-PJ
Posted on 08/10/2016 11:06:27 AM PDT by simpson96
BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox canceled a David Ortiz bobblehead promotion Tuesday night when the figurine turned out to be "racially insensitive," said team president Sam Kennedy.
The bobblehead depicts Ortiz addressing fans at Fenway Park following the Boston Marathon bombings, but Kennedy said it didn't much resemble the retiring slugger and was not fit for distribution.
Kennedy saw the final version of the bobblehead for the first time Tuesday afternoon after they were delivered.
"My two immediate reactions were first, it was a really inaccurate portrayal of what he looks like," Kennedy told The Associated Press. "My personal reaction was it was offensive and, to me, kind of appeared racially insensitive. I just had a bad reaction."
He then held a meeting with several team officials.
"My gut feeling was if I have that negative reaction then our fans may as well," he said. "We just made the decision to scrap the whole thing. We apologize to everyone tonight and will make it up to fans."
The giveaway was supposed to be for the first 15,000 fans at Tuesday's game against the Yankees. To make up for the inconvenience, any fan holding a ticket to the game will be able to get a new Ortiz bobblehead once they are reproduced.
The rejected bobblehead was made by BDA, Inc., and the company will also produce the replacements.
"We value our decades-long relationship with the Red Sox organization and its decision to postpone Tuesday's David Ortiz bobblehead giveaway," BDA said in a statement. "We're currently working closely with the Red Sox to ensure the team and its fans receive a quality product."
The Red Sox sent out a statement and apology via their website and social media several hours before a 5-3 win over the Yankees.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Read the article - the pose is taken from Ortiz addressing a crowd after the Boston bombing and had nothing to do with BP or BLM.
smh...
“Since when do Boston liberals object to racism?”
What does THAT mean? (No argument,just curious,)
.
when will this ever end?
-PJ
I heard Boston is one of the most racist cities in America. I don’t know as I have never been.
I know that, but many people will take it as a black power pose. Check the other bobblehead poes (I don’t know what they look like to be honest), and the poses. I think most if not all are in some sort of “playing the game” pose.
“I heard Boston is one of the most racist cities in America. “
—
You must have heard that from a Yankees fan.:-)
Seriously,where did you hear it?
.
They cancelled this one too, pretty funny in a sick way I guess.
Freegards
Three questions:
(1) is “team president Sam Kennedy” black?
(2) who appointed him to be personally offended on behalf of his team members?
(3) is Kennedy likewise offended when white players are caricatured as rednecks or crackers?
Yeah, it is.
It means exactly what it says. Since when do liberals object to racism?
“Since when do liberals object to racism?”
They don’t,but your remark specified BOSTON liberals and I was curious about the distinction.
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Because the bobleheads are being distributed in Boston by the Boston Red Sox, and Boston is one of the most solidly liberal cities in America. And elitist too.
OK Fair enough. I hadn’t seen that angle.
What were they thinking?
It's certainly ridiculous to say it's racist but I do agree that the bobblehead in the picture looks nothing at all like Ortiz. Whoever manufactured these did a crappy job.
I would bet all 15,000 will not be destroyed. Someone involved in the process will keep some, with the idea of making $$$ sometime in future, due to the controversy.
Agreed that the typical pose is a game-action pose. The BoSox executive is being very thin-skinned/PC/overly cautious. If it were me, I’d bring in Big Papi and get his opinion to let him approve/disapprove the distribution. For that matter, it should have been done early in the process, even before letting the manufacturer produce the items.
There was definitely some incompetence involved here.
From a couple of people that lived in Boston.
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