Giants coach: Padres coach's comment had 'undertones of racism'
The San Francisco Giants had plenty to celebrate on Tuesday evening. In addition to clobbering the rival San Diego Padres, assistant coach Alyssa Nakken made history by taking over as first-base coach and becoming the first female to take the field as a coach in MLB history.
But the way Nakken came into the game isn't as positive of a story.
Nakken took over the post mid-game after first-base coach Antoan Richardson was ejected for having an altercation with Padres third-base coach Mike Shildt. As Richardson recalled after the game, Shildt walked up to the Giants' dugout and made a derogatory and seemingly racist comment about Richardson in the direction of Giants manager Gabe Kapler.
"He yelled, 'You need to control that motherf----r,' " Richardson said, via NBC Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic. "At that point in time, I went up to the top step and I said, 'Excuse me?' I couldn't believe what I heard. At that point in time, [Greg] Gibson, the crew chief, decided to toss me from the game. I think that his words were disproportionately unwarranted and [had] undertones of racism when he referred to me as 'that motherf----r,' as if I am to be controlled or a piece of property or enslaved. I think it's just really important that we understand what happened tonight..."
Kapler said postgame that he didn't hear Shildt's comment, but that he trusts Richardson's account completely and didn't feel he should have been ejected.
"I trust Antoan's judgment 100 percent," Kapler said. "I trust Antoan's judgment on the matter and I know that Antoan was not out of control at all and that anything that was said to insinuate that he was is totally inappropriate. He didn't instigate any part of this."
Richardson went on to explain why he found it important to set the record straight on what happened, while also complimenting Nakken on making history.
"Me being tossed by that umpire empowered [Shildt] to continue to have conversations like that with people like me, and that's really unfortunate that that's what happened tonight. With that being said, I'm really excited that Alyssa got her opportunity to make her major league debut, and I'm very proud of her. I think she did a really wonderful job and we got a win, so that's the most important thing."
The Giants defeated the Padres 13-2.
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