Guillen was upset by comments made by Torii Hunter to USA Today. During a roundtable discussion about baseball, the Angels’ center fielder labeled dark-skinned Latin American players as “impostors,” and charged them with diminishing the number of African-American players in the major leagues today.
“People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they’re African-American,” Hunter told USA Today. “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,” Hunter continued. “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.”
According to ESPN.com, Guillen — a native of Venezuela — sharply disagreed with Hunter on the cost discrepancy issue. The skipper cited the signing of top White Sox prospect Dayan Viciedo to a $10 million deal and the six-year, $30.25 million contract the Reds gave Cuban phenom Aroldis Chapman as counterexamples.
Moreover, Guillen noted that players are paid appropriately, and that Latin Americans currently comprise a majority of the game’s elite players.
“Major League Baseball looks for quality who can help them,” Guillen told ESPN.com. “They don’t look for color. Latin players right now have more talent than anybody else. We have better talent than they do. Maybe in the top-10 players in the game, we have seven Latinos.”
Reflecting on the uproar spurred by his comments, Hunter clarified that he harbors no ill will toward Latin-American players.
“What troubles me most was the word ‘impostors’ appearing in reference to Latin-American players not being black players,” Hunter wrote on his team-sponsored blog. “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.”
Guillen accepted Hunter’s retraction, noting that the political correctness was extraneous, but urged respect for the accomplishments of his countrymen and other successful Latino players.
“We come to this country with potato chips,” Guillen said. “When we leave this country, we leave with a lot of money. We earn it. That’s something we feel proud of.”
