Pitching coach Bosio claims innocence

Pitching coach Chris Bosio said Thursday he was fired by the Detroit Tigers for using the word “monkey,” but insists he didn’t say it in a racial or demeaning context.

Bosio told USA Today he used the word while talking about pitcher Daniel Stumpf, who is white. Bosio said Stumpf is nicknamed “Spider Monkey” because of the faces he makes while lifting weights.

Bosio said an African-American clubhouse attendant overheard the conversation. Bosio told USA Today that “the kid thought we were talking about him. He got all upset. He assumed we were talking about him. I said, `No, no, no. We’re talking about Stumpf.”’

“I swear on my mom and dad’s graves, there was nothing else to it,” he told the newspaper.

General manager Al Avila said Wednesday that Bosio was fired for making insensitive comments to another team employee. Avila declined to offer additional details.

“I have to take seriously what the comments were,” Avila said. “And, the action we took was appropriate.”

NFL

BROTHER OF JANORIS JENKINS CHARGED » The brother of New York Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins had an alleged altercation in his brother’s New Jersey home that led to the death of a 25-year-old man.

In releasing the complaint and the warrant against 34-year-old William H. Jenkins, of Fair Lawn, on Thursday, the Bergen County prosecutor’s office says Jenkins showed extreme indifference to human life in recklessly causing the death of Roosevelt Rene.

The complaint says William Jenkins got into an altercation with Rene on Monday night that resulted in Rene’s death. Jenkins then fled and was arrested later Monday by the New York State Police on an unrelated matter and held in the Ontario County Jail.

William Jenkins, described by the prosecutor as an employed music producer, has been charged with one count of aggravated manslaughter. He remains in custody in New York. No court appearance has been scheduled.

The prosecutor’s office did not immediately return an email from The Associated Press seeking the identity of William Jenkins’ attorney and a motive in the death.

FORMER PANTHERS OWNER FINED» The NFL has fined former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson $2.75 million following its investigation into sexual and racial misconduct in the workplace. The league said Thursday the investigation conducted by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White substantiated the allegations against Richardson, that the improper conduct was limited to him and that the team and its ownership failed to report the allegations or any resolution agreements to the league. The league also said most of the money will go toward organizations that address racial- and gender-based issues in and outside the workplace. Richardson put the team up for sale after a Sports Illustrated report in December that Richardson made sexually suggestive comments to women and on at least one occasion directed a racial slur at an African-American Panthers scout. The report also stated that the settlements came with non-disclosure requirements forbidding the parties from discussing the details.