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Report: Heyward allegedly greeted in St. Louis with racial slurs

Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Jason Heyward was allegedly greeted at Busch Stadium with racial slurs from some St. Louis Cardinals fans despite a lack of audio evidence.

A report in the New York Daily News on Tuesday morning suggested ESPN's microphones caught fans allegedly taunting the Chicago Cubs right fielder with the slurs during Monday's contest between the longtime rivals. The paper cited tweets from fans watching the game who allegedly heard the words, with at least one specifically noting the "N-word" was used.

ESPN director of communications Ben Cafardo tweeted Tuesday afternoon that the network was reviewing their feed, and noted they had "yet to pick up on any tangible specifics from the ESPN game audio." The Daily News also could not confirm the slurs in question were uttered, saying: "Although Twitter has been abuzz with angry backlash, no available audio has surfaced to confirm the social media accusations."

Cubs outfielder Dexter Fowler told reporters Tuesday that he didn't hear any sort of racial slur directed at his teammate during Monday's game.

The Cardinals organization told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Busch Stadium has a policy of ejecting any fans who are heard using racial slurs.

"Ushers would act swiftly," Cardinals spokesman Ron Watermon said. "We are firm with this, no question."

Heyward was returning to St. Louis for the first time since leaving the Cardinals to sign an eight-year contract with the Cubs over the winter. After saying before the game that he wouldn't pay attention to his reception, the 26-year-old appeared nonplussed by the chorus of boos that greeted his first at-bat.

"If somebody boos me here, that means they were not happy to see me leave," he told ESPN's Mark Saxon. "I'm kind of glad that people weren't happy to see me leave. The fans should enjoy it, and we're going to enjoy it."

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