BOSTON — Willson Contreras was suspended seven games for his role in Tuesday’s benches-clearing incident between the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals at Fenway Park, Major League Baseball announced Thursday evening.
The veteran first baseman is one of four players to be penalized. Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli also received a seven-game suspension. Fellow Nats starter Miles Mikolas received five games and Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaten was suspended three games. All four players were fined an undisclosed amount as well.
Cavalli sparked the melee with taunts of “sit down, boy” to Contreras after striking him out in the bottom of the fourth. His words sparked an on-field fracas that led to a quartet of ejections for Contreras, Eaton, Mikolas and Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy.
“He was like, instigating, and I snapped, and it happened,” Contreras said following the game.
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Contreras and Tracy felt strongly that Cavalli deserved to be tossed as well, and the latter argued that point vociferously with crew chief Vic Carapazza on the field before receiving his first ejection as a big-league manager. But the Nationals starter was not ejected, and went on to strike out a new career-high 13 hitters in the 8-1 Red Sox loss.
“(I) felt as though the comment made, you know, ‘sit down, boy’ at the top of your lungs was part of what caused that to happen,” Tracy said. “And (I) understood after everything that happened, the people that they chose that were going to leave the game, I just felt like the other pitcher should have been one of them, too. That was my biggest complaint there, was, ‘Why is he still in the game?'”
Before Wednesday’s game, Tracy was “hopeful” the league’s investigation would yield a fairer outcome than the umpiring.
“There’s plenty more camera angles and things here than there is in Triple-A to assess and watch every angle of what happened, and the initial reaction of Willson is walking away,” Tracy said. “Yes, players yell and scream about stuff nowadays, they strike somebody out or a celebration on a home run, or whatever, but like, when none of that’s happening, and it happens in that specific at-bat, that specific hitter, I just feel like you can’t ignore that if that didn’t happen, this situation doesn’t happen. … The whole thing is like, trying to avoid situations where benches clear, and I do think you have to consider, ‘Why did that happen?'”
The Red Sox skipper got his wish. The league’s press release stated Cavalli’s punishment stemmed from “his actions initiating and during the benches-clearing incident.” MLB also noted Contreras’ suspension was based on “his actions during and following the benches-clearing incident,” an allusion to the fact that following his ejection, the veteran star violated the league’s social media policy by using Instagram while the game was still in progress.
Calling a person of color “boy” historically carries racist connotations. Contreras and Tracy declined to comment postgame on whether they felt Cavalli’s use of the word was racially motivated, but the manager admitted he felt it was noteworthy.
“Interesting choice of words,” Tracy said. “He chose that choice of words in that spot right there. … I don’t know Cade Cavalli or anything like that, so it’s hard for me to say, but just felt like, when he said it, it was like, ‘Whoa.’”
Speaking to the press before Wednesday’s series finale, Cavalli took a more contrite tone than the previous night, when he avoided his use of “boy” when questioned by reporters.
“I’m extremely torn up about the way that things were perceived,” Cavalli said. “Obviously, there was no ill intention behind that. My teammates know me, my family knows me, this organization knows me.
“I couldn’t sleep because of it. It hurt my heart, knowing that, if there’s a 13-year-old Black kid in D.C. that sees that, that looked up to me, thinks that he perceived it in a way that wasn’t intended in the way that it came out, that he’s not looking up to me anymore. That hurts my heart. It’s really tough.”
Cavalli added: “The intention was perceived different than what my heart is and who I am as a person, my character. There’s a history behind that word, and that’s just something that, like, as a competitor, like in football or basketball, playing wiffle ball with my brother, like, just, you don’t understand it, and then it gets perceived in a way that was not my intention. You learn from that, and it’ll never happen again.”
Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, who previously served as Red Sox assistant general manager until last September, acknowledged that Cavalli’s intent or lack thereof was only a fraction of the equation.
“A big part of it for me is it doesn’t matter if your intent is OK,” the Nationals exec said. “Because the bottom line is that there are folks around Washington, D.C., around the country, that might receive it differently than you receive it.”
Unless appealed, the suspensions will begin Friday. The Red Sox are in Anaheim for a three-game set with the Angels. After an off-day Monday, they head to Chicago for a trio with the White Sox, followed by three against the Mets in New York next weekend for the final games before the All-Star break.
