Fri. April 29, 2011
Atlanta Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell has been placed on administrative leave after he yelled gay slurs at San Francisco Giants fans and threatened them with a bat.
"Are you a homo couple or a threesome?" McDowell shouted at some fans at AT&T Park last Saturday, according to witnesses.
When a father who was in the stands with his daughters complained about the language, McDowell supposedly said, "Kids don't f***ing belong at the ballpark" and waved a bat in a threatening way.
McDowell apologized on Wednesday.
"I am deeply sorry that I responded to the heckling fans in San Francisco on Saturday. I apologize to everyone for my actions," he said.
Major League Baseball is investigating. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said the situation is "troubling."
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said he doesn't think McDowell should lose his job.
"I'm sure there's going to be some hoops that he's going to have to go through and some apologizing, which he should have to go through, but for a person to lose their job, I wouldn't think so and I hope it doesn't," Gonzalez told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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