During
March of 2001, sisters Venus and Serena were set to face off for the 6th
time in their careers during the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters
tournament. This match was set to
be their first meeting since a controversial semifinal match at the 2000
Wimbledon Championship in which some experts questioned whether or not Venus
and Serena’s father, Richard Williams, had fixed the match by convincing Serna
to throw the match to Venus.
However, this match would never occur, as Venus would pull out with an
injury allowing Serena to advance via walkover. While Venus had informed trainers hours before the match
that she would not be able to compete, tournament officials decided not to
announce this news until 10 minutes before the match, resulting in much
backlash from the fans at Indian Wells.
During Serena’s finals match against Kim Clijsters, Serena (along with
her sister Venus and father Richard who were in attendance) were met with
profuse booing racial slurs and threats.
The crowd response, especially considering the general good-natured and
elegance of tennis crowds, created quite a scene and controversy. It became clear that racism was a
factor in the treatment of the Williams family and is still an issue in sports
today. The Indian Wells incident
draws a shocking resemblance to the 2012 Home Run Derby in which Kansas City
fans endlessly booed Robinson Cano and his father after Cano did not include
hometown fan favorite Billy Butler in the event.
After
capturing the 2011 Home Run Derby crown at Chase Field in Arizona, Robinson
Cano was elected captain of the 2012 AL Home Run Derby squad. As captain, Cano was put in charge for the
selection of 3 additional participants for the 2012 Home Run Derby, set to take
place at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
Much to the dismay of Kansas City fans, Cano selected Prince Fielder
(the eventual derby champion), Jose Bautista, and Mark Trumbo over Royals DH
Billy Butler. Even though each of Cano’s selections were completely justified
in the eyes of competition, Kansas City fans took their frustrations out on
Cano by booing him throughout player introductions, his entire Home Run Derby
at-bat, and during the actual All-Star game the following night. As Cano, who has being pitched to by
his father, struggled during his time at the plate (failing to hit a single
home run) fans watching at home and around the world could not but help but
feel disgust and embarrassment for what the KC fans were doing. Several Dominican and Latin American
analysts even went as far as to question whether or not similar behavior would
have occurred had a white, American player such as David Wright, Josh Hamilton,
or Paul Konerko been the captain of the AL team. As fans continually booed Cano, cheered for his outs, and
chanted the name “Billy Butler” during his at-bat, it is difficult not to see
the resemblance between this sporting event in 2012 and the Venus and Serena
incident at Indian Wells in 2001.
This is a really interesting comparison that I never really thought about at the time. I remember thinking that it didn't seem fair for Cano to have to be responsible for selecting the participants. But, as you said, it was certainly justified to pick Bautista and Prince Fielder; I'm not sure about Trumbo's stats compared to Billy Butler. But I can definitely see the similarity to what happened at Indian Wells. Do you think that backlash was at all responsible for how Cano performed in the post-season?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this Aaron.
Dr. Spencer
I agree with Aaron to some extent, in reading his blog entry. I do believe that racial slurs are horrible and no athlete should have to go through such vulgar comments. The Williams sisters are great athletes and I understand that fans pay to see the best but if the athlete is not able to perform than the fan needs to respect the athlete’s choice. However I disagree with his view on Cano being booed because he didn’t pick Billy Butler for the Home Run derby. I don’t believe it was a racist motive and that the fans were just supporting their player. I believe if it was a white captain and they didn’t pick Butler they still would have booed him. As a fan you want to support your team and the players on it, but you also want to cheer against other teams and players because its fun and it makes the sport fun. Its what creates rivalries and being an athlete when a fan from the opposing team is cheering against me and taunting me I enjoy it because it makes the game more intense and brings the drama to the forefront. I don’t think it was a big deal because it wasn’t an important event such as a real game, it was a fun event in which the fans just wanted to show support for their player.
ReplyDeleteRyan Viselli
I completely forgot about the reaction these fans had at the Home Run Derby, and All-Star game. I found it to be disgusting as I really enjoy the Home Run Derby, and seeing what these professionals can do when they really swing for the fences. To do that to an athlete where he could pick only a certain number of people to be on his team is horrible. I am sure if he had another spot that Billy Butler would have been on there. I think MLB should have not let these athletes pick who was on their Home Run Derby team. They never have in the past, why would they let them do this now? However, I feel that if a white player still hadn't picked Billy Butler, he would have gotten much of the same reaction from the fans at least during the Home Run Derby. I don't know if it would have carried over to the All-Star Game, but they definitely would have booed who ever was captain. This was an interesting comparison for me to read about, because I feel like race does play a part in it. In a baseball setting though, this booing is much more acceptable than at Serena's match. After all, these professionals deal with stuff like this on a daily basis from fans and media.
ReplyDeletePatrick McFall
I don't believe that Cano being booed had anything to do with the fact that he was black. As Ryan said above, the fans were trying to support their player. However, the way that the fans reacted in both of these instances were comparable. Both times, the fans were way out of line. In the Cano situation, the fans took away from the performance of a top competitor. I do believe that Cano was effected during the homerun derby because of this. Looking at his performance from the previous year, it is clear that the fans were effecting the way that he performed this year. But, I believe the Kansas City fans would've done this to whoever the captain was if they didn't select their player, whether he was black or white. Whereas the Williams sister's situation was directly focused on racism, and racial slurs.
ReplyDelete-Paxin Stern
I do not believe Cano being booed had anything to do with his race. Royals fans are dedicated to Bulter considering he has been a committed player to the organization and has been successful in a Royals uniform. I believe for Cano it was an embarrassing moment but I feel because he plays for the Yankees and is the previous home run champion, fans are going to retaliate against him. I am not saying it is right what the fans did but it is a reaction based on his success in baseball and where he plays. Never do I feel like it was an attack at his race or who he is as an individual. Dr. Spencer, you ask in your comment "Was the backlash correlated with his post season performance?" I do not believe there is a correlation between the incident and his post season performance because it has been months since the All-Star Game and has put above average numbers. When he played in Detroit, Cano was booed but never did he receive the backlash he did in Kansas City. I believe his poor post season performance was due to the lack of energy the Yankees had throughout the post season and lack of leadership. Boos and negative cheers by fans are heard in all of sports for various reasons, it is the price athletes pay when they become a professional. Rarely except in the Williams' sisters case are the negativity due to racism though.
ReplyDelete-Chelsea VanAssche
I also don't believe this has anything to do with race. It is simply good fans being loyal to their home town players and wanting to see them on the big stage. The fact the royals are a very small market team makes it an even bigger deal for them seeing the players in the All Star Game. Cano's picks were completely justified for the home run derby based on statistics. Every professional athlete has been booed, it is part of the game. But to think that it is because they are of a different race is stretching a little far. It doesn't matter who was the captain of the squad, if the did not pick Butler they would have been booed, no matter what color their skin.
ReplyDeleteMike Frank