NEWSLETTER
So, it turns out that there’s a part of last night’s really good story that is a really bad story.
As you may have seen, Giants assistant coach Alyssa Nakken became the first woman to coach on field in an MLB game when she took over at first base for ejected coach Antoan Richardson. I don’t want to lose sight of this as a really important and positive story, though there’s more context that now merits discussion:
When Giants First Base Coach Antoan Richardson got ejected in the 3rd inning, it opened the door for Alyssa Nakken to take over and become the first woman to coach in a regular season Major League game. #Huge #Historic #AlyssaNakken @SFGiants @CBSNBayArea @KPIXtv pic.twitter.com/UMMejGyLRl
— vernkpix (@vernKPIX) April 13, 2022
But why was Richardson ejected, anyway? What exactly happened to lead to a first base coach being ejected from the dugout? That’s pretty unusual.
Well, here’s Richardson explain what happened between him and Padres acting third base coach (and former St. Louis Cardinals manager) Mike Shildt. It sounds like, according to Richardson, Shildt escalated things to an unnecessary level and the undertones there were ugly:
Shildt*
Full story: https://t.co/yWhFbl6JCt
— Evan Webeck (@EvanWebeck) April 13, 2022
Antoan Richardson: Mike Shildt told Kapler to "control that motherfucker."
"I think that his words were disproportionately unwarranted, and reeked undertones of racism when he referred to me as 'that motherfucker,' as if I was to be controlled, a piece of property, or enslaved." pic.twitter.com/GJ9pg1VkFm
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 13, 2022
Antoan Richardson said he spoke out because "it's important we bring awareness to this … I share this story not just for myself, but I share this story for other people that look like me." Here's what he said happened before his ejection: pic.twitter.com/UKR6ZkNXBQ
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) April 13, 2022
If that’s what Shildt said, it would strike me in a very similar way. Maybe he would think he didn’t mean it that way, but it just sounds so bad. It’s just not the way to speak to anyone, let alone in a way that has those undertones.
This is unlikely to just go away, as Shildt is going to have to answer for what Richardson says happened, and Richardson is certainly going to get support from his manager on the matter:
"I trust Antoan's judgement on the matter, and I know that Antoan was not out of control at all, and that anything that was said to insinuate that he was is totally inappropriate. He didn't instigate any part of this."
-Gabe Kapler on Antoan Richardson's ejection pic.twitter.com/zoKhmJrrgv
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 13, 2022
More to come, presumably from Shildt, the Padres, and probably Major League Baseball.
