Little to nothing worked for Yu Darvish in Game 3 of the World Series, and it propelled the Houston Astros to a 2-1 lead with two more games remaining at Minute Maid Park. But while Darvish struggled on the field, he was dragged into a matter much larger than the sport, because of an apparent racist gesture by Yulieski Gurriel.
A few minutes before his inappropriate act in the Astros dugout, Gurriel led off the second inning with a line-drive home run to left field. It gave Houston a 1-0 and sent fans into a frenzy.
During Josh Reddick’s at-bat, FOX cameras caught Gurriel’s gesture that was aimed at Darvish. It was not mentioned on the broadcast for the remainder of the game, but social media immediately was set ablaze.
Gurriel apologized after the Astros’ win and said he did not intend to disrespect Darvish. The Astros first baseman mentioned time spent playing in Japan as further example he was not coming from a negative standpoint.
While the gesture certainly carries a derogatory connotation or meaning, Darvish elected to take the higher road and call for the incident to serve as a learning moment, via his statement:
No one is perfect. That includes both you and I. What he had done today isn’t right, but I believe we should put our effort into learning rather than to accuse him. If we can take something from this, that is a giant step for mankind. Since we are living in such a wonderful world, let’s stay positive and move forward instead of focusing on anger. I’m counting on everyone’s big love.
Gurriel is expected to meet with MLB commission Rob Manfred on Saturday, and may face disciplinary action. A suspension would remove one of the Astros’ power threats from the lineup in a Game 4 that could either push the Dodgers to the brink of elimination or allow them to climb back into the series.
After defecting from Cuba, Gurriel made his MLB debut with the Astros last season. Prior to signing a contract, he received interest from the Dodgers and New York Yankees, among other clubs.
