The racially insensitive gesture made by Houston Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel towards Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish has generated a lot of controversy. But Darvish himself finds the public regret that Gurriel expressed sufficient.
Yu Darvish said he told Yuli Gurriel not to worry about apologizing in person. Gurriel had conveyed regrets after Game 3.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) October 31, 2017
This shouldn’t be surprising.
Hours after Game 3 ended, Darvish took to Twitter asking for everyone to learn from what happened and calling for positivity.
— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) October 28, 2017
Darvish can’t be commended enough for the way he’s handled this.
As soon as it occurred, Gurriel’s gesture was going to be controversial. It was too noticeable and frankly, too serious to ignore. But while it’s certainly generated a lot of controversy and debate, it all could have been much worse if Darvish went silent or reacted in anger.
Instead, he’s taken the classy route at every turn. That’s allowed the backlash to be a lot less than it otherwise could have been.