14-05-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Baseball coaches at Bay Area high school reinstated after probe into racist slurs
West Contra Costa Unified School District reinstated two Pinole Valley High School varsity baseball coaches Tuesday after completing an investigation into racist remarks directed at Asian American players on the Albany High School baseball team at an April 23 game.
'It was determined during the investigation that the coaching staff was made aware of the incident after the game had concluded,' wrote Raechelle Forrest, spokesperson for the district, in a statement announcing the coaches' reinstatement. 'Upon learning of the situation, the coaches followed the appropriate process and fully cooperated with the investigation.'
The head coach, T'won Blake, previously told the Chronicle that his principal told him he was suspended on April 30 after the district initiated an investigation into the remarks, which were caught on video and prompted the principal, Todd Irving, to apologize.
When an Indian American and a Chinese American pitcher from Albany stepped up to pitch during the game, video captured shouts of 'Baljeet' and 'PF Chang, is that you?' at them. At other points in the video, voices making barking sounds could be heard directed at the Chinese American pitcher. The pitcher's dad, Eugene Lee, said his son told him that someone else shouted, 'He can't see through those eyes,' after he threw a pitch and hit the batter, though it was not audible in the video.
It's not clear who yelled the comments. Two Albany parents, including Lee, told the Chronicle they believe it came from players, based on what their sons told them. The Albany Unified School District's own investigation found it came from the dugout, 'not spectators,' Albany superintendent Sara Stone said Tuesday.
Blake denied it was his players, though he acknowledged the comments were racist.
Forrest said 'reports indicate that the inappropriate remarks may have come from the stands; however, the exact source has not been confirmed.'
'Regardless of who was involved, the District is clear in its position: discriminatory language and behavior have no place in our schools or athletic events,' Forrest said.
Blake said he didn't hear the racist comments at the time. He said he only realized what happened the day after the game, when his athletic director informed him of an Albany parent's complaint.
After being reinstated Tuesday afternoon, he was back on the baseball field coaching his team ahead of the playoffs. He said it was 'definitely unfair' how the district handled the situation, because he felt the suspension implied he was guilty.
Parents of affected players had called for the district to ban Pinole Valley players from postseason games, alleging that they were responsible for the shouts and calling for the district to use the incident as a 'teachable moment.'
The district instead is implementing oversight measures, including the presence of a school administrator and the athletic director at all remaining Pinole Valley games this season, Forrest said. The school continues to collaborate with Albany and league leadership 'to promote healing and reaffirm a shared commitment to respectful competition,' she said.
'If they were my students, I would have said, 'No more games,'' Stone said. 'At the end of the day, what we wanted and hoped for was an opportunity to work with the (Pinole) kids, have the kids understand the severity of their actions and to have, one, consequences, and two, learning, about why you don't do this.'
Now, she said, she's concerned about the safety of the Albany baseball team, who might face Pinole Valley's baseball team in a playoff game. Having seen vitriolic comments directed at Albany online from Pinole Valley supporters, she said she's concerned about those adults coming and acting in a way that will make her students feel unsafe.
Stone said if the two schools play against each other, she wants it to be on Albany's home turf with no spectators allowed.
West Contra Costa previously said it is investigating a separate alleged incident involving the Pinole Valley team after a parent of an Asian American player at El Cerrito High School sent a letter on April 30 to the school's athletic director alleging that their son and another Asian American teammate had been subjected to homophobic slurs from Pinole players during an April 16 game.
The father of one of the affected El Cerrito players said the Pinole team should have faced accountability for their actions this season.
'Consequences after the season is like giving school detention to a student after they graduate. It just won't matter,' he said.
