Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar was wearing eye black on Saturday. Players often write words on the eye black; it was discovered that Escobar’s wording contained a homophobic slur written in Spanish.

After a meeting involving Escobar and representatives of the Blue Jays, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players’ association, it was announced Tuesday that Escobar would be suspended. Here’s a (brief) statement from the Blue Jays, via tweets from the team’s official Twitter account:

Yunel Escobar will be suspended for three games beginning tonight.The suspension is the result of his decision to display an …..

— Blue Jays-Official(@BlueJays) September 18, 2012

(cont) unacceptable message while participating in a Major League Game.

— Blue Jays-Official(@BlueJays) September 18, 2012

Thus, Escobar will miss the Blue Jays’ series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, an important series for the New Yorkers. Escobar is having the worst full season of his career, hitting just .251/.295/.346 in 514 at-bats.

A further Blue Jays tweet indicates that at least some good will come of this:

Salary lost by Yunel Escobar during his suspension will be directed by the Toronto @BlueJays to You Can Play and the GLAAD.

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