Jose Bautista wants to turn Colin Cowherd’s comments about Dominicans into a positive
SEATTLE – When Colin Cowherd said that baseball couldn’t be too complex a sport because a third of the players are from the Dominican Republic on his ESPN Radio show Thursday, Toronto Blue Jays All-Star outfielder and proud Dominican Jose Bautista was quick to condemn Cowherd for his comments.
Back on the air Friday, Cowherd attempted to apologize, but managed to inflame the situation even further. That caused MLB and the MLBPA to release strongly-worded statements critical of Cowherd’s assertion. Shortly thereafter ESPN announced that Cowherd, who is expected to join FOX Sports in August, would no longer be appearing on any of their platforms.
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Following the lead of the league and the players’ union, Bautista put out his own statement ahead of Toronto’s game Friday night in Seattle looking to bring some closure to the episode after his initial response:
In regards to Colin’s comments, while I do appreciate his attempt to clarify his previous remarks I do not believe it was an acceptable one. I also want to take this opportunity to share how I feel. Not only am I proud to be from the Dominican Republic, but it is an honor to be representing the D.R. in Major League Baseball.
Unfortunately there are hardships that do exist for people of every background and in some circumstances, yes there are “educational hurdles.” However there is a difference between that and ignorance or stupidity which I believe was implied.
This is why we should be using our platforms in a positive way and one of the reasons why I started The Bautista Family Education Fund, which continues to help raise awareness and provide assistance for young athletes by providing access to higher education. It is important that these athletes succeed on and off the field. I also want to applaud the MLBPA and MLB’s recent joint efforts to improve the access to education for ALL of our players.
Thank you for the continued support from the MLB and now out of respect to our fans, back to baseball!
Bautista is a very perceptive person, our own Jeff Passan called him “one of the smartest, most curious people I’ve met,” so it’s no surprise to see him want to turn Cowherd’s negative comments into a positive.
Here’s hoping some good can come out of this and that we can learn a little something about what many players from the Dominican Republic have to overcome to even reach the major leagues. Bautista, and many of his fellow Dominican compatriots, would be more than happy to help.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
