Oakland A’s bench coach Ryan Christenson has a lot of explaining to do after his actions following the game on Thursday.
Usually, the handshake line after a game does not garner any attention. It is a rite of passage after a win, along with the Gatorade bath and the postgame interview. There is nothing to see here – just move along.
And then, there was Oakland A’s bench coach Ryan Christenson. After the game, he had a rather interesting reaction during the handshake line (pardon the language in the original tweet).
You could almost understand the first time. Christenson could have said that he made a mistake in the forearm bash and how everyone was going that celebration. When Liam Hendriks corrected him and positioned his arm correctly, that should have been the end of it.
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But instead, Christenson doubled down on the gesture. He turned towards the “crowd” and did the same exact thing. Someone in the dugout could have asked what happened, and he was giving a demonstration, but there was absolutely no need to do that again when he could have verbally explained.
This is a horrid look for an organization that is doing its best to get to the forefront in terms of racial equality. The A’s have actively supported Tony Kemp as he has looked to promote peace and understanding. They have had their weekly discussions on race, touting those chats on social media. And then this happens.
The Oakland A’s absolutely have to address this situation. There is no excuse for this whatsoever. A team cannot claim to be on the side of equality and let this slide. Christenson also needs to come forth and explain his actions. And he has a lot of explaining to do.
Oakland A’s bench coach Ryan Christenson threw a Nazi salute not once, but twice. The Oakland A’s have a problem to address.