CLEVELAND – Cleveland Indians first baseman Yu Chang shared some racist messages on Twitter he received after the costly mistake he made in Monday’s game in Chicago.
Chang, who is Taiwanese, posted some of the anti-Asian messages on his Twitter account on Tuesday and called for tolerance. One of the messages referred to the shape of his eyes and another to the coronavirus.
“Exercise your freedom of speech in the right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative, but DEFINITELY NOT RACISTS,” Chang wrote. “Thank you all and I want you all.”
It included the hashtag #StopAsianHate.
Shortly after he posted his post, Chang received a lot of positive responses and support from Indian fans and others on all social media.
The 25-year-old, who emerged as an infielder in the Cleveland organization, is defending the starting lineup for the first time. The Indians acquired him as a free agent in 2013.
With the match tied 3-3 in the ninth and the Chicago White Sox threatening with two runners at base, Chang dominated 1:00 roll and tried to pull the out in second, but gave the helmet to Yasmani Grandal, from Chicago.
The ball was redirected to the left field line and allowed emerging runner Nick Madrigal to score the winning run.
Racist messages directed at Chang add to an unpleasant trend of abusive behavior towards the Asian community. Former NBA star Jeremy Lin has openly referred to racist behavior and sports organizations have offered their support.