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Old 03-11-2010, 02:54 PM
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Ole Glory Ole Glory is offline
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Default Angel's T. Hunter, RACIST?

YOU MAKE THE CALL

Angels' Torii Hunter defends choice words that drew fire

Angels outfielder Torii Hunter talks about the dearth of African Americans in baseball. "A lot of people don't understand that the percentage of white players in the game is down, too," Hunter says.

By Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY 3-11-10

Los Angeles center fielder Torii Hunter was at first startled, and then angered Wednesday when comments he made about diversity in baseball were construed as potentially racist.

Hunter, who found himself in a firestorm of online criticism about comments he made in a USA TODAY roundtable discussion, says he meant no harm or disrespect to Latin American players.

Hunter, in discussing the dearth of African-American players in baseball, referred to Latin players as "imposters." He was trying to make the distinction between Latin players and American-born black players with the seven other members of the roundtable.

After reading reactions to the story, Hunter looked up the definition of imposter in a dictionary.

"I'm not going to apologize," Hunter said in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon. "I told the truth. I'm sorry if I used the wrong choice of words.

"It wasn't a racist word. I can't believe people take that as racism. Maybe it was the wrong word, but I do too much in the community to make this one word ruin anything."

Hunter addressed the comments with the Angels' front office, Hunter said, but none of the Angels' Latin players brought it to his attention.

"I took no offense to it," said Angels broadcaster Jose Mota, a Dominican, "and I guarantee you that no Latin player would be offended either. I've even been asked the same question, 'Are you black?' So call me an imposter."

In Hunter's original comments, he said that people he knows "come up and say, 'Hey, what color is Vladimir Guerrero? Is he a black player?' I say, 'Come on, he's Dominican. He's not black.'"

He also said baseball prefers scouting and signing Latin players because they are willing to sign "for a bag of chips."

Guerrero, Hunter's teammate for three seasons with the Angels, seemed more amused than annoyed by Hunter's comments.

"Dominican Republic players are getting a lot of money," said Guerrero, now with the Texas Rangers.

Said Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, a Venezuelan: "To me, it was a funny context. I know what he wanted to say, what he meant to say. I hope Latin players, and whoever speaks Spanish, and whoever feels Latino, doesn't take this context in a different way."

Orlando Mercado, 24, a rookie catcher in Braves camp and the son of former major league catcher Orlando Mercado, said he saw validity in Hunter's comments that dark-skinned Latin players could be signed for far less money than it would take to sign and cultivate an African-American player.

"I think most Latin players want to be recognized from where they're really from," Mercado said, indicating that he believes the majority of black players feel the same way. "That's their pride. I'm from (Mayaguez) Puerto Rico, so I want to be recognized as Puerto Rican."

Hunter, the 2009 recipient of the Branch Rickey award for his humanitarian and community service, was infuriated at bloggers and Internet sites for accusing him of racism.

"I don't have a racist bone in my body," says Hunter, whose charity foundation assists all kids. "I just don't get it. Look, I love this game. This game saved my life. Now I just want people to have the same opportunity as everybody. I'm black, but I help everyone."

Said Larry Reynolds, Hunter's long-time agent: "Torii is one of the most respectful and caring players in Major League Baseball. He has a demonstrated track record of giving to people regardless of race or gender. And I'm sure he will continue to do so.

"It's unfortunate the article, and some of the responses, totally misrepresent who Torii is."

In the USA TODAY story, Hunter said: "People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they're African-American. They're not us. They're impostors. Even people I know come up and say: 'Hey, what color is Vladimir Guerrero? Is he a black player?' I say, 'Come on, he's Dominican. He's not black.' ...

"As African-American players, we have a theory that baseball can go get an imitator and pass them off as us. It's like they had to get some kind of dark faces, so they go to the Dominican or Venezuela because you can get them cheaper. It's like, 'Why should I get this kid from the South Side of Chicago and have Scott Boras represent him and pay him $5 million when you can get a Dominican guy for a bag of chips?'

"I'm telling you, it's sad."

Said Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker, who also was at the roundtable discussion with Hunter: "Torii's probably one of the most respected guys in the game, probably by all races. I know Torii well. I know he has a lot of Latin American friends too. You hate to see any division of races in baseball or in this world we live in, especially when Torii is one of the guys who brings people together."

The African-American population in baseball is only about 8%, compared to 28% of foreign players on last year's opening-day rosters. Yet, although MLB is trying to increase the number of black players in baseball, the Latin population continues to grow.

"I think scouts look for talent," Guillen says, "no matter where you come from. If you have talent, they're going to sign you. I think it's not just African-American players, because I think they'd rather play basketball or football than play baseball. In our country, we play baseball.

"Here you can play basketball, you can be another athlete, you can do so many things when you have the opportunity. And that's why there's not many (African American) players out there. That's the reason I think Major League Baseball opened the RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) thing, to show more underprivileged kids how to play the game. ...

"The reason there are so many Latin American players here is because I think they earn it. You look around at who are the superstars in baseball right now, and who are the people making the most money, you're going to see a lot of Latin American players' names out there.

I keep saying in 10 more years, American people are going to need a visa to play this game because we're going to take over."

***

Contributing: Mel Antonen in Surprise, Ariz. and Seth Livingstone in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
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Old 03-20-2010, 08:13 AM
PochoPatriot PochoPatriot is offline
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Quote:
He [Hunter] also said baseball prefers scouting and signing Latin players because they are willing to sign "for a bag of chips."
Seems that this is an ongoing issue in all sectors.

BTW, no Hunter is NOT racist.
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