Roger McDowell lucky to be suspended only two weeks
Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell will escape with only a two-week suspension.
This would be a good day for Roger McDowell to play the lottery. He’ll never be luckier than he is right now.
McDowell has been suspended for two weeks without pay and fined an undisclosed amount for alleged anti-gay slurs and his inappropriate conduct toward fans in San Francisco last week. He also has been ordered to take sensitivity training.
Say thank you, Roger.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig — who last week suspended Ozzie Guillen two games for something as trivial as Tweeting — could have slammed McDowell.
I’ve heard from several readers who believe the Braves should have fired him. I wasn’t in that camp, but I do believe a suspension of at least 30 games was in order.
“I understand the decision made today by the commissioner,” McDowell said in a statement. “I am embarrassed by my actions and I plan to give a personal apology to Mr. [Justin] Quinn and his family. I would also like to offer a public and heartfelt apology to the fans of San Francisco, to the Atlanta Braves organization, my family and to Major League Baseball.”
The official news release did not give specifics of McDowell’s exchange with fans. But neither did it dispute anything that has been reported or brought out at Quinn’s news conference last week. Allegations include various homophobic slurs, a crude joke involving a baseball bat and an exchange with Quinn, a father of two, who claimed McDowell said to him, “How much are your teeth worth?”
A story in Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle quoted another fan that corroborated many of Quinn’s claims.
In short, it is alleged McDowell spewed anti-gay remarks and made a quasi-threat to a fan. Whether he was joking or not, that can’t be tolerated.
Certainly, nobody was coming to McDowell’s defense Sunday. Even Braves team president John Schuerholz said, “We are clearly disappointed in Roger’s remarks and actions and the Atlanta Braves organization does not tolerate that kind of behavior.”
McDowell’s two-week suspension is retroactive to last Friday, which means he can return on Friday the 13th (go figure) against Philadelphia. It’s a little sooner than some might have expected.
Say thank you, Roger.
FOR LIVE BLOG ON TODAY’S GAME: Click here.
By Jeff Schultz
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136 comments Add your comment
bvillebaron
May 1st, 2011
2:20 pm
Given that the Quninn’s publicity seeking attorney sought an apology and senstivitity training, it seems to me that the punishment more than fit the crime. People calling for him to lose his job are over the top.
Herschel Talker
May 1st, 2011
2:21 pm
Schultzie:
“How much are you teeth worth?” should be “How much are your teeth worth?”
Please pay me my nickel.
HT
Jeff Schultz
May 1st, 2011
2:25 pm
Herschel — Sorry. I only budgeted for one typo.
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
2:29 pm
@Jerry Pritikin aka Bleacher Preacher
Jerry, since your fans provoked me as I had guessed they would in 1969 with an “Up With Sherman” (who burned down Atlanta in the Civil War) cheer, do I get a pardon for coming clean?
Read my prior post.
I think they deserved it.
And who knows on a hot summer day surrounded by beer drinking Atlantans what might have resulted without my “good” deed.
Thanks for speaking up in Roger’s defense.
TommyJack
May 1st, 2011
2:31 pm
Ted: 2:00 That’s just idiotic. We don’t know the context. May McDowell was kidding around. Maybe the “victims” were kidding around. We weren’t there. Or maybe you were.
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
2:31 pm
Jeff,
You’re on your game today with your replies.
wonderinif...
May 1st, 2011
2:31 pm
I’m wondering if I could find out who employs the knucklehead in the convertible that had has his rap music blaring with “f” this and “mf” that every other line, who pulled up beside me and my 11 and 13 year olds yesterday at the traffic light, who was talking to his homey using the same language so dang loud that I could record him on my cell…I’m wondering if I could find out who employs him and talk to his employer to see if I could get him…or the next 50 jackasses like him…fired, fined, suspended? We’re subjected to stuff we don’t like and don’t want to hear all the time…c’mon guys, close your ears or get used to it…you can’t legislate morality. Everyone in society today is a victim…well, now you are too Roger…
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
2:32 pm
The Bleacher Preacher’s comments may have saved Roger’s rear end for all we know.
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
2:34 pm
I know one thing.
Lowe better bring his A game to shut his critics up.
Or a road trip can’t come soon enough for him.
