Blue Jays SS Yunel Escobar had homophobic slur on eye black

A few years back the Atlanta Braves traded Yunel Escobar to Toronto despite his tremendous upside. The primary reasons for his departure were his  failure to get along with teammates and his work ethic. It also probably had something to do with his frosty golden tip hair style.

But, there was no denying his potential.

Escobar has been in Toronto since the middle of 2010 and despite putting up decent numbers has been relatively quiet. He had his best season in 2011 when he batted .290 in 133 game with the Blue Jays.

This year his numbers are down, as of today he is batting just over .250, but he is back in the headlines. This time it’s not because he can’t get along with his teammates, but because he found it necessary to wear a hateful homophobic slur in his eye black.

The eye black reads, “Tu ere maricon” which translates into “You are a…..”. The last word rhymes with maggot and starts with an “F”. Do the math.

I guess Escobar’s eye black not only blocks the sun, it also blocks any sort of logical reasoning in his brain.

The slur came to light when a picture was posted on Flickr by Blue Jays season ticket holder, James Greenhalgh. He later said on his post that Escobar’s actions were “very disappointing,” and that homophobic slurs “are not acceptable insults in 2012.”

The Blue Jays have released this message, “We do not support discrimination of any kind nor condone the message displayed by Yunel Escobar during Saturday’s game.”, but no statement has been released by Escobar himself.

**Update** Escobar did release a statement after he received a suspension, saying “I agree with the suspension, I don’t have any problem with that. … I’m embarrassed.”

At least he is embarrassed.

In the past, eye black has always been used for good.

Tim Tebow uses the eye black to showcase Bible verses.

Smokin’ hot yumps use it to be even more smokin’ hot.

Now someone is using it to elicit hatred. The bottom line is that any kind of hatred towards anyone is inexcusable, I don’t care how embarrassed you are.

Category: Featured, Pro Sports