Matthew Joyce Suspended Two Games for Anti Gay Slur
By David Hill
After yelling an anti gay slur at a fan as part of a profanity laced tirade, Oakland Athletics outfielder Matthew Joyce was suspended for two games without pay.
Everyone has bad days where they say things that they regret. Oakland Athletics outfielder Matthew Joyce had one of those days on Friday, when he interacted with a fan after an eighth inning groundout against the Angels. The fan allegedly yelled obscenities at Joyce and referenced his family, leading to his profane and insensitive outburst.
As a result of his actions, Major League Baseball took swift action. Joyce was suspended without pay for two games, beginning on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Athletics are donating over $50,000 of Joyce’s salary to PFLAG, a community outreach group that the outfielder will also begin participating with.
. @Athletics OF Matt Joyce has received a 2-game suspension w/o pay, starting tonight.
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) August 5, 2017
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As to be expected, Joyce showed contrition, saying that his words are not representative of the person he is. His anger towards the fan got the best of him, particularly after those references to his family. While that is understandable, the way that Joyce chose to express his displeasure was a part of the problem, only further escalating the situation. He also admitted after the game that he should have just ignored the fan, and not reacted to the situation.
This is not the first fan interaction that has led to strong actions by Major League Baseball. Earlier this year, Adam Jones was the target of racial slurs in Boston, leading to a fan being permanently banned. The person in the Mr. Met costume was fired after flipping off another fan.
Interactions with fans and players have gone back to the early days of the game. Ty Cobb infamously beat up a heckler, despite the spectator not having hands. Being punched by Billy Martin was essentially a badge of honor. But there are times when these situations cross the line.
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Matthew Joyce has hopefully learned his lesson. And hopefully, more players will just start ignoring those taunts from the crowd, and not engage in such a way.