Gary Sheffield, Jr
Videos by OutKick
Oakland A’s bench coach Ryan Christenson is in hot water after having made a gesture post-game that resembled a Nazi salute. Video evidence is hard to dispute, but Christenson somehow defends his actions.
Re: A’s bench coach Ryan Christenson
— George Wrighster III (@georgewrighster) August 7, 2020
On its face, this looks like a Nazi gesture. I think it’s a guy who made and innocent mistake after a game w/cameras on him unless his life, words say otherwise.
Intent matters even when people are offended.
pic.twitter.com/r7kgkBUrht
Baseball has been known as a predominantly white sport since birth, but this gesture fails to show baseball’s true backbone. In 2019, 7.7% of players were black, 31.9% latino, and an overall 42.5% for people of color.
A Nazi salute doesn’t reflect the league’s integrity…Ryan Christenson tarnished his…on his own.
The salute warrants swift and severe punishment but should be met with a laugh at Christenson’s expense because people of color have a home in this game. Statistics prove that.
The Athletics and Christenson frantically crafted a joint statement.
— Oakland A’s (@Athletics) August 7, 2020
Few gestures “resemble” a Nazi salute, so the attempt to save face lands about as well as O.J Simpson’s book. The best move was to admit an intentional mistake and move forward.
Just like we don’t accidentally cheat on our significant others, we don’t inadvertently salute the genocide of 6 million Jewish people. Commissioner Rob Manfred crapped the bed failing to punish the Houston Astros for cheating their way to a World Series title, but he can’t miss the mark here.
For a coach willing to wave a flag for white supremacy, he sure chose the wrong sport to infiltrate. Like attending a Golden State Warriors game hating the 3-ball.
Why it doesn’t matter
Racial gestures don’t accomplish anything…hiring people of all races if they qualify for the job, does. Instead of worrying about what people like Christenson think, we could spend our time celebrating what this game really is.
Looks like a poor attempt at dark humor, especially the 2nd time he does it.
Gary, I agree. If Ryan Christenson wants to self identify as an idiot, we should not let it affect our thoughts on the game of baseball itself.
Awesome article Jr. As a Jew who lost family in the holocaust , the salute is offensive. Just come clean and say I f-d up. People would respect you more if you did
It’s a Nazi salute which is actually an old Roman salute the Nazis adopted but this cat did it twice no less really stupid and offensive “innocent mistake” come on man call it what it was geez not hard.