Chris Bosio (Tigers photo)
Former Tigers pitching coach Chris Bosio, fired Wednesday for allegedly calling a young African American clubhouse attendant a "monkey," declined an opportunity to apoligize to the employee, reports The Athletic, a sports news site.
Bosio told USA Today that the remark was directed at a white pitcher. But the new report by Ken Rosenthal and Katie Strang contradict Bosio's claims.
Citing four unnamed sources, the report says Bosio called the African American attendant "this monkey here" while he was collecting towels from the coaches' room during a post-game gripe session.
Bosio made a derogatory comment about one of the Tigers pitchers and then gestured toward the attendant before adding, “like this monkey here,” the sources said. The attendant pushed back at Bosio for the comment, and an additional team employee witnessed the exchange.
Bosio was provided an opportunity to apologize to the attendant after his outburst but declined to do so, according to multiple sources.
The remark was directed toward the young man, who was collecting towels from the coaches’ room at the time, during a post-game gripe session in which Bosio was lamenting about a pitcher.
These sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Following an internal probe, the decision to fire Bosio was unaninmous, the coverage says. The Athletic also reports:
While Bosio seemed to enjoy strong reviews among his pitchers prior to the incident, the same support was not shared in all corners of the clubhouse.
Several sources told The Athletic that his personality grated on fellow members of the team’s coaching staff as well as support staff members, and that he had become increasingly alienated as a result.
