Blue Jays to address homophobic slur on Escobar’s face
The Toronto Blue Jays are expected to address a firestorm of outrage that erupted on Monday after an image was published online showing infielder Yunel Escobar with a homophobic slur written on his eye black.

The image was published to photo-sharing site Flickr by James Greenhalgh, who was taking shots of Saturday afternoon’s Jays game against the Boston Red Sox from his vantage point near the team’s dugout at the Rogers Centre.

The close-up image of Escobar’s face clearly shows his eye black patches with a message in white, “Tu Ere Maricon,” which translates to “You are a f****t.”

Greenhalgh, a die-hard Jays fan, said he was nervous about how the public and team will react to the photograph. He has season tickets near the Blue Jays dugout and wonders how the players will respond.

“When the players come in from the dugout, they see me. They know I’m that guy with the camera behind there. They will point and tip their cap at me because I am there every game,” he told CTV’s Canada AM on Tuesday.

“I guess that bond is going to be kind of broken, almost like a locker room issue. I have gone and said something. I am going to be uncomfortable in that regard.

“The other (issue) is the fans who think I am rocking the boat and just causing a stir, when I just wanted to do the right thing. I say this is wrong, let’s get the Blue Jays organization to talk about it.

“I am more concerned about other fans who may take this out on me.”

The Toronto Blue Jays released a statement distancing themselves from Escobar’s actions on Monday.

“The Toronto Blue Jays do not support discrimination of any kind nor condone the message displayed by Yunel Escobar during Saturday’s game. The club takes this situation seriously and is investigating the matter,” read the statement.