Bosox ban Panda for Instagram ‘like’
The Red Sox topped their chickenandbeer moment with Pablo Sandoval liking Instagram photos in the bathroom — during a game.
During Boston’s 52 loss in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sandoval excused himself from the dugout and liked multiple pictures of fellow Instagram user @diva_legacy. It occurred during the Red Sox’s eighth loss in nine games as a second consecutive season threatens to unravel.
The violation of team policy happened at about 9:20 p.m., according to the Instagram timeline, while Boston was batting in the seventh inning, according to WEEI. Sandoval was the sixth batter due up in that frame.
The ingame social media activity was first noticed by Barstool Sports. Sandoval admitted it was him liking the photos of the woman during the game, according to ESPN, adding he was in the bathroom at the time.
Sandoval, who signed a fiveyear, $95 million contract with Boston in the offseason, apologized to the team after meeting with Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell. He was benched for Thursday’s 52 win over the Braves. Farrell said during spring training players are prohibited from using their cell phones within 40 minutes of first pitch until game’s end.
“I made a mistake [Wednesday], I learned from that,” Sandoval told ESPN. “I’m a human being, I made a mistake, so I apologize to my teammates, to the team, to the organization, the fans support.
“This is a thing that I pushed the [‘like’] button at the wrong time. I hit a ‘like.’ I was in the bathroom, I pushed it at the wrong time. ... I just grabbed my phone and checked it.”