On Saturday night, Kansas City Royals pitcher Bruce Chen was giving a TV interview when his teammate, catcher Humberto Quintero, decided it would be fun to crash the scene with a racist gesture. And yes, you know what gesture I'm talking about: Bruce Chen interview interrupted by teammate Humberto Quintero making 'slanted eyes' gesture.
Chen is a native Panamanian of Chinese descent. Which means he happens to have eyes of Chinese descent. And his teammate took the on air moment to make fun of those eyes of Chinese descent. And while it's hard to believe it was done with any malice in mind, it doesn't make it any less idiotic:
Kansas City Royals pitcher Bruce Chen found himself on the wrong end of a crude and racist gesture on Saturday night as teammate and catcher Humberto Quintero approached him during an interview and made the "slanted eyes" action behind his back.Again, he was clearly messing around, and Chen says he didn't mind. But that doesn't give Quintero a pass. He should know better. That s#%t is going on TV. Some kid sees that, thinks it's funny -- hell, wasn't everybody grinning? -- and decides to try out the chink-eye on some Asian kid at the playground. And you wonder where kids learn this crap? I have no tolerance for it.
Chen, a native Panamanian of Chinese descent, was just starting to chat with Fox's Kenny Albert and Tom Verducci in the bottom of the fourth inning in Pittsburgh when Quintero, a native of Venezuela, approached from behind and made the gesture. Quintero then made the far more acceptable "moose ears" as teammate Jarrod Dyson jokingly showered Chen with sunflower seeds.