A’s outfielder suspended over anti-gay slur

Oakland Athletics outfielder Matt Joyce was suspended two games without pay by Major League Baseball today for yelling an anti-gay slur at a fan in Friday’s game in Anaheim.

A fan’s taunting during the eighth inning of last night’s game angered Joyce, who engaged in a back-and-forth argument with the fan. He will start serving his suspension today.

Joyce said in a statement:

“In regards to last night’s incident, I sincerely apologize to the fans, the Oakland A’s, MLB and most importantly the LGBTQ community for my comments and actions. … A fan yelled vulgar and obscene words about me and my family and I let my frustrations and emotions get the better of me. I am beyond sorry for the inappropriate language that I used and agree that those words should never come out of someone’s mouth no matter what the situation.”

The Oakland Athletics expressed their disappointment about Joyce’s actions in a statement:

“This language is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by our team. … We pride ourselves on being inclusive and expect our entire organization to live up to higher standards. We appreciate that Matt is contrite about his conduct and know he will learn from this accident.”