CHICAGO _ The Cubs are investigating an on-air incident involving an alleged racist gesture behind NBC Sports Chicago reporter Doug Glanville during Tuesday night's Marlins-Cubs telecast at Wrigley Field.
Crane Kenney, the Cubs president of business operations, issued a statement three hours after the team's 5-2 victory over the Marlins.
"An individual seated behind Mr. Glanville used what appears to be an offensive hand gesture that is associated with racism," Kenney said. "Such ignorant and repulsive behavior is not tolerated at Wrigley Field. We are reviewing the incident thoroughly because no one should be subjected to this type of offensive behavior.
"Any derogatory conduct should be reported immediately to our ballpark staff. Any individual behaving in this manner will not only be removed from the ballpark but will be permanently banned from Wrigley Field."
Video of the telecast showed the incident occurred at the start of the bottom of the third inning.
A bearded fan in a Cubs hooded sweatshirt seated in the first row behind Glanville, who was next to the Cubs dugout, made gestures as Glanville spoke to Cubs play-by-play announcer Len Kasper.
The fan made an upside-down "OK" sign, which has been appropriated by white supremacists.
"We reached the conclusion that it's more likely than not that this person was using that hand signal as a racist way of interfering with everyone's enjoyment of the game," Kenney told WSCR-AM 670 Wednesday morning. "That investigation has almost reached its conclusion. We'll have more to say about that in a little bit. We'll be taking action as a result."
Kenney said the Cubs learned of the incident via social media. After the game, team officials met and sent out the news release.
Although the sign the fan made also has been associated with something more benign called "the circle game," Kenney said the Cubs are unconvinced that's the proper context.
"Whether this person is going to ultimately say he intended it, that he was playing 'the circle game' or some other stunt, the judgment to use that in connection with a respected reporter who happens to be African American doing his job ... that connection ... coincidence is not going to fly here," Kenney said.
Organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center have identified this gesture as a hate symbol. But the ADL has warned "caution must be used in evaluating instances of this symbol's use."
Glanville issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying he learned of the incident after the game and applauded the responsiveness of both the Cubs and NBC Sports Chicago.
"They have reached out to me and are supportive of my role in the broadcast and continue to have a desire to uphold an inclusive environment at Wrigley Field," Glanville said. "They have displayed sensitivity as to how the implications of this would affect me as a person of color."
Glanville said he expects to have more to say once the Cubs' "investigation has run its course."
Kevin Cross, senior vice president and general manager of NBC Sports Chicago, called the fan's behavior "reprehensible" and said it "clearly does not represent the great Cubs fans of our city and those around the country."
Cubs spokesman Julian Green said the team learned of the incident "well after the incident occurred" through its Text Friendly service, which enables fans to report bad conduct at Wrigley Field. By the time security responded, the individual who made the gesture was no longer in his seat or section.
"Mobile ticketing gives us a great advantage with an incident like this because we can not only identify a ticket holder _ much like a ballpark manifest _ we can deny or suppress their ability to gain access in the ballpark in the future," Green said in an email.
The team, he said, has confirmed that the individual who made the gesture is not the season-ticket holder who has a license for the seat. The ticket was re-sold through StubHub, and the team is looking into the purchaser but will not say anything more about its investigation for the time being.
Major League Baseball last month started an investigation regarding racist messages sent to reliever Carl Edwards through social media.
In February, emails with racist and Islamaphobic content to and from Joe Ricketts, the billionaire patriarch of the family that owns the Cubs, were published by Splinter News. Both he and son Tom, the team's chairman, issued statements that condemned their bigoted content.
