Houston Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel made what appeared to be a slant-eye gesture mocking Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yu Darvish after hitting a home run in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night.
After the game, the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner and the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin tweeted that MLB plans to interview Gurriel and will consider discipline for the gesture.
Darvish told the media that the gesture was “disrespectful” and that he’s sure “the Astros have Asian fans too.”
He also called the gesture “offensive to everybody.”
And reportedly told Japanense media that MLB should punish Gurriel.
Darvish also added this classy response to the situation:
Gurriel is expected to make a statement, and Astros manager A.J. Hinch told the media that Gurriel is “remorseful.”
There’s certainly much more still to come on this story, and it will be interesting to see how MLB chooses to handle it.
UPDATE: Yu Darvish just tweeted about the situation.