Andre Ethier’s Many Obscene Gestures

Digusting.

Word from the internet today suggests that Major League Baseball is “probing” (as it’s definitely characterized in at least one headline) an obscene gesture that Andre Ethier made in the direction of a photographer before Monday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium. While we’ll leave it to the self-starter to track down the image in question, the reader can rest assured that he’ll be morally ravaged upon seeing it.

It remains to be seen what, if any, action the league will take with Ethier. The bigger question ought to be why this particular gesture is the one getting MLB’s attention.

As the collection of images above makes perfectly clear, Ethier has a pretty well established history of obscene gesture-making — if not always in a manner familiar to North Americans.

Regard:

1. In India, to make this gesture beside a woman in tank top means something to the effect of “I want to make you pregnant with 99 children at once.”

2. For Estonians, this is not a sign of joy, but rather a suggestion of what one would like to do to another’s goat.

3. Here, Ethier indicates how many pieces the pitcher’s testicles will be in after he (i.e. Ethier) has busted the latter’s balls. [Of Italian origin.]

4. Just generally obscene.

5. This is a variation on the dance from the Spice Girls’ hit “2 Become 1” — and obscene for that reason.