Dodgers affiliate apologizes and cancels event that objectified women
It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that a sports team is hosting an event that comes off as both tasteless and sexist, but few clubs are this blatant about it. The Ogden Raptors, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, were planning to host what they are calling “Hourglass Appreciation Night.” It had nothing to do with sand or time.
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Nope, the Raptors went straight to objectifying women. The release announcing the event reads like something you would see on “Mad Men.” On the now-deleted event page, which was introduced with a graphic of women in bikinis, the Raptors promised the following:
The home team hosts the Billings Mustangs, but the real thoroughbreds will join Raptors broadcaster A.P. Harreld in the booth. Since August is the eighth month of the calendar year, and an 8 looks tantalizingly similar to an hourglass, be there a better way to remind the world that baseball needs no clock than to feature 18 hourglass-shaped color commentators?
That’s right! Stars Talent Studio of Salt Lake City will provide a different stunner each half-inning. And the Raptors will video-stream the broadcast booth – well, at least the better-looking half of it!
Fans will have the opportunity to pose for pictures with the lovely ladies as we showcase seriously splendid visual appeal: Utah’s legendary mountains, Dodgers and Reds farmhands – and gorgeous women whose curves rival those of any stud pitching prospect!
The Raptors deleted the event from their website Monday night. On Tuesday, they issued a statement apologizing for the event.
“June 6, 2017”
“Statement from Ogden Raptors President Dave Baggott:” pic.twitter.com/nb2g6tR71P— Ogden Raptors (@ogdenraptors) June 6, 2017
The initial release was overtly sexist. You’ll notice the release didn’t mention “women” or ladies” until the final paragraph. The words “thoroughbreds,” “hourglass-shaped,” “stunner” and “curves” were used to describe the women up to that point.
We shouldn’t have to explain why this is a terrible idea, right? Those who have common sense and empathy for others see how this is a problem.
But, as usual, we expect there will be some who will cry out that the “PC Police” are at it again. Since those people only seem to care about themselves, we would ask them to consider if the release was referring to one of their family members. It’s not so amusing in the light.
Given how blatant and tone deaf this whole thing reads, it’s no surprise the team cancelled the event. Someone at the Ogden Raptors likely received an angry phone call, and it’ was probably tough for them to explain how this even happened in the first place.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
