ESPN dropped the radio host Colin Cowherd on Friday, hours after he clumsily tried to explain comments he made on his show Thursday that seemed to denigrate the intelligence of Dominicans in baseball.
ESPN dropped the radio host Colin Cowherd on Friday, hours after he clumsily tried to explain comments he made on his show Thursday that seemed to denigrate the intelligence of Dominicans in baseball.
The abrupt end to Cowherd’s career at ESPN came as he was preparing to leave for a television job at Fox Sports 1. He was negotiating to leave on July 31 under a deal that would have given him an early release from a contract that expires Dec. 31 and would have absolved ESPN from paying him any further, two people briefed on the talks said. He is expected to begin at Fox by the start of the NFL season.
During his program Thursday, Cowherd questioned those who said baseball was complex: “Like I’ve never bought into that, ‘Baseball’s just too complex,’” he said. “Really? A third of the sport is from the Dominican Republic.”
ESPN initially said the remarks were “inappropriate,” but later Friday it released a new statement saying Cowherd would no longer appear on the network.
The decision to drop Cowherd came amid a hail of criticism from baseball and fans.
Pedro Martinez, a Dominican pitcher who retired in 2009, said: “I’m sorry. He needs to get to my level to answer him. I’m in the Hall of Fame.” Martinez spoke at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, where he was set to be inducted this weekend.
Also in Cooperstown, Juan Marichal, a Hall of Fame pitcher known as the Dominican Dandy, said: “I don’t know why people make those mistakes. People don’t believe how hard we worked to get to this country to become what we are. I don’t think you can do that without a brain.”
Major League Baseball demanded an apology, saying in a statement that the comments by Cowherd were “inappropriate, offensive and completely inconsistent with the values of our game.”