Empyreal Environs

Danny Graves was designated for assignment on May 23, 2005, a day after he had made an obscene gesture to a fan that yelled, “Go back to Vietnam, you slant-eyed [epithet].” Graves was born in Saigon to a white American father and Vietnamese mother. The “Baby-Faced Assassin,” as he was known (a nickname I have issues with), was the first player born in Vietnam to make the major leagues. The fan was seated in the high-priced seats near the dugout. Being able to afford such seats doesn’t buy one class, intelligence, or tolerance to people of different ethnic backgrounds.

Despite Graves being the Cincinnati Reds’ career saves leader, a two-time All Star (2000 and 2004), and winning the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in 2002, he was unceremoniously cut shortly after the incident. It was an unsurprising move from a team that boasts Marge Schott as part of its illustrious history. Playing in a Rust Belt city as a person of color, particularly of a minority group that is considered perpetually foreign is a challenge, more so when your ERA is 7.36.

In baseball terms, the move can be justified. But I think the Reds organization was remiss in not strongly condemning the fan who verbally assaulted Graves. The Reds could have done what the Red Sox did to the fans that interferred with the ball in play at Fenway Park. Some measure of punishment in terms of being ejected or having his ticket privileges revoked is in order. I also wonder why this incident was not covered more extensively by the media. I was on the road when this happened, so perhaps I missed it, but usually debate is sparked by such happenings. I have seen nothing in response on ESPN, not even a segment on “Outside the Lines.”

Given Keith Foulke’s recent difficulties and ERA of 6.65, if Graves comes cheaply, he might be worth trying out for a spell. With the Red Sox fans’ history with pitchers of Asian descent, however, I doubt that Graves would find Boston an appealing option. And it’s a sad thing if players don’t want to come to Boston because of the team or its fans’ reputation, since the Henry ownership team has tried to overcome its past problems with integration.

(On a different tangent, my problem with Graves’s nickname is that it alludes to the myth of the Asian male as somehow less manly than white American males. “Baby-faced” infantalizes him, while the “assassin” part of the name reinforces the “shifty” stereotype that plagues Americans of Asian descent. Furthermore, “assassin” is rife with cultural resentment because of its origins as the appellation of a clandestine group of Muslims in the 11th century who fought against Christians during the Crusades.)