Broadcaster Kaat apologizes for "40-acre" comment
ABC News
MLB Network broadcaster Jim Kaat has apologized during an AL Division Series game between the Astros and White Sox after saying teams should try to “get a 40-acre field full of” players who look like Chicago infielder Yoán Moncada
HOUSTON -- MLB Network broadcaster Jim Kaat apologized during Friday's AL Division Series game between the Astros and White Sox after saying teams should try to “get a 40-acre field full of” players who look like Chicago infielder Yoán Moncada.
Kaat, a former All-Star pitcher and longtime commentator for the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins, made the remark in the first inning of Game 2 in response to a comment from broadcaster Buck Showalter about Moncada, who is Cuban.
“After the first time I saw him in the big leagues, I looked around the dugout, like, ‘Do we have one of those?’” said Showalter, who opposed Moncada while managing the Baltimore Orioles.
Kaat replied: “Get a 40-acre field full of them,” a remark that reminded some viewers of the unfilled promise by the U.S. government that freed slaves would receive 40 acres and a mule following the Civil War.