobic, racism- at all.
Joyce didnt call the dude a gay slur as a way show off his homophobicness to insult the gay community and the dude. No, like many people, joyce called the dude a gay slur not to make fun or insult being gay, but to insult the person for being stupid.
Words are allowed to have multiple meanings and connotation/context do matter. Hence why a bundle of sticks is also a gay slur, slang for a cigarette, a word to describe fraying of rope, and to be weary from labor.
Joyce chose his words poorly, but people thinking this somehow insults the gay community and reparation needs to be paid are out of their minds.
dictionary.com/browse/fag
Very well put sir.
This^^^^^^^^
Joyce chose his job poorly. His job is to take whatever the fans dish out and play the game. He failed at both.
Sorry if this is a repeat comment. I don’t see the one I posted earlier.
No, his job isn’t to take whatever fans dish out. No job ever says you have to take whatever someone dishes out. That’s called harassment.
I do agree Joyce made the wrong decision to engage with the fan, which the MLB should have protocol in place where players can report obscene behavior from a fan to an a coach in the dugout who calls up stadium officials and they send someone to monitor the situation and take appropriate action, if necessary, such as removal of the fan and revoking access.
I don’t agree with his suspension and certainly do not agree with his salary being given to PFLAG because that says Joyce “hurt” the LGBTQ community and reparation was needed to make it right. Total BS. Joyce’s word choice wasn’t directed at the LGBTQ community nor any individual from it.
Again, words are allowed to have multiple meanings and its the context, meaning, and situation that define the word not what others perceive his actions to be.
But if we are going down the road of if he “hurt” people by saying a word we need to pay reparations if we use words that demeanor women as insults towards a fan are we suppose to suspend players and their salary goes towards battered women shelters who suffer from verbal abuse? If a player uses the word for a female dog as an insult towards a fan are we suppose suspend to give their salary to PETA? If he uses an insult using another word for butt are we suppose to suspend and donate to people who have gluteus maximus issues?
See, when you start punishing and deeming reparations appropriate you create a slippery slope.
Joyce being suspended is a joke. He should of been fined for engaging with the fan in a negative way and his fine donated to a charity of his choice, but that’s about it.
So the Rangers have an extra $500,000 in pool money and that’s going to be the difference in whether they sign Otani or not. I want to know what yoga studio Evan Grant goes to that taught him to reach like that.
Evan is clueless. Otani is getting posted and the $500k is irrelevant.
Yankees got $1.5M International bonus spending money in the Sonny Gray trade, which gives them $8M total (tied with the Red Sox)
So, Theoretically speaking, that gives us value 3x the value of prospect Brallan Perez along with Gray. What does that give us?
Rangers have no shot at otani, why would he go to a losing franchise in he midst of a rebuild with zero super stars. I expect cubs, dodgers, yankees, Red Sox to push the hardest with their ever ending cash flows. Plus they have excellent cores going forward.
Otani is an international free agent and as such teams can only spend the international bonus pool money they have. The Dodgers have the least in the league.
Money won’t be a big factor in the otani sweepstakes. With the international hard cap now, teams can offer 4.75 million to 5.75 million (depending on market size. lowest markets can offer most). Unless of course teams trade for more bonus space but even that wouldn’t make a huge difference
sorry outinleftfield, meant to leave that comment to imindless.
The Cubs, among others in the “penalty box” for International spending, are only allowed to spend $300K on International free agents, so there are several teams who will not be in on the bidding, Cubs included.
Just because the cubs can only spend $300k does t meant they can’t sign otani. It’d highly unlikely, but from what I understand the money isn’t as important him as playing for a contender that will let him hit in a semi regular basis
Then doesn’t it stand to reason he would go to an AL team with a DH then….
Otani has said that money won’t be an issue in his decision making, but I think that teams with only $300k to spend are probably out of the running.
Mindless you have no clue how the new international signing system works. You may want to study up on it before you post your comments.
Somewhere in Houston, Kevin Pillar feels like a small weight is off his shoulders.
OMG, the Twins release Ted Williams.
But Arizona signed him and has put his body in cryogenic stasis in Scottsdale.
Do the Indians want Josh Osich?? Give us 2 Low A starters and he’s yours….
They’ll be fine, Miller will be back in a couple of days and the young lefty they have (Olson) is doing well. They also sign Breslow to see what he has left in the tank.
Otani is going to end up with the Dodgers too…
Do we know how much international bonus slots each team has acquired? The team with the most probably has the best shot at Otani.
Also, with Otani now 23, I think it’s crazy that he would give up millions to not wait another year and a half. (Assuming I’m remembering correctly that the international draft restrictions are for ages under 25)
He will be giving up about $100 million to come to the US one year earlier.
Oakland fans are also Raider fans which are about as classy as a .99 cent store hooker ….
What ever happened to freedom of speech?
It still exists. It’s not like Joyce got arrested.
That only protects from the government controlling your speech. Society and employers can still impose restrictions.
Where you work, do you have the freedom to call your customers any derogatory term you would like? Of course not, you would be immediately fired. Joyce is getting off easy because he is a baseball player.
How the world has changed. Reminds me of my youth – 6 beers down and sitting on the LF screen at old Comiskey mercilessly heckling Dave Winfield. circa 1982. I went low and started calling him a high paid singles hitter who had a candy-ass arm and probably the IQ of a wart hog along with a few unprintables. I was holding court for awhile.
After several innings – Mr. Winfield came up to the fence and politely said. “Say bro – I signed a $23,000,000 contract and play the game I love. You keep yelling because I know you paid for that ticket” – . Every word said while he was smiling. It shut me up.
Maybe Matty needs to consult with Winny on how to shutup obnoxious fans.
Falvey and Levine making room for their ‘guys’. Hope we get to see better Twins talent in a year or two.
Baseball is a business, and baseball players are paid a lot of money to be a part of that business. What Joyce did was mostly dumb. Yes, he has a First Amendment right to have said it. But, he also works in public, with the public. Let’s get real–in most jobs, the last thing your boss wants you do is insult customers. The person who finds another place to shop is lost dollars.
While I think it’s true that people tend to extrapolate WAY too much meaning out of 1990s schoolyard taunts, it’s unprofessional to get into shouting matches with the general public almost anywhere that you work. It doesn’t matter what the fan said or did. Find an employee handbook anywhere that allows this kind of stuff.
I’ve been suspended for pointing out typos here
How has this Joyce thing progressed beyond a single news cycle. I’ve gone from “huh” to “annoyed” now.
Joyce should be executed.
Freedom of speech no longer exists now we have selective free speech. I can see it being a problem if Joyce threatened to kill someone because they’re gay but fining someone thousands for saying “f–” is an injustice.
Both parties said things they should not have said. Both parties penalized.
Let’s move on.
If I was at work and called an end user of our services an A-hole I’d get a LOE in my file and a day or two of unpaid vacation. If I was driving to work alone in my car and called a fellow motorist an A-hole I’d feel better about myself.
Gee, what’s the difference, here?