Of course it should. Umpires will throw excessively abusive fans out of games if a player complains, and so will stadium security. Fans have been banned from future attendance for extreme verbals abuse. As someone who has spent a lot of time in baseball parks, I consider the Twins’ fan’s cruel taunt as being right on the line. Fans insulting and taunting players has always been part of the game, and players, even when they weren’t being paid gazillions of dollars, were always expected to ignore the abuse. Among other reasons this is the prescribed response is that acknowledging insults and jeers just encourages more of the same. There are famous incidents where stars have decided enough is enough: Ty Cobb infamously charged into the stands to attack a vocal critic (who, it turned out, was missing his hands), and Ted Williams once kept aiming foul balls at a loud-mouthed fan in the stands who had gotten under The Kid’s skin.

This is Jackie Robinson Day in the ballparks, and Robinson endured, without ever responding, the most brutal vocal abuse of any player, because he was in the process of shattering baseballs longtime racial apartheid. His mentor, Dodgers GM Branch Rickey, made his promise never to retaliate a condition of his being baseball’s trailblazer for integration.

Today, no player should have to endure what Robinson did, but still this is a penomenon that calls for absolutism. Baseball players must never respond in kind to fan abuse. including “flipping the bird.” It doesn’t matter what the provocation is. These are highly paid professionals, and taking action against misbehaving fans is not in their job descriptions.

Duran’s argument for a non-verbal “fuck you” is emotionally appealing; nevertheless, this is not a principle that should have potential exceptions debated over. Players must not flip middle fingers at fans during games, nor may they shout epithets and obscenities at offenders, nor can they jump into the stands to punch out a particularly vile ticket holder.

Duran must be fined and suspended.

I noted this requirement back in 2022, when during that year’s Congressional Baseball Game, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Cal), classy as always, couldn’t restrain herself from giving a middle finger to the Republicans…

Yes, there should be sanctions for members of Congress who do that. After all, we expect more from them, or should, than we do from professional athletes.