This week Dodgers First Baseman, Mexican citizen Adrian Gonzalez, was in Mexico City and met with the country's embattled president, Enrique Peña Nieto. A photo was posted to the Dodgers' Instagram account showing Gonzalez giving Peña Nieto a customized Dodgers jersey. Almost immediately, a firestorm of outraged comments rained down on the photo, with almost all commenters taking the Dodgers to task for associating themselves with the President of Mexico in the current climate of fear, anger, and "Ya Me Canse". Dodgers fans are now (according to the Instagram comments) calling the Dodgers PR department non-stop, demanding that the photo be removed.
As of this post, the photo has 4,300 comments. An average photo on the Dodgers instagram photo gets at most a few hundred comments. A representative comment: "I can deal with you guys losing in the playoffs. I can deal with you guys having the highest payroll in the entire league. We will not put up with you associating yourself with such scum."
People are asking others to report the photo, unfollow the account, and are using hashtags like #AYOTZINAPA #ayotzinapasomostodos #yamecanse to express their fury at this representation of perceived support for the Government of Mexico, its President, and his party. It's going to be very interesting to watch this unfold today and if the Dodgers will end up removing the photo or making some kind of statement. The most important number in the history of the Dodgers is Jackie Robinson's 42, but today fans are making it 43.
