The manager of the minor league baseball team Edmonton Capitals is out of a job after a homophobic rant against an openly gay umpire, where he repeatedly used the term “faggot.” Brent Bowers resigned after the league had decided to suspend him for the rest of the season for his verbal assault on umpire Billy Van Raaphorst.
Van Raaphorst, 34, of Irvine, Calif., was the crew chief for the July 31 game between the Capitals and Orange County Flyers. During the first inning, there was a dispute about a call made by another umpire over whether a runner was safe or not. Van Raaphorst warned players in the Capitals dugout and Bowers for their heated objections to the call. The umpire then ejected Bowers and two Capital players after they ignored the warnings (Van Raaphorst also had ejected Bowers the night before). That’s when the tirade began.
According to Van Raaphorst’s official report to the Golden Baseball League, which is based in California, Arizona, Canada, Hawaii and Tijuana, Mexico, the coach ran at him screaming, “You know what I heard? I heard you are a fucking faggot.”
Van Raaphorst added that Bowers inquired into Van Raaphorst’s sexual position while bending over and grabbing his ankles and eluded to the umpire’s boyfriend ejaculating on his face. The coach also allegedly threatened bodily harm toward the umpire.
Initially, the league suspended Bowers for two games. But league umpires threatened to walk out over what they considered a slap on the wrist. At the same time, The Katz Group, which owns the Capitals and the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, was conducting its own investigation.
Bowers, 39, quit after the league toughened its suspension in the wake of the umpires’ threat to the rest of the season (24 games) and a $5,000 fine.
“Brent’s activities, in our terms, went beyond what’s acceptable,” Oilers President Patrick LaForge told reporters the weekend after the incident. “We support the Golden Baseball League in their decision to suspend him for the balance of the season, and we further support Brent’s decision to resign.
In a newspaper interview, Bowers apologized to the league and to the Oilers. He had not apologized to Bowers as of press time.
