Are Yasiel Puig's critics racist?

The Dodgers outfielder is a deeply polarizing figure, but not all his detractors are prejudiced

Baseball
(Image credit: (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images))

Yasiel Puig plays baseball like a kid — a supremely talented, muscular kid that is. He can throw like Roberto Clemente and hit like…well, Roberto Clemente. The problem is that he's prone to brain farts and fist-pumping, the latter of which is verboten, according to baseball killjoys.

So Puig is the most controversial baseball player on the planet, one who's inspired countless columns by fogeys outraged by his playing style. And since Puig is a black player — a Cuban player, one who speaks through an interpreter — that criticism can came off as culturally ignorant or even downright racist.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.