In the New York Mets locker room Monday morning, I was talking with Jeff Cutler, a 30-year old Japanese American from suburban Boston who serves as the interpreter for Japanese-born pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.We were talking casually about Asian communities in America when we heard a voice behind us.“Jeff!”Cutler and I turned around. It was Dan Warthen, the Mets pitching coach.“I’m sorry I called you a ‘Chinaman’ yesterday,” Warthen told Cutler.“It’s OK,” Cutler replied.“I didn’t mean to insinuate –- I know you’re not Chinese,” Warthen said. He paused. “I thought it was a pretty good joke, though.”“It was,” Cutler said, with a small laugh.Warthen walked away.
I didn’t say anything, but I was startled. As a 27-year-old Chinese American who grew up in San Francisco, I couldn’t remember the last time I heard the term “Chinaman,” a derogatory word originally given by white Americans to Chinese immigrants in the 19th century.I might have heard it used on the grade-school playground, but never before in dozens of NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball locker rooms I’ve been to as a sports reporter.It surprised me that the 61-year-old Warthen, who pitched in the major leagues in the 1970s before starting his coaching career, would use that word at all -– and so casually. Was he saying that he wanted to apologize for saying “Chinaman” only because he’d said it to a man of Japanese, rather than Chinese, descent? Did he think that the word itself was OK to use—or that it was acceptable material for jokes?Warthen might not have known my race, or even that I was a reporter; he could have missed the media credential hanging from my neck, too: My back was to him when he approached Cutler. Still, the locker was open to journalists at the time.On Tuesday morning, Cutler served as the interpreter for an interview between Matsuzaka and me. Afterward, I asked Cutler about Warthen’s remarks.Were you offended by Warthen’s joke? I asked him.“No,” Cutler said.What was the joke? I asked.“You should ask Dan about that,” Cutler replied.I’ve been around pro athletes long enough to know that locker rooms aren’t exactly bastions of maturity. Many of my colleagues have heard worse. Still, Warthen had used the term in front of two people who had every reason to be offended. And he did so in a casual way in a work environment -– one where he holds a position of power. I didn’t want to be complicit in tolerating the use of a slur that should have been retired long ago.On Tuesday afternoon I caught up with the Mets’ vice president of media relations, Jay Horwitz. Horwitz asked me to meet him and Warthen in the Mets dugout at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday to discuss the matter. But when I got to the Mets facility Wednesday, Horwitz said Warthen wasn’t going to comment. Cutler wasn’t in the locker room.Late Wednesday, the Mets issued statements from both Warthen and general manager Sandy Alderson.“I apologize for the thoughtless remarks that I made yesterday in the clubhouse. They were a poor attempt at humor but were wrong and inappropriate in any setting. I am very sorry,” Warthen said.“On behalf of the entire organization, I apologize for the insensitive remarks made by of one of our staff members. The remarks were offensive and inappropriate and the organization is very sorry,” added Alderson.By Stu Woo/WSJ.com
I didn’t say anything, but I was startled. As a 27-year-old Chinese American who grew up in San Francisco, I couldn’t remember the last time I heard the term “Chinaman,” a derogatory word originally given by white Americans to Chinese immigrants in the 19th century.I might have heard it used on the grade-school playground, but never before in dozens of NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball locker rooms I’ve been to as a sports reporter.It surprised me that the 61-year-old Warthen, who pitched in the major leagues in the 1970s before starting his coaching career, would use that word at all -– and so casually. Was he saying that he wanted to apologize for saying “Chinaman” only because he’d said it to a man of Japanese, rather than Chinese, descent? Did he think that the word itself was OK to use—or that it was acceptable material for jokes?Warthen might not have known my race, or even that I was a reporter; he could have missed the media credential hanging from my neck, too: My back was to him when he approached Cutler. Still, the locker was open to journalists at the time.On Tuesday morning, Cutler served as the interpreter for an interview between Matsuzaka and me. Afterward, I asked Cutler about Warthen’s remarks.Were you offended by Warthen’s joke? I asked him.“No,” Cutler said.What was the joke? I asked.“You should ask Dan about that,” Cutler replied.I’ve been around pro athletes long enough to know that locker rooms aren’t exactly bastions of maturity. Many of my colleagues have heard worse. Still, Warthen had used the term in front of two people who had every reason to be offended. And he did so in a casual way in a work environment -– one where he holds a position of power. I didn’t want to be complicit in tolerating the use of a slur that should have been retired long ago.On Tuesday afternoon I caught up with the Mets’ vice president of media relations, Jay Horwitz. Horwitz asked me to meet him and Warthen in the Mets dugout at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday to discuss the matter. But when I got to the Mets facility Wednesday, Horwitz said Warthen wasn’t going to comment. Cutler wasn’t in the locker room.Late Wednesday, the Mets issued statements from both Warthen and general manager Sandy Alderson.“I apologize for the thoughtless remarks that I made yesterday in the clubhouse. They were a poor attempt at humor but were wrong and inappropriate in any setting. I am very sorry,” Warthen said.“On behalf of the entire organization, I apologize for the insensitive remarks made by of one of our staff members. The remarks were offensive and inappropriate and the organization is very sorry,” added Alderson.By Stu Woo/WSJ.com
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