Posted on 10/09/2019 3:34:28 PM PDT by RummyChick
The Atlanta Braves did NOT pass out their traditional foam tomahawks prior to Game 5 of the NLDS on Wednesday ... after St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ryan Helsley -- a member of the Cherokee tribe -- spoke out against the promotion.
FYI -- the Braves have passed out the foam tomahawks on each seat in the stadium for postseason games in the past ... and adopted the accompanying chant from Florida State when Deion Sanders played for Atlanta in the 1990s.
Helsley made it clear he wasn't a fan of the props -- or the "Tomahawk Chop" chant that comes with it -- earlier in the Cards' series with ATL ... saying it misrepresents Native Americans.
"[It] just depicts them in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren't intellectual," Helsley told the St. Lois Post-Dispatch.
"They are a lot more than that. It's not me being offended by the whole mascot thing. It's not. It's about the misconception of us, the Native Americans, and it devalues us and how we're perceived in that way, or used as mascots."
The Braves heard Helsley loud and clear ... because the foam tomahawks have been completely removed from the stadium.
Out of respect for the concerns expressed by Mr. Helsley, we will take several efforts to reduce the Tomahawk Chop during our in-ballpark presentation today," the Braves said in a statement.
"Among other things, these steps include not distributing foam tomahawks to each seat and not playing the accompanying music or using Chop-related graphics when Mr. Helsley is in the game."
"As stated earlier, we will continue to evaluate how we activate elements of our brand, as well as the overall in-game experience."
"We look forward to a continued dialogue with those in the Native American community after the postseason concludes.
(Excerpt) Read more at tmz.com ...
Maybe they should have. They’re losing 13-1 in the 8th.
Has Princess Gray Beaver Warren complained, yet?
They carry big clubs, grunt, spit everywhere and scratch themselves inappropriately. Oh, he's not talking about baseball players?
Unlike Liawatha, Helsley is a real Cherokee. And throws 100mph, striking out the side in his inning Monday.
They went woke—and then went into the toilet in game 5....
The game pretty much ended in the first half inning. The rest is a mopping up operation. Someone speculated St. Louis came up with this scheme and asked if any of their players had even an Elizabeth Warren level of native blood in them and then told the Braves about this and completely got under Atlanta’s skin. The Braves folded up like origami and the rest is history.
As a lifelong Cardinal fan, kind of a double win.
This reminds me of the double joy of the Blue Jays beating the Braves in the world series in 1992. That was when Turner owned them and was married to Jane Fonda. Someone at the Toronto Sun dug up an old photo of Jane wearing a Blue Jays jersey and splashed it on the front page just before the series began. The happy couple were at the deciding 6th game and apparently left in a huff after the loss.
One thing I saw in the Post-Dispatch article surprised me. Checking showed the writer (not Helsley) got it slightly wrong, but the corrected version may interest Freepers. Did you know how the "Braves" got their team name? It started in 1912, when the team was in Boston. Their owner then, James Gaffney, was a member of Tammany Hall, which called itself the Braves (not from the Hall's logo as printed)! 'Tammany' was named for a Lenni-Lenape chief and supposedly meant 'affable.' Freepers may recall Tammy Hall's Democrats as anything but affable.
Final score: 13-1.
Should have kept the foam. The anti PC gods have spoken.
punched twice in one game
PUNKED
Psyche out - Cards 13 Braves 1 game 5
Oh brother.
I guess the Cherokees never used tomahawks.
Can we bend over on anything else if ONE person claims to be offended?
Ha ha!
They gave up 10 runs in the first inning.
I will say this, at least FSU sticks to their guns (or spears) when it comes to this.
Perhaps they need to bring back Chief Nokahoma.
The repetitive chant makes it like water torture.
Luckily, we wont have to hear it any more this year.
A stone tomahawk really is kind of cavemany
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