07/01/26 12:53:00
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07/01 12:51 CDT Nats' Cade Cavalli apologizes for telling Willson Contreras to
'sit down, boy'
Nats' Cade Cavalli apologizes for telling Willson Contreras to 'sit down, boy'
By KEN POWTAK
Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) --- Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli apologized Wednesday
for shouting "sit down, boy" at Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras
while instigating a benches' clearing scrum a night earlier.
"I'm extremely torn up about the way that things were perceived," Cavalli said.
"Obviously, there was no ill intention behind that."
Cavalli shouted at Contreras after striking him out looking with a full-count
pitch in the fourth inning of the Nationals' 8-1 victory over the Red Sox.
The term "boy" has a racist history in the U.S. Contreras, who is Venezuelan,
demurred when asked after the game if he felt there was a racial component to
Cavalli's word choice.
"My teammates know me, my family knows me, this organization knows me," Cavalli
said. "I couldn't sleep because of it. It hurt my heart, knowing that, if
there's a 13-year-old Black kid in D.C. that sees that --- that looked up to me
and thinks that he perceived it in a way that wasn't intended the way that it
came out, and then he's not looking up to me anymore --- that hurts my heart."
When asked, he said he understands the meaning behind the word used.
"There's a history behind that word, and that's just something that as a
competitor, like in football or basketball, playing whiffle ball with my
brother, you don't understand it," Cavalli said. "And then it gets perceived in
a way that was not my intention, and then you learn from that. It'll never
happen again."
The 27-year-old right-hander said he didn't realize the public outcry on social
media until he got back to his hotel room.
"I looked at my phone, and I saw what people were saying about me. Saw how torn
up my wife was. It hurt my heart," he said. "I couldn't believe it. I really
couldn't. Because I know that people know me, and they know my character, and
that's not me. So, it was hard. I truly didn't sleep last night."
Contreras was walking back to the dugout after striking out and yelled back at
Cavalli: "Are you talking to me?" A few words were exchanged, and he charged
the mound. He was stopped before he got to the pitcher. He tried to throw his
helmet over a group of players at the righty.
Things settled down quickly after that, though the brief dustup ended with
Contreras, Boston interim manager Chad Tracy, Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton and
Washington pitcher Miles Mikolas being ejected.
Cavalli said he hadn't apologized to Contreras yet, but he hopes he hears his
explanation.
"I have not reached out to him. I know that we're both competitors, I hope that
he hears this and he understands that was not what was intended at all,"
Cavalli said. "I think he knows that. But if I see him, I want to make sure
that he knows that."
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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