Report: Fired Tigers Pitching Coach Called Black Clubhouse Attendant A "Monkey"

Wednesday, the Detroit Tigers announced that pitching coach Chris Bosio had been let go for making “insensitive” comments toward a team employee. The next day, Bosio spoke to claimed that the whole thing had been a misunderstanding. According to a new report from , Bosio’s explanation is totally bunk.

Bosio told USA Today that he had referred to Tigers pitcher Daniel Stumpf, a white guy, as a “spider monkey” while talking with some other coaches, and that a black clubhouse attendant had overheard the comment and mistakenly concluded that it was directed at him. The Athletic has since spoken to four different sources to dispute Bosio’s version of events. From their story:

Bosio called the attendant, who is African-American, a “monkey,” according to four team sources. The remark was directed toward the young man, who was collecting towels from the coaches’ room at the time, during a post-game gripe session in which Bosio was lamenting about a pitcher.

During this exchange, Bosio made a derogatory comment about one of the Tigers pitchers and then gestured toward the attendant before adding, “like this monkey here,” the sources said. The attendant pushed back at Bosio for the comment, and an additional team employee witnessed the exchange. Bosio was provided an opportunity to apologize to the attendant after his outburst but declined to do so, according to multiple sources.

So now we know that Chris Bosio is a racist and a liar.

[ The Athletic]