Four different people whom I follow on Twitter independently compared this mix-up to something you’d see on a Larry David sitcom.

Agreed, although it’s more “Curb Your Enthusiasm” than “Seinfeld.”

Yesterday afternoon the Colorado Rockies made a shocking announcement:

A statement from the Colorado Rockies regarding the racial slur incident at the end of today's game: pic.twitter.com/85uN3f1pFZ

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) August 9, 2021

My goodness. You don’t hear ugliness like that around the ballpark anymore. It was newsy enough that the Times even filed a story on it. Although … it seemed strange that the team didn’t immediately identify the culprit. Everyone around him would have been shocked to hear a racial slur yelled at a player. Presumably security would have been called right away.

Unless he was sitting in a section full of racists. Maybe the Rockies have a real problem here.

Or maybe people are imbeciles.

Here’s what happened:

*FOUL LANGUAGE WARNING*

Absolutely despicable, like a scene from "42" except we're 75 years in the future and still dealing with the same issues. https://t.co/SF0IaQcqLG pic.twitter.com/wFcUzl6BWC

— Major League GIFs (@MajorLeagueGIFs) August 8, 2021

There’s a black player at the plate and someone’s clearly yelling a word with the letter “N” in it that ends in “ger.” Was he yelling that word?

He was not. He was yelling “Dinger,” a term commonly heard at major-league ballparks since it’s slang for “home run” and very commonly heard at Coors Field, the Rockies’ home park. And not just because the altitude means lots of homers end up being hit there.

Meet “Dinger”:

I swear it sounds to me like he’s yelling for the mascot, “Dinger“. I understand that I could be wrong, but that’s the first thing that I heard especially with the Rockies playing. pic.twitter.com/0zcaPuhJOm

— David Petrunich (@DavPetrunich) August 9, 2021

They named the mascot Dinger. Care to guess where Dinger was when the mysterious “slur” was yelled?

Here’s the video by the way. I’ve highlighted both the fan and Dinger in the the first clip, then zoomed in on the fan in the second clip. And Dinger in the third. pic.twitter.com/ul14jQjavx

— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) August 9, 2021

He was in the stands, not far away from the fan down the first-base line. The guy was obviously trying to call him over. Which, just as obviously, explains why no one around him batted an eye after he started yelling. Everyone in the vicinity presumably clearly heard “Dinger.” But it wasn’t as clear in the TV audio, probably due to the distance between the fan and the mic that picked up his words.

Local reporter Steve Staeger confirmed today with the team that, uh, yeah, the guy was yelling “Dinger.” But because this is now a social-media outrage and social media is populated by vindictive sanctimonious subhumans, the fan doesn’t want his name out there:

I spoke to the fan, who isn’t sure whether he wants his identity released out of fear of the Twitter mob. I’ll respect that.

He said he was at the game with his wife and grandkids. He wanted a picture of all of them with Dinger.

— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) August 9, 2021

He didn't hear about any of this until his daughter called him today. The Rockies had called her – as the seats are hers.

He then saw how much the story has blown up. He's nervous about what happens next.

— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) August 9, 2021

Doesn’t matter that the team, Staeger, and everyone who was around the guy will vouch for him. Some people heard what they wanted to hear and a few may try to punish him over it. Which makes this more of a “Black Mirror” episode than a Larry David sketch. Exit question: Will the Times retract its story?