Chris Bosio Reportedly Fired for Calling Black Clubhouse Attendant a 'Monkey'

Chris Bosio's tenure as pitching coach of the Detroit Tigers reportedly came to an end after he directed a racial slur at a clubhouse attendant. 

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Katie Strang, Bosio called the attendant, who is an African-American man, a "monkey" when the employee was collecting towels in the coaches' room after a Tigers loss.  

The Tigers said in a statement Wednesday that Bosio was fired for making "insensitive comments that violated Club policy and his Uniform Employee Contract."

Bosio told USA Today's Bob Nightengale he was using the nickname of one of Detroit's relief pitchers and it got taken out of context: 

"Someone in our coaches' room asked me (Monday afternoon) about [Daniel] Stumpf. And I said, "Oh, you mean, 'Spider Monkey.' That's his nickname. He's a skinny little white kid who makes all of these funny faces when he works out.

"The kid thought we were talking about him. He got all upset. He assumed we were talking about him. I said, "No, no, no. We’re talking about Stumpf.'"

Bosio was in his first season as pitching coach for the Tigers.