Rob Manfred over Yuli Gurriel's racist gesture: "There is no excuse or explanation that makes that type of behavior acceptable” 

Yuli Gurriel, a first baseman for the Houston Astros, was punished for making an offensive gesture against Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish in 2017. He was captured on camera doing the gesture during Game 3 of the World Series.

Commissioner of the MLB, Rob Manfred sanctioned Gurriel back then, saying that he showed unacceptable behavior:

“There is no place in our game for the behavior or any behavior like the behavior we witnessed [Friday] night. There needs to be disciplinary consequences to make clear that Major League Baseball is an institution that will not tolerate behavior of this type."

MLB’s Gurriel’s suspension tweet:

"Astros 1B Yuli Gurriel suspended without pay for first 5 games of 2018 regular season for inappropriate actions during last night’s game." - MLB

However, Gurriel did not serve the punishment during the World Series but at the start of the 2018 season.

---

Yuli Gurriel served as a leadership test for Robert Manfred, which he passed

Baseball commissioner Manfred suspended Gurriel for five games in 2017.

He knew that some members of the baseball community would be angered by the timing, the message, or the perceived insufficiency of the response.

"MLB and Rob Manfred suspended Yuli Gurriel for doing the slant-eye gesture during the World Series, but let Gurriel play the rest of those games and serve his suspension the following season There should be no tolerance for casual racism towards the AAPI community" – Joon Lee

Darvish is a pitcher for the San Diego Padres in Major League Baseball who is of Japanese descent. He has previously played for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs in the past.

Before joining Major League Baseball in 2012, he was widely regarded as the best pitcher in Japanese professional baseball. Darvish was third in the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year voting during his debut MLB season.

Championship Series - San Diego Padres v Philadelphia Phillies - Game Five

he following year, he led the Major Leagues in strikeouts (277) and finished fourth in the AL in earned run average (ERA) (2.83). This placed him second in the voting for the AL Cy Young Award.

In fewer innings worked than any other starting pitcher in MLB, Darvish hit the 500 strikeout plateau on April 6, 2014.