PHOENIX (AP) — Los Angeles Angels center fielder Torii Hunter has called black Latino baseball players “impostors” when it comes to the appearance of the number of African-Americans in the major leagues.
Hunter’s comments were made two weeks ago in one of a series of USA Today roundtables about baseball and published in Wednesday’s editions.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, a Velezuelan, scoffed at Hunter’s remarks before Wednesday’s game against the Oakland Athletics. Angels spokesman Eric Kay said Hunter will not further discuss the subject.
Black players accounted for 10.2 percent of major leaguers in 2008, the most since the 1995 season, according to the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports.