Yunel Escobar is in hot water again. This time he’s accused of using a homophobic slur written in white in the eye black he used during a game against Boston. The message, written in Spanish, is “tu ere maricon”. When translated one possible meaning is “You are a faggot”.
There are other possible translations, according to Cathal Kelly of thestar.com. In an interview, University of Toronto Spanish professor Maria Cristina Cuervo said
“It is derogatory, but it’s not necessarily homophobic,”.
Yes, it can mean ‘You are a faggot’. But according to Cuervo, context is everything. The word is a derivation of the proper name Maria del Carmen. The diminutive form of that name has morphed into an effeminizing epithet that has a clear gender component, but not necessarily a sexual one.
“I would take it as, ‘You are like a girl. You’re weak’,” Cuervo said. “I don’t curse much, so I don’t know the appropriate level in English. It has to be something like ‘wuss’.”
Whether Yunel Escobar was “trash talking” or making a slur is unclear. What is clear is that his actions are unprofessional and need to be addressed.
Escobar also found trouble during his time in Atlanta, which was a factor in his departure. Blue Jays team officials are investigating and will deliver a statement this afternoon before the series opener against the New York Yankees.
*UPDATE* Yunel Escobar has been handed a three game suspension from Major League Baseball.
Wes Kepstro
AL Eastbound & Down 
This post provides clear idea in favor of the new viewers of blogging, that actually how to do
running a blog.
I dunno, man. I’m pretty sure that in Cuban culture (where Escobar is from), it pretty much exclusively refers to the “faggot” definition rather than the “girly” one. However, having said that, I don’t think he meant any specifically homophobic intent by it.. Just trying to call a guy a pussy or something. I doubt he’s a card-carrying homophobe, but when you use it as a synonym for “pussy” then you’re gonna get reprimanded regardless because of the history of the word
I’ll take your word on the Cuban culture–I’m not that familiar with it. The piece from thestar.ca was offered mainly for perspective, as if to say, “there are other possible meanings here folks!”
That said, regardless of intent, it was an idiotic thing for Escobar to do. He mentioned in his apology that he has gay friends and that he wasn’t targeting any particular person or group. So why do it? I suspect we’ll never get a satisfactory answer to that question. It’s most likely to be explained away with something like, “Well, that’s just Yunel being Yunel. He’s a troublemaker, so expect him to stir up trouble”.
On another note, I like the three game suspension.
Thanks for the comment.
I am not sold on Adeiny having enough bat to stick in the show or be an elite player, though I am not married to Yunel. I’d give the Orioles a call and see if they are selling low on JJ Hardy.
As I understand it the plan was to put Hech at SS and Yunel at 2B. Danny Knobler wrote that no one wanted to tell him (kind of an organizational joke). I’d be happy if Hech turned out to be a 23-year old Ozzie Smith or Omar Vizquel-type player.
Yunel’s complicated things. Keep him? Move him? Value?
He’d be a nice throw-in to get a guy like Justin Upton…
I hear that. If any manager could command Yunel’s respect, it’d be Gibby. That said, it’d cost the Jays Yunel, plus at least one of the Lansing 3 and Marisnick to pry Upton away from ARZ.
Here I was hoping that he’d grown up a bit, and we could look forward to Yunel and Hech up the middle. It was a pretty tantalizing thought.
One wonders what goes through someone’s head to do something like this. Then again, Dave Kingman once sent a rat in the mail to a female reporter.
Is this guy sort of a clown? Guys like him don’t grow on trees (good defense, decent stick) but with Adeiny in the fold, time to move on?
Haha, reply fail on my part. See above.