San Francisco Giants coach Antoan Richardson, whose sacking on Tuesday led to Alyssa Nakken’s historic coaching debut, has accused San Diego Padres coach Mike Shildt of yelling at him with an expletive that “smelt of racism.”
Richardson, who is black, provided a lengthy explanation for his throw-out in the third inning after San Francisco’s 13-2 win over San Diego. The Giants first base coach said the incident began when Shildt, the Padres’ third base coach, approached the San Francisco dugout.
After a brief exchange between the coaches, Richardson said White Shildt shouted at the Giants dugout, “You gotta control that motherf—er,” prompting Richardson’s reaction and eventual ejection by referee Greg Gibson.
“[Shildt] screamed, ‘You have to control this mother,'” Richardson told reporters. “At that point, I went to the top step and said, ‘Excuse me?’ because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. At that point, Gibson, the crew chief, decided to kick me out of the game.
“I say this because his words were disproportionately unjustified and smack of racism as he referred to me as ‘that mother’ as if I were to be controlled or owned or enslaved. I think it’s just really important that we understand what happened tonight.
“And the second part which is equally disappointing is that I was thrown by that referee empowering that coach to keep having conversations like this with people like me and that’s really unfortunate what happened tonight.”
Richardson said he did not swear or use vulgar language at any point during the incident, but was told he was deported for “instigating.”
“The referee told me I was inciting,” Richardson said. “It was at that point I was like, ‘This person has called me a motherf—er, and I’m an instigator?'”
Neither Shildt nor Padres manager Bob Melvin commented on the incident after the game. Shildt is in his first season with the Padres, having served as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals for more than three seasons beginning in 2018.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters that he did not hear what Shildt said, but that he agreed the sacking was unfair and supported Richardson.
“I trust Antoan’s judgment 100 percent,” said Kapler. “I trust Antoan’s judgment on this matter and I know that Antoan was not out of control at all and that anything said to suggest he was is totally inappropriate. He instigated no part of it.”
Richardson’s sacking resulted in the Giants using Nakken as their first base coach for the remainder of the game, making her the first woman in Major League Baseball history to coach on the field during a regular season game.
“I’m delighted that Alyssa has had the opportunity to make her major league debut and I’m very proud of her,” said Richardson. “I think she did a really wonderful job and we won, so that’s the most important thing.”
Richardson, who is from the Bahamas, said he shared his account of the incident because he “wants to help people who look like me.”
“It’s important that we draw attention to this,” Richardson said. “Unfortunately that exists in our world and I think it’s important that we understand what that means for communities as we comment and take action like this.
“I’m not just sharing this story for myself, I’m sharing this story for other people who look like me. I know I had the full support of my teammates and others, that I would let them down if I didn’t share that story tonight.”