It looks like someone may have been watching a little too much Eastbound & Down lately.
When Giants fan Justin Quinn took his adorable, 9-year old twin daughters all the way from Fresno to AT&T Park for a game against the Braves on Saturday, the last thing he expected was to be on the receiving end of some grade-A douchebaggery from an Atlanta coach.
Watching batting practice before the game, Quinn heard Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell heckle a group of men by reportedly saying, “are you guys a homo couple or a threesome?” and “are you three giving it to each other in the ass?” while making a crude gesture with his bat.
Quinn jumped into the fray and admonished McDowell that there were small children present. McDowell responded by allegedly saying, “kids don’t fucking belong at a baseball game,” brandishing a bat at Quinn and asking him, “how much are your teeth worth to you?”
Even though McDowell walked away following the incident, Quinn wasn’t going to let it go that easily. He immediately filed a complaints with the Giants organization and SFPD. He then started trying to get the word out. Quinn, an environmental researcher and host of a motocross radio show, tweeted the day after the incident, “@ESPNdesk Please email me. I have a huge MLB story.”
The 33-year old Quinn has hired high-profile, lightning-rod discrimination attorney Gloria Allred as representation. Allred sent a letter to MLB commissioner Bud Selig demanding that he take disciplinary action by fining both McDowell and the Braves organization as well as forcing McDowell to take sensitivity training. The league largely seems to agree with Allred, and is making McDowell pay a fine and attend classes.
SFPD is looking into whether to file criminal charges.
McDowell, who was a major league pitcher for a dozen years (most notably with the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies) before joining the Braves as a pitching coach in 1996, has released a statement apologizing for his actions.”I am deeply sorry that I responded to the heckling fans in San Francisco on Saturday,” he said, “I apologize to everyone for my actions.”
To make matters worse, Quinn was so busy filing complaints with various parties that he missed the rest of the game. It might have been for the best–the Braves won 5-2.
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