The Chris Moeller Archives

Torii Hunter's comments

Anaheim Angels outfielder Torii Hunter, an African-American, is in public relations trouble for referring to Black-skinned Latinos as "imposters" of African-American players. Of course, as is often the case, the pivotal point of Hunter's comments are absent from the headlines, and by and large from the stories as well, that have sprung up online since his candid conversation two weeks ago with USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

In context, Hunter had an important point to make that doesn't deserve to be lost in the media fire-- that baseball clubs routinely seek out the cheapest avenues to hold down their labor costs. Attention to this very real fact should hardly spark controversy except for Hunter's tactless truth-telling-- "It's like, 'Why should I get this kid from the South Side of Chicago and have (agent) Scott Boras represent him and pay him $5 million when you can get a Dominican guy for a bag of chips?'"

Filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck delivered a very recommendable movie last year called "Sugar" that draws attention to the very difficult cultural position into which Latino baseball players are placed when they come to the United States and Canada to pursue their dream of playing Major League Baseball. They're almost always well-established stars on the diamond before they've earned themselves a sturdy bargaining position for financial compensation.

Even more importantly, MLB clubs have discovered that it costs vast sums less to set up training academies and "grow" players on the Carribbean Islands and in Central America than it does to do the same in predominantly-African-American-- or for that matter, I guess, predominantly-white communities-- in the United States, though, presumably, there will always be a high demand among employers for white players to staff big league rosters. Work and safety regulations in the preferred countries are weak, if any exist at all, making the young sporting hopefuls there more ripe for exploitation. This is why Major League Baseball views Venezuela's Hugo Chavez as such a singular threat to their Latin American enterprise, and this is why Torii Hunter, in his way, does us a great service in drawing attention to these realities. It's a terrific dialogue to be had.

The 13-year MLB vet is in a unique position to recognize this transition in baseball's labor practices. He's been actively promoting baseball in U.S. inner cities for some time through the "Torii Hunter Project". His efforts helped to earn him the 2009 Branch Rickey Award, which honors individuals who demonstrate a deep commitment to the health and well-being of their communities. While African-American participation in Major League Baseball was up to 10.2% in 2008, its highest level since 1995, it's still well below the peak partnership years of the 1970s and '80s, and it's not a stretch by any means to connect that generational drop, among the other contributing factors, to baseball's overall lack of investment in the areas in which African-Americans, and many of their fans incidentally, mainly reside.

Hunter, by the way, clarified the racial element of his earlier comments today in a written statement posted on the Angels website. "What troubles me most was the word "impostors" appearing in reference to Latin American players not being black players," he wrote, "It was the wrong word choice, and it definitely doesn't accurately reflect how I feel and who I am.

"What I meant was they're not black players; they're Latin American players. There is a difference culturally. But on the field, we're all brothers, no matter where we come from, and that's something I've always taken pride in: treating everybody the same, whether he's a superstar or a young kid breaking into the game. Where he was born and raised makes no difference."

posted by CM @ 5:30 PM