Outfielder Robert Refsnyder, who was born in South Korea, took some heckling from South Carolina fans at the College World Series last month when his Arizona Wildcats beat the Gamecocks. Refsnyder ran to Twitter and declared he "will never live in South Carolina because they can't accept Asians playing baseball." More than the irony that he's an immigrant living in Arizona, the overgeneralization was a little much, and Refsnyder quickly apologized.
Fate has a funny way of rectifying things. Refsnyder was selected in the fifth round by the Yankees, and signed on Friday. And wouldn't you know it, he was assigned to their Class A team in Charleston, South Carolina. But that's where the racists live!
Refsnyder sounds pretty sheepish about the whole thing:
"As soon as I landed in Charleston, people have been nothing but great... Generalizing the whole state was foolish on my part, just immature."
It looks like everybody learned an important lesson about tolerance, and respect, and outfielders with plus arms and .300 potential.
Baseball player who ‘would never live in SC' sent to Charleston RiverDogs [Palmetto Public Record]
Rob Refsnyder, Arizona's College World Series star, joins Charleston RiverDogs and explains "foolish" Twitter blast [The Post And Courier]