CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs say they have identified and now banned the fan who was observed on camera making what appeared to be a hand gesture associated with racism during Tuesday night’s broadcast of a home game against the Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field.
In a statement Wednesday, the Cubs said they reviewed the footage and decided that the fan’s actions violated the team’s Guest Code of Conduct. The team said they are not disclosing the name of the fan.
“We’ve made clear how egregious and unacceptable that behavior is,” team President Theo Epstein said Wednesday afternoon. “There’s no place for it in our society, in baseball and certainly no place at Wrigley Field. The person responsible for that gesture will never be welcomed back at Wrigley Field.”
The fan made the gesture behind former player Doug Glanville while he was giving a report for NBC Sports Chicago from the stands. Glanville, who is black, played nine seasons in the majors, including three with the Cubs. He also is an analyst for ESPN.
Glanville praised the Cubs’ handling of the situation on Wednesday, saying it has “displayed sensitivity as to how the implications of this would affect me as a person of color.”
Epstein was adamant about his disgust in seeing the gesture.
“It gave me shivers to watch that,” he stated. “It’s important to send a strong message that this is a place of inclusion. We value diversity. We value inclusion.”
In a statement, Major League Baseball noted it has a policy that bans derogatory language and actions at its ballparks.