[Stephen Cameron] Toronto fans should do some soul searching

There is only one thing I say to people when asked about the incident involving Baltimore Oriole’s outfielder Kim Hyun-soo and a Toronto Blue Jays fan during Tuesday’s wild card game. 

“Every city has its fair share of idiots, and Toronto is no exception.”  The wild card game was a great game to watch. It had everything a game requires to make it great: big hits, big catches, double plays and a walk off home run. It was exciting and emotional for both players and fans. It was the type of game that deserves to be talked about long after the season ends. Both teams battled hard to win and the home team won.

Unfortunately, that is not the first thing people will most likely talk about. Instead, they are more likely to be reminded of the ignorant actions perpetrated by one Toronto fan and followed up by the actions of surrounding fans. 

The incident involved a fan throwing a can of beer at a player on the field, which was then followed by racial slurs from other fans. It has seriously scarred Toronto’s reputation as an international host.

I say this because I am an expat, and after inviting friends over to watch the game, whatever pride I had for my home country and one-time home city quickly turned to embarrassment. 

The only response I had to offer South Korean friends who asked about the situation was the above quote.

Even more confounding is the fact that the believed perpetrator is an editor of a local sports publication. I am not aware that qualifications for such a position involves accosting players of visiting teams. He could have simply done it on social media.

No one has mentioned where the bystanders who tossed racial slurs reside, and I am reasonably sure they do not want anyone to know.

It is of little importance anyway. What is important is that these actions give the impression that Toronto fans know very little about the city in which they reside.

Do they know that their city is classified as one of the most multicultural cities in the world with over 200 ethnic groups and more than 140 languages spoken? Are they aware that the target of the tossed beer can is from South Korea and that their beloved city is home to almost 65,000 people of the same heritage? Probably not. Is it important? Probably not.

The real crime is that a visitor, who came to provide 50,000 seated fans and countless more TV viewers with entertainment, was accosted by one of those fans for no justifiable reason.

All this person tried to do was his job. All right, so he tried to win. After all, that is what he is paid to do. Also, no fan stood up to defend the player in any way or form. Instead they hurled racial slurs at him and his teammate. No one has stepped forward to inform the police of who the actual culprit was. Instead, the authorities are left to sift through social media and CCTV footage to assess who likely did it.

Toronto fans have some soul searching ahead of them. I find it repugnant that comments on social media appear to be more about fans losing their beer drinking privileges than image or reputation.

When I attended Toronto’s first games back in 1977 at the Exhibition Stadium, no beer was sold. No one seemed to care back then and it is not really relevant anyway.

What is relevant is how Toronto fans want their city to be viewed by the outside world and the world of baseball.

Maybe the question fans should be asking is not whether they deserve beer drinking privileges, but the privilege of having a major league team in their city.

By Stephen Cameron

Stephen Cameron is a professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at Namseoul University in Korea. -- Ed.