Skeezix
May 1st, 2011
2:34 pm
From all of this (Roger’s apologies, etc.), I am assuming then that what has been written and said about Roger’s behavior is mostly true. Therefore:
I am very disappointed that the Braves have a guy in a leadeship position who is:
a. Obviously immature
b. Intellectually stunted
c. Ignorant
d. Says such terrible things in front of children
e. Threatens fans (i.e., the customers) with baseball bats
e. And, apparently is oblivious to the fact that kids & families should always be welcomed at baseball games.
This episode ( and Lowe’s DUI) has had to have a negative effect on a team that was starting to play well and now looks disheartened/distracted. He should be very thankful to Braves management and MLB for the mercy he has been given and hopefully he will commit to becoming a better person and more worthy of being the Braves pitching coach.
I am glad this sad episode is getting behind us.
Braves .....lol
May 1st, 2011
2:35 pm
This is only symptom…..Braves suck atm.
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
2:37 pm
The new apology was far superior to the old apology.
I still wonder if he had just collected himself, apologized at that time and offered the two twins a baseball if this whole stupid mess could have been avoided.
But maybe he lost his temper for some reason.
Nomobama
May 1st, 2011
2:38 pm
Guess ted never heard the expression sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me. All this pc crap is just…crap.
Jeff Schultz
May 1st, 2011
2:40 pm
Jackets 2011 — Thanks. And responding to comments on 2 blogs at once, while eating ice cream!
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
2:43 pm
@Skeezix.
I felt a little like you do until I read the Bleacher preacher’s comments defending RM a few days ago.
I’ll bet he was just joking around like he does a lot and was surprised that he erupted toward the dad when the dad tried to discipline him.
Maybe I have a temperament like Roger’s.
I have erupted (verbally) a few times in my life and been surprised it happened.
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
2:44 pm
Roger,
Call me if u need an attorney.
I’m great at spin.
Kiding.
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
2:45 pm
Alright.
That’s going all out for your readers I’d say.
Roger
May 1st, 2011
2:46 pm
Does anyone else think the Gloria is kinda hot? Or is it just me? I don’t know, when she was doing that baseball bat demonstration….
Dawg'88
May 1st, 2011
2:47 pm
Schultz lucky not to be fired everyday…
Joey…good one.
Slam a Christian white person…get no punishment!
Its ok.
Bet there are quite a few fans on here who have probably stood around and/or either laughed or told a gay joke more than once in their lifetime. If you stand there and say nothing, you look as if you agree. Tell one and you’ve got no room to call for McDowell’s head. So before you continue to spout selfrighteousness….cleanup your own houses!
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
2:51 pm
I’m pissed at Lowe but I’ll get over it.
He could win today and make a charitable contribution to the Salvation Army or Red Cross or some group that help the tornado-impaired and I promise to get over it even quicker.
Michael Scott
May 1st, 2011
2:53 pm
Hey Marty … nice to know there’s been two perfect human beings that have walked this Earth. The last one was 2000 years ago. Boom, roasted!
Dawg'88
May 1st, 2011
2:54 pm
BTW…I suppose those fans in SF were tell Roger what a great guy he was and how they thought he was a great coach too…yeah right? Many who have ever been to SF will tell you that they ahve idiot fans too who push your butttons to no end until you finally explode into anger.
It still doesn’t make Roger right but I doubt he was just standing around and said to himself….”I think I’ll go over there and damage or ruin my career by saying some dirty things”. Really..do you all believe that? Wow. He had to have been goaded into this in my opinion…I have seen him be nothing but gracious to fans and acknowledges the young ones in particular. They wanted to make him angry and see what he would do…that’s just as sick and wrong too. Security never takes care of these types. Many get a good laugh out of them being rude to the opposition…bet JS has laughed at a heckler a time or two as well.
Hmmmm
Bobby
May 1st, 2011
2:54 pm
Miss me yet?
HPSP
May 1st, 2011
2:55 pm
I wouldn’t have minded seeing McDowell fired for his actions, especially in light of the story that came out in the Chronicle with the corroborating witness. (One who isn’t caught up in Ms. Allred’s web.)
Would a “lesser” Braves employee be fired for doing/saying the same thing McDowell did? Seems like an important follow up question to explore. If so, there is a terrible double standard in place.
HPSP
May 1st, 2011
2:57 pm
I meant to add, I would have agreed with a 30 day suspension. Two weeks is ridiculous.
The Voice Of Reason
May 1st, 2011
3:00 pm
Anyone who thinks the fans are lying is an idiot at best!
No need to say what at worst.
Those on his side are the same ones who said Vick got what he deserves and should still be out of football.
It’s the same double standard. And we all see how it is played.
Today Joe Simpson said after two weeks this should all be behind him. He will still be the same person who thought and said those things to children. I suppose that’s okay to some people.
Big surprise
pete
May 1st, 2011
3:02 pm
hate to tell you guys, but last year was a fluke for Martin Prado
Jack Robinson
May 1st, 2011
3:05 pm
My opinion of Roger McDowell just rose.
bob
May 1st, 2011
3:07 pm
I would have given the man an award not a suspension because PC is un-American and sucks. Can’t prove it but I’ve heard gays do too.
Mr Charlie
May 1st, 2011
3:09 pm
Kinda looking that way, I did question it last year and got slapped down by none other than our host.
Robert
May 1st, 2011
3:18 pm
I have a little different take, I guess. I find it hard to believe that McDowell would have done this if Bobby Cox had still been sitting in the dugout. McDowell’s behavior was highly disrespectful of Fredi Gonzalez. This is Fredi’s team now, and Fredi’s coaching staff. The conduct of McDowell and the rest of the staff now reflect on Gonzalez. Personally, I think for the disrespect factor against Gonzalez alone, I think McDowell should have been fired.
I-town brave
May 1st, 2011
3:26 pm
bring back bobby! The braves are terrible and out of control with player arrests, coach suspensions. Bobby can restore order to the team.
The Voice Of Reason
May 1st, 2011
3:29 pm
Let’s see:
Blame the coach.
Blame the PC Police
We live in a world of Phillistines and we all know what happened to them.
Oh no you don’t because none of you can or do read.
LIVE BLOG: Lowe starts as Braves try to win one vs. Cards | webdesigner-sa
May 1st, 2011
3:49 pm
[...] UPDATE II: McDowell has been suspended for two weeks. Here’s a link to the blog: [...]
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
3:55 pm
Wonder who has the set up and closer jobs today.
If there will be any change.
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
3:56 pm
The ship really needs to get righted with a W.
Jackets 2011
May 1st, 2011
3:59 pm
Bring back Bobby?
No it’s Wagner we need to bring back.
We need this game bad.
Donaldo
May 1st, 2011
4:02 pm
Roger should report immediately to the North GA communities hit by the recent tornadoes. He needs a lesson in humility. Then time duing community service, until the fans get a sense baseball really means what it says, I will not be attending and spending hard earned $$ to see guys like this.
Chris
May 1st, 2011
4:11 pm
If McDowell’s actions really bothered that fan he would not have repeated them in front of his children. Also, do you really need an abulance chaser up there with you? I would like to hear what was said to provoke McDowell in the first place.
The Voice Of Reason
May 1st, 2011
4:27 pm
To Chris:
Let me get this right. You think it’s okay to speak to kids that way no matter what was said to him?
Maybe you don’t have kids or don’t care what gets said to them, right?
It was wrong stop making excuses for him.
He and everyone supporting him needs to man up!
This is Stupid
May 1st, 2011
4:58 pm
This is the stupidest story ever. He had every right to yell back at fans who was yelling at him. Of course his told to keep his mouth shut at rowdy fans taunting him, but obviously the line was crossed. And furthermore the fact that the fan went and tried to play the victim role shows the character of that guy. I can’t even understand logically how anyone can take the side of the man who initiated the whole thing, and then whine and twisted a story to get revenge for getting yelled back at. Who cares if he said anti-gay statements… That’s not illegal, and people need to stop being so sensitive and trying to enforce their political agenda on people. He didn’t do ANYTHING wrong. AT ALL. Simple threats are not against the law. This is just a classic case of a man acting like a boy who harasses someone and then whines to his “mom” when he can’t handle what comes back at him. Shame on you Schultz for attempting to make him sound like a 2- week suspension was weak. Shame on you.
chris
May 1st, 2011
5:00 pm
Let’s move on from this- jeez. season is already getting off to a rocky start on the field, dont need this off the field stuff; Im far more concerned with Derek Lowe’s behaviour driiving drunk and racing down Peachtree which could have killed someone….two weeks is probably the right punishment here even though there will be those who think it too much or too less. This is why some players, coaches and managers dont say too much to the media and fans – can’t win..Im so glad though that Mr. Quinn got his five minutes in the sun and Gloria Alred (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?) got to show her pathetic face on tv again. (why couldnt a call to the MLB offices had sufficed)…to make this a spectacle it does make you wander what really happened…jeez..and Bud got to act like he was really concerned about the image of MLB….priceless….just saying; yes it was not the classiest moment in Roger McDowell’s life to do this and agreed he’s lucky he just got suspended.
