The Dodgers are back in Los Angeles following their three-game road trip against the Houston Astros, and fans are still simmering over one Astros player's racist gesture.
With the Boys in Blue back in town, many Dodger fans and California leaders are airing their anger over what they see as a weak punishment for Astros player Yuli Gurriel, who was seen pulling the sides of his eyes while apparently mouthing, "Chinito" - a Spanish slang term translating roughly to "little Chinese boy" - after hitting a home run off the Dodgers' Yu Darvish, who is Japanese.
"I can't believe someone who is a professional player would actually do something like that," said Dodger fan Suzy Copado. "You don't do something like that."
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred suspended Gurriel for five games without pay, but the punishment does not start until next season, with Gurriel allowed to continue playing in the World Series.
"We expected Major League Baseball to really step up and have consequences and accountability, and that didn't happen," said California Assemblyman Rob Bonta, who believes Gurriel should have been suspended for Game 5.
Fans need to know how offensive and painful Gurriel's gesture was, said Karin Wang, with Asian Americans Advancing Justice. "I remember growing up in the Midwest and getting that and knowing instinctively that there is something wrong and terrible about that," Wang said.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice is inviting Major League Baseball and the Astros to reach out to them to learn more and to help educate the league about racial sensitivity.
