Torii Hunter Calls Reporter A "Prick" At Press Conference

[Celebrity Weddings!]

So, I think, and this is just my current opinion, that we need to try to separate his comments on this topic with the baseball stuff, with his ability to lead this clubhouse or be a good mentor for young players. 

 

I don't believe that's possible, and Torii Hunter himself doesn't think this topic can be separated from his ability to lead a clubhouse or be a mentor for young players:

 

But former Angels outfielder Torii Hunter, among baseball's most thoughtful and intelligent players, isn't kidding when he says an "out" teammate could divide a team. "For me, as a Christian … I will be uncomfortable because in all my teachings and all my learning, biblically, it's not right," he says. "It will be difficult and uncomfortable."

 

If part of the Twins' expectation for Hunter is that he perform those two tasks you mention, it seems to me that he's saying he'd have a tough time doing that job in the case of a (hypothetical, but plausible) gay Minnesota Twin.

[twinsfan34]

I hope Torii plays good baseball in 2015 for the Minnesota Twins. Is this $10M a good investment or not? Well, the ink is dry. I hope he plays well in 2015. And I hope Mike B writes good baseball news as he is surely capable of.

[nicksaviking]

Uhh, he's been at this for 20 years and has succeeded at putting his foot in his mouth far more often than not, I think we all are aware of Torii's limitations at "adpetness"/"adeptitude" in this regard.

 

Hunter was clearly wrong, I don't like his political views (and thinking LGBT rights should even be subject to debat offends me).  However, in the past it has occured to me just how fast I'd lose my $#%* if I happened to get grilled by a Fox News employee on air.  I wouldn't last long.

 

Though I also don't get paid $10.5 million to keep my cool.  I might hold it together.  Might.

[Major League Ready]

I guess some people like to take every opportunity to dive in the muck and then this sort of ambush becomes desirable.  I suppose part of it is if you believe a press conference is open game on any topic.  My point of view is that the press conference was called to introduce Hunter as a new Twin.   I don't agree with some of Hunter's positions but I also don't care if he is Gay, straight, republican, democrat, homophobic or anything else.  This IMO was not the forum for such a discussion.  

 

If Berardino wanted to discuss politics, he should have asked Hunter for an interview on that topic, IMO.  I think Seth hit this one on the head.  Defensive metrics are a tough but fair question.  The other questions were out of line and Hunter's response was equally distasteful. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

If you read what Berardino later wrote he asked it because he wanted to know if Torii thought those statements hurt his ability to get a longer or more lucrative contract. I think this is a valid question and it was the right setting. I also think it probably did impact his ability to get a contract with some teams.

Actually, since Torii signed with Detroit in Nov. 2012, this is the first time he's been a free agent since his original public statements on homosexuality too (Dec. 2012), in addition to the more recent political ad.  So it's not that "far out" of a question (even if it would be pretty hard to separate any effect from the more general effect of being 39 years old at this point).

 

Berardino specifically made the question about the effects on Hunter's contract, NOT about his views themselves, and didn't follow-up or press the issue at all.  And if Berardino was seeking attention, he certainly hasn't made a big deal out of Hunter's reaction -- that didn't even make the PiPress story.

[Otto von Ballpark]

When he asked about his political and religious views, I sat in my chair feeling gross, just icky. I didn't want to hear that question and I didn't want to hear the response. As you could tell, and Torii said as he stepped away from the mic, "That guy just ruined it." 

Berardino didn't ask about Hunter's views, really.  He asked if some recent public statements by Hunter affected his market as a free agent.  A simple "no" from Hunter could have sufficed as an answer.  Berardino didn't press at all when it was clear Hunter didn't want to discuss the topic.

 

I don't think it's really Berardino's fault if Hunter didn't really listen to the question and/or viewed it as an attack that required a name-calling response.

[JB_Iowa]

Berardino didn't ruin it, Torii did. It would have been a non-story if Torii hadn't called out Berardino.  He had already answered the questions and I doubt whether anyone would have made much of the answers (in fact you have to search the stories to get what was said because the name-calling is the lead.)

 

Torii has been around the game long enough to know to watch his language.  All this does is show him to be a hothead.

[Seth Stohs]

 

 

If part of the Twins' expectation for Hunter is that he perform those two tasks you mention, it seems to me that he's saying he'd have a tough time doing that job in the case of a (hypothetical, but plausible) gay Minnesota Twin.

 

But to be fair, we don't know how he would react as a teammate. We don't know how any of the players would. It's uncharted territory. No one knows in baseball. My guess, and my hope, is that players, including Torii, would accept them if that case were to come to fruition. My sense is if they wanted to win, they'd all come together. 

[jokin]

 

Berardino specifically made the question about the effects on Hunter's contract, NOT about his views themselves, and didn't follow-up or press the issue at all.  And if Berardino was seeking attention, he certainly hasn't made a big deal out of Hunter's reaction -- that didn't even make the PiPress story.

 Have you checked his Twitter page?  You do understand how journalists can inject controversial matter into a more conventional question, right?  Wrong forum to play it cute.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I don't see your evidence, as far as I know, no club has publicly stated that they weren't pursuing Hunter because of his beliefs.  Hunter has been controversial for a long, long time, and it didn't stop major media market teams in Los Angeles and Detroit from ponying up literally, over $100 million to Hunter.

 

The correct line of attack, in staying on baseball-related inquiry, if Berardino chose to pursue it further, was, