CLEVELAND (AP) — Indians first baseman Yu Chang shared some racist tweets he received after making a costly error in Monday night’s game in Chicago.
Chang, who is Taiwanese, posted some of the anti-Asian tweets on his Twitter account Tuesday while asking for tolerance. One of the messages referred to the shape of his eyes and another referred to the coronavirus.
“Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES,” Chang wrote. “Thank you all and love you all.”
He included the hashtag StopAsianHate.
Soon after his posting, Chang received an outpouring of positive responses and support from Indians fans and others across social media.
The 23-year-old who came up as a middle infielder in Cleveland’s organization is playing first base for the first time this season. The Indians signed him as a free agent in 2013.
With the game tied 3-3 in the ninth inning and the White Sox threatening with two runners on base, Chang fielded a ground ball and attempted to get the force-out at second but hit Chicago’s Yasmani Grandal in the helmet.
The ball ricocheted toward the left-field line, allowing pinch runner Nick Madrigal to score the winning run.
The racist social media postings directed toward Chang are part of an ugly trend of abusive behavior toward Asians. Former NBA player Jeremy Lin has been outspoken about the racist behavior and sports organizations have offered support to quell incidents.
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