Giants’ reliever Jackson calls racist messages ‘appalling,’ ‘unnecessary’
PHOENIX >> When Giants reliever Jay Jackson walked off the mound at Chase Field on Monday, the right-hander was frustrated and disappointed.
A six-run fifth-inning Giants lead had evaporated after starter Anthony DeSclafani gave up a pair of homers and Jackson surrendered three runs in his worst outing of the season.
When Jackson opened up his social media accounts following an 11-8, 10-inning Giants win, he was appalled.
“Once you start telling me to end my career, snap my arm, attack my family and call out different names, that level of disrespect is unnecessary to me,” Jackson said Tuesday. “It’s not just appalling, it’s unnecessary. You don’t have a reason to go out of your way and do that.”
Jackson, a journeyman reliever who was promoted from Triple-A Sacramento following the All-Star break, posted some
of the vile, hateful and racist messages he received to his Twitter account Tuesday morning to show the vitriol he was subjected to following his performance against the Diamondbacks.
The feeling Jackson experienced was all too familiar.
“Growing up in the South too, you hear those things,” Jackson said. “Being an African-American baseball player in a predominantly white sport, you hear those things too. Playing baseball in back country places in South Carolina, you hear that too. Playing basketball where I played basketball in the south, I heard that more times on the basketball courts than I did on baseball fields. You just keep pushing through it and I have that great support system.”
Giants manager Gabe Kapler opened his pregame Q&A with reporters at Chase Field Tuesday and immediately called out the racist attacks Jackson received while expressing his support for the pitcher. Kapler pointed out that Jackson “wants to be held accountable,” with constructive criticism when he struggles on the mound, and said that racism has no place in society.
“There’s no place for racist comments to our players on social media. Period,” Kapler said. “They are completely unacceptable, disgusting and not just in baseball, but in society and general, have zero place. I’m really taken aback.”
Jackson said he chose to share the messages he received because he wants to shine a light on the type of attacks players, and specifically Black players, are subjected to when they struggle. He pointed out the racism he experienced Monday has followed him throughout his career, regardless of where he’s pitched.
“Some people might have grown up thinking that’s OK,” Jackson said. “Whether you’re in the south, east, west, it doesn’t matter, some people have that mindset. You just brush it off. It’s just showing people there are people out here like that and it’s not okay. It’s just unnecessary.”
The Greenville, South Carolina native said he finds the courage to persevere in spite of racism from his parents, Randy and Janice, who he spoke with following Monday’s performance. He also said that after posting the messages he received publicly, Jackson received an outpouring of inspiring support from Giants fans.
“I love that sports is able to do this, to see what happened and have all the fans, my teammates, the coaches, the staff, the media members, everybody just the outpouring of love and support they’ve shown me has been unbelievable,” Jackson said. “I don’t take that for granted. That means a lot to me.”
Kapler met with Jackson at Chase Field Monday to discuss the messages the reliever received and reiterate the Giants’ willingness to support him in any way possible.
“We need to talk about this,” Kapler said. “It needs to be something that isn’t here and gone. It needs to be discussed because it was really, really disturbing for us and it’s something that just can’t happen. It’s completely unacceptable.”