A Black New York Mets pitcher was the subject of a racially-coded remark about his du-rag from a white Major League Baseball announcer during a Tuesday night game. Marcus Stroman now also appears to be considering starting a du-rag line. 

During the fourth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bob Brenly appeared to mock Stroman for wearing a du-rag underneath his baseball cap. He referenced the late Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver. Stroman, who regularly wears his du-rag to cover his locs, was pitching at the time of the remark, The Hill reported. 

"Pretty sure that's the same du-rag that Tom Seaver used to wear when he pitched for the Mets," Brenly can be heard saying.

Post-match, the pitcher acknowledged the incident on Twitter with a classy response. 

“Onward and upward…through all adversity and racist undertones,” the tweet which has been retweeted over 300 times read. “The climb continues through all!”

Brenly, who’s a former Major League Baseball player, has been the Diamondback’s color analyst for Bally Sports Arizona since the 2013 season, according to Bleacher Report.

The remark is another incident in a string of sports racism faced by Black and Brown athletes, especially for those with protective hairstyles like Stroman's locs. A white announcer feeling so comfortable to make the remark he did brings into question the reality of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) effort to root out racism it claimed it was striving to do during last year’s calls for social justice athletes nationwide.

An article from The Washington Post in December 2020 claimed the MLB still had much work to achieve. 

Stroman, who has been active in voicing his concerns for racial and social justice in the past, responded to the support by retweeting a few of the posts.

Seeing the in-numerous support from his fans, the New York native also announced to his followers that he would be releasing a new set of du-rags which will become available for the apparel line of his foundation, Height Doesn’t Measure Heart (HDMH). 

As expected, the fans were quick to jump on that wave too.

According to a New York Times sports columnist, Brenly has since apologized and cited a personal need for sensitivity training.

"During last night's game, I made a poor attempt at humor that was insensitive and wrong," he wrote. "I apologize to Marcus Stroman and have reached out directly to share those thoughts. I have had several conversations with the D-Backs and we agree that sensitivity training is an important step so that I can continue to learn from my mistakes in order to be better in the future."

The Diamondbacks are currently investigating the incident, according to HuffPost. 

Major League BaseballMarcus StromanNew York MetsSports Racism