TRIPLEDART
May 1st, 2011
5:10 pm
Who the hell cares.Jeff your a punk ass write about something that matters.You work for the worst paper in the country and always never have your facts straight.sort like your private life.
ATLER ( ramblin wreck )
May 1st, 2011
5:14 pm
No your lucky to still have a job reporting sports J.S. You and M.B. suck!!!!!!!!!
Jeff (not Schultz)
May 1st, 2011
5:35 pm
Schultz, you and every other “fire McDowell” person on the planet are hypocrites!
So it’s wrong to say things that are terribly offensive to a specific group, right?
Your statement was: “In short, it is alleged McDowell spewed anti-gay remarks and made a quasi-threat to a fan. Whether he was joking or not, that can’t be tolerated.”
Oh, I see, smart-butt…. so it’s OKAY for professional ballplayers and drunk fans in the stands to REPEATEDLY use the Lord’s name in vain and utter disgusting profanity at every game in every situation at the drop of a hat, which is offensive to TENS OF MILLIONS of Christians around the world… but if I use Kobe’s phrase that is offensive to gays or if I use an anti-Islam term that is offensive to Muslims, then I should be punished? HOW HYPOCRITICAL!!! Where is the outrage toward the words and actions in society every day that offend Christians? The answer is that society is hypocritical and doesn’t give a CRAP if it offends Christians, because it’s ok in today’s world to mock people of faith.
So let’s get this straight: you CAN’T make a joke with a rhetorial question to a bunch of obscene, heckling fans, but you CAN use the G-D word or J-C or M-F’er or whatever else is popular in our society these days, even though a LOT of people consider those words horribly offensive and profane?
I’m sure some of the arguments I’ll here is “Oh, C’mon, those are only words!”, to which I respond: that’s exactly Roger’s point. It’s only words… those pansies in the stands in San Francisco should have been behaving better, and their continuous obscene heckling all game got under Roger’s skin. In short, they deserved it, and if Mr. Fan out in SF who made a big deal of this was SO CONCERNED about protecting his kids from obscene behavior and bad language, he should have contacted security and had the drunk, profane heckling fans thrown out on their butts.
Those of you who “won’t support the Braves anymore because they didn’t fire Roger”, well I say good riddance. Go find a tapas bar in Midtown to spend your money on. I’ll continue to support Roger McDowell and the Braves.
IF ANYBODY should be FIRED from the Braves, it’s Derek Lowe, for his reprehensible and dangerous behavior. HE should face a year-long suspension, in my opinion… what he did was A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE than what Roger McDowell did.
kirkinga
May 1st, 2011
5:38 pm
I thought the Braves expected a certain level of professionalism throughout the entire organization and those unable, or unwilling, to adhere to that standard were summarily jettisoned. Now I see that this standard is only for players; or better yet, only players who have the additional burden of being disliked in the locker room.
I think what saved McDowell was the lack a video of the incident. It is hard to imagine the Braves would issue a slap on the wrist if such a video had gone viral. It also helps that his slurs were against a group where many still think it’s acceptable to slur.
I wonder if Mr. Shultz and others would accept a mere 30 game suspension as a penalty if the slurs had been racist, or antisemitic? I wonder also if the optics would be the same had the Quinns been a minority or unable to afford a Gloria Allred?
I’d say McDowell was more lucky than ever.
Ben Dover
May 1st, 2011
5:38 pm
Only in America would a freakin white, heterosexual keep his job after this. Insane.
Ben Dover
May 1st, 2011
5:42 pm
MLB players and coaches should have no rights! We queer and non queers pay our money at the gate and shoukd be able to speak to them like zoo animals (and umpires) and fear zero consequences.
Ben Dover
May 1st, 2011
5:43 pm
Mr Quinn has first ammendment rights. Roger McDowell apparently does not.
SaveOurRepublic
May 1st, 2011
5:43 pm
In this age of cultural marxism. I’m surprised the Nanny Statists didn’t charge him with a (bogus) “hate” crime & send him to Gitmo. This PC BS has gone waaaaay too far.