Jim crows, then apologizes
MLB Network analyst Jim Kaat apologized on the air during the White Sox-Astros playoff game Friday for making a racially insensitive comment earlier in the game while talking about Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada.
When Moncada was at bat in the first inning, fellow analyst and former Orioles manager Buck Showalter complimented Moncada for having the physical traits of a superstar. Showalter said when he was managing, he asked the Orioles’ front office to get more players like him.
Kaat, 82, chimed in with “Get a 40-acre field full of ’em.” The use of “40-acre field” evokes a reference to slavery. In the fourth inning, Kaat, a former Sox pitcher, said he had something to read and apologized for the remark.
He wasn’t the first analyst this season to apologize for a racially insensitive comment. The Diamondbacks’ Bob Brenly and the Tigers’ Jack Morris committed similar mistakes. Brenly took a voluntary leave of absence, and Morris served a 23-day suspension.
Referring to Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman’s headwear, Brenly, 67, said, “Pretty sure that’s the same do-rag that Tom Seaver used to wear when he pitched for the Mets.” After the game, Stroman tweeted, “Onward and upward . . . through all adversity and racist undertones. The climb continues through all!”
Morris, 66, used an accent that has been used to mock English-speaking Asians. When he was asked how the Tigers should pitch to the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, Morris replied, “Be very, very careful” in the accent. Morris was required to undergo bias training.