According to USA Today, ex-Detroit Tigers Coach Chris Bosio is still in shock that Detroit fired him for jokingly referring to a player as a “Spider Monkey”, in front of an African American clubhouse attendant.
Boiso claims he was not using the word in a racist way. He says that Pitcher Daniel Stumpf, who is white, is nick named: “Spider Monkey.”
Instead of apologizing like a normal person would have done in his situation, Bosio continued to dig himself into a deeper hole throughout his entire interview with USA Today:
Someone in our coaches’ room asked me about Stumpf… And I said, Oh, you mean, ‘Spider Monkey.’ That’s his nickname. He’s a skinny little white kid who makes all of these funny faces when he works out.
The kid thought we were talking about him. He got all upset. He assumed we were talking about him. I said, ‘No, no, no. We’re talking about Stumpf.’
And that was it. I swear on my mom and dad’s graves, there was nothing else to it.’
I’ve got protect myself someway…because this is damaging as hell to me. I’ve got to fight for myself. Everyone knows this is not me. I didn’t use any profanity. There was no vulgarity. The N-word wasn’t used. No racial anything. It was a comment, and a nickname we used for a player.
This kid and I had a great relationship. This kid played jokes on me all spring, and I told him, ‘Now you’re offended, because you heard the word monkey, or spider monkey,’ and it’s not even directed at you.’
We crack fat jokes on our trainer everyday. All kinds of things are said in a baseball clubhouse. And for this to happen to me?
Yes Bosio, this is happening to you.
Also, according to Deadspin, don’t nobody even call Daniel Stumpf “Spider Monkey.”