Orioles Fan Removed From Game For Allegedly Making Racist Comments About Rays' B.J. Upton

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon has his player's back. He proved that on Sunday when a fan was allegedly making racist comments about one of his outfielders.

Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times reported that during the Rays-Orioles spring training game, Maddon had a fan wearing a Baltimore jersey removed from the stadium for yelling racists remarks at B.J. Upton.

Nobody commented on the incident until late Sunday night when the fan reportedly identified himself and denied the allegations on his twitter account.

"I didn't say one racial comment or anything considered to be racist," Jeremy Zarou wrote. "It was a lie to get me to leave.

Upton, 26, was drafted by the Rays in the 2002 amateur draft.

Comments

[ralle]

03:12 PM on 03/22/2011

Where did he think he was..........Europe?

[blackhawaiian]

12:52 AM on 03/22/2011

His twitter account, no longer exists.

[MildenHall]

12:26 AM on 03/22/2011

See ya, Racist!

[NedroidPrime]

11:56 PM on 03/21/2011

Man, people need to get some thicker skin...

Why is the simple lesson that people's words only have as much effect on you as you allow them to so hard for people?

[amd02148]

03:50 AM on 03/22/2011

Nedriod that's really easy to say if someone's not talking about you.

[NedroidPrime]

02:53 AM on 03/23/2011

Actually, it is very easy to say even when it is about me. All you have to do is ask yourself why you should care what that person thinks. Especially if you are a pro-ball player and making a ton of money, why should he care what an ignorant person thinks?

[amd02148]

07:19 PM on 03/23/2011

Are you kidding? everybody cares when someone says something demeaning and degrading to them. I know if someone had called me a racial slur, I'd be furious.

[StAlphonso]

10:15 AM on 03/22/2011

Or some whiter skin, perhaps?

[NedroidPrime]

02:54 AM on 03/23/2011

... Wow, r@c1st much?

[jonnyquest]

11:27 PM on 03/21/2011

So this guy spends his time and money to go to a ball game to say something stupid and get kicked out of the stadium. Pathetic.
Drop this guy into the middle of Libya, he needs a reality check.

[amd02148]

03:51 AM on 03/22/2011

Exactly some people just don't get it.

[John F Murdick]

11:26 PM on 03/21/2011

"Everybody needs to love everybody."

[scottinsd]

11:02 PM on 03/21/2011

Ha! Racist.

[bascombe]

10:52 PM on 03/21/2011

totally pathetic

[Le Facteur 99]

10:52 PM on 03/21/2011

I abhor _racism but hey fans, and free speech.

[random100]

12:09 AM on 03/22/2011

You do not have the right to harass people.

[jkeen60]

12:53 AM on 03/22/2011

Your right to free speech means the government cannot infringe upon your right to speak freely. Doesn't say anything about the Tampa Bay Rays...you can chant the N-word for example at a sporting event, but the owners and management of the private institution you paid to see have the right to kick that racist right out of the arena or stadium.

[VPutin]

03:19 PM on 03/22/2011

There you go again jkeen60 being a constitutional lawyer and being right. The racist remarks need to be handled in the parking lot with a tire iron.

[latia65]

10:30 PM on 03/21/2011

Let us just do away with all the Raci…. comments pertaining to sports, especially to baseball and just use in-the vernacular language: If you keep pitching, hitting, outfielding like that, you're really going to need this ventricular fibrillation....because I’m going to stick it where the sun doesn’t ….

:)

[dephtones]

09:40 PM on 03/21/2011

B.J. is a great player and I'm not even a rays fan. coco crisp or milton bradley should be heckled, not Upton

[pcrowl08]

10:20 PM on 03/21/2011

Great player? He hit .237 in 2010

[The Dude67]

06:28 AM on 03/22/2011

Yea, but if you yell; "hey coco crisp" wouldn't that get you tossed as well? : )

[Sunny California]

04:26 PM on 03/22/2011

hahaha I see what you did there!!

[YLS2007]

09:15 PM on 03/21/2011

What did the fan "allegedly" say? It was either really racist or it really wasn't. All that's really known is the fan really got thrown out of the park.

[amd02148]

03:53 AM on 03/22/2011

Well if he didn't say something seriously offensive do you think they would kick a paying customer out of the game?

[Absolute]

09:06 PM on 03/21/2011

Rappers and comedians use the n-word, therefore there is nothing wrong with bigots hurling racial insults. That is stunningly comical "logic".

[passthesewords]

11:06 PM on 03/21/2011

Would he call a player a racist name to his face whatever the race of the player? There are racist and derogatory names and words for many races. NO

[Absolute]

05:42 AM on 03/22/2011

Did you get the point of my post?

[NatTurner1]

10:15 AM on 03/22/2011

I agree and all people: rappers, comedians included should suffer the reprocussions of whatever words they freely choose to use. If comedians are bounced rom restaurants or stadiums for using the words, so should regular folks. If this guy wants to use the n-word as a comedy routine, i support him 100%. But if curse words, profanity, anti semitism and the n-word is banned from stadiums, I support that too.

[dvoconnor2]

08:45 PM on 03/21/2011

Is there anywhere on the Internet where I'm allowed to read what the fan was saying? I'm an adult... I can handle it.

[eternalscorpio1]

08:00 PM on 03/21/2011

Good job Mr. Maddon, a great manager and a great guy...........

[YLS2007]

09:17 PM on 03/21/2011

It was a good job coz you like the manager? What exactly did the fan say to make it so?

[Eric in Ayden]

09:26 PM on 03/21/2011

What did you hear him say?

[amd02148]

03:58 AM on 03/22/2011

Does it really matter? he said something he shouldn't have and he was asked to leave THEIR property. Simple as that. If you don't approve of what the manager did, don't go to any of the games.