The newest race-based social media hoax has arrived to Twitter! In the spirit of Jussie Smollett, Bubba Wallace, and others who came before, this one is a bit different, for better and worse. Of course you can’t have a proper race “hoax” without the help of Blue Check Twitter, who carried this one more than others we’ve seen in the past. For those who may have missed it or just want to read the tweets that they may have missed, we have you covered. Introducing our 2nd “Blue Check Tale”: Dingers in Denver!
Beginnings of a Hoax
Our second tale takes place in Denver, Colorado, at the home of the Colorado Rockies: Coors Field. Specifically, during the 9th inning of a game between the Rockies and Marlins. Those watching the local Rockies (or Marlins) telecast were locked-in for an at-bat featuring Marlins player Lewis Brinson, when a curious sound emerged out of nowhere. Take a listen for yourself:
In case you’re wondering, that DID INDEED sound like a certain word being yelled at Brinson not once, but twice. Connecting the dots between the sound and the fact that an African American player was batting, Blue Check Twitter picked up on this pretty quickly as well. While we aren’t sure who was specifically the FIRST to point out the clip, the two below were among the earliest and most popular accounts to tweet about it:
From here, word began to quickly spread across the Blue Check world. Everyone from baseball players, journalists, celebrities, and others who possess the checkmark while being unknown, were now sharing the video.
You get the idea. There were A LOT of Blue Checks who were unhappy at what they just saw. Understandably so to a degree, as these types try to search for racism in every aspect of life that they can. Of course they would flip out at something as obvious as this one.
As many were furious about what had just happened, people like Patrick (while tagging a man who once plead guilty to FOUR felonies involving theft in an Apple Store) wanted to hear from the Rockies organization themselves. Surely they had a response to what had just transpired, right?
The Rockies Respond
Amid mounting pressure to give SOME type of response to what had just transpired, the Colorado Rockies Twitter account eventually would give the people what they wanted. Well, sort of.
A seemingly “vanilla” response amid an ongoing investigation they were now conducting, Blue Checks on Twitter were NOT happy with it.
As you can see, complaints ranged from their timeliness (or lack of), their inability to identify the culprit, and even blaming OTHER fans for not reporting the guy to the ushers. While we certainly aren’t experts on PR, it does seem as though they could’ve done a better job. Regardless, Blue Check Twitter was on the hunt and they weren’t stopping until they found out who this was.
An Alternate Hypothesis Emerges
As all of this was going on throughout the Blue Check Twitter world, there was a small-but-growing faction of users who simply weren’t buying this story. One reason given included the fact that NOBODY reacted to the audible yelling (especially in DENVER), which extended Lewis Brinson himself, who didn’t even stop for a second during the at-bat. People also found it hard to believe that the ushers in the stadium would allow that to go on, especially in today’s social climate. While these ideas are very plausible, it still didn’t address “Occam’s Razor” in the story: the audio that seemed very clear to many.
Amid debate across Twitter about this whole ordeal, local Rockies fans provided users with a breakthrough that nobody expected. It involved a mascot and a colloquial term used throughout baseball that many Blue Checks were unaware of.
Quite simply, many believed that the man was not yelling the “N word”, but rather was calling for the attention of the Rockies’ mascot “Dinger”. For those who aren’t baseball fans themselves, a “dinger” is also a term used to describe a homerun. Coors Field is also a notorious homerun hitter’s stadium, often leading the league in that category due to the elevation and other factors. Many users on Twitter; both with and without Blue Checks, refused to believe this could be the case, however. Excuses ranged from confidence in their own hearing to refusal to accept that a grown man would yell for a mascot. One of the best examples of this came from this guy:
Some people kept referring to the Rockies’ statement on the matter as well, thinking all knee-jerk responses made in the face of Blue Check pressure are 100% accurate. A common juxtaposition being made was the association of people believing the “Dinger” story with being a “Trump supporter”, which was far from the truth for many. The stalemate regarding “Dinger” and the “N Word” was ongoing through the evening, however. Late into the night, a “breakthrough” was discovered.
More Evidence Emerges
While it’s unknown as to who first connected the dots, several videos began spreading throughout Twitter that provided the “Dinger” crew with some strong evidence backing their assertions. Here’s one of the videos that provided some context for many. (We have covered the fan’s face when zoomed-in for his own privacy)
In that clip, you will see the fan yelling the “mystery word” while pointing away from the batter. You will also see a “Dinger” appearance on the left side of the clip and in the same direction the fan was pointing. Other fans featured in the clip are not even reacting to a supposed “slur” and instead are turning their attention to “Dinger” as well.
As this video and associated pictures began spreading on Twitter, the Blue Check narrative of a “racial slur” being shouted began to collapse more quickly than before. Blue Checks who tweeted about the situation initially were radio silent hours after the fact. The tides were turning and calls for users to “delete” their erroneous tweets were mounting. Seemingly all that was needed now was a “formal” declaration that the Rockies (and others) were wrong. This would come the morning after on August 9th, 2021.
It’s OFFICIAL
A local Denver reporter with contacts in the Rockies organization would be the one to make the “Dinger” Narrative OFFICIAL. The Rockies’ Twitter account would even go on to “Retweet” this announcement, solidifying the validity for any lingering doubters.
Once this happened, the proverbial “floodgates” began to open. News outlets were rushing to correct their stories and individual blue checks were offering their shallow remarks (since these are readily available across the board, we won’t include their screenshots). In rare cases, blue checks who tweeted the more egregious and accusatory statements quickly rushed to delete the outdated takes. And while it took a few hours for this to happen, the Rockies themselves FINALLY shut the door on any “racial slur” speculation:
A historic Twitter moment had now been cemented. One of the biggest “L’s” taken by Blue Check Twitter in a long time and some vindication for those who were right all along. Users could now sit-back and enjoy themselves, as people scrambled even more frantically to delete their borderline-defamatory remarks. The “common Twitter man” went up against blue check goliaths and came out on top; keeping all of the “receipts” of the deleted tweets as well. A glorious moment for sure.
Aftermath and Conclusion
As more-and-more blue checks are scrubbing their timeline of any mention of the story, this story is still being written, in many respects. While the fan was never identified by name, many believe that he has grounds for a defamation suit against the outlets who smeared him and even the Rockies organization themselves. We won’t speculate since we are not legal experts, but the possibilities are certainly interesting. This will be a “tale” that is worth revisiting somewhere down the road, as nobody knows what will happen next. Above all, we hope the Rockies at least give this man an opportunity to finally meet “Dinger” the mascot.
Since we didn’t feature all of the screenshots taken in this tale, we have provided a gallery of the best tweets that we were able to capture pictures of. Many of these are ALREADY deleted, which reinforces why we do what we do here at BCU! Check back often to see if the gallery is updated as we sift through the many screenshots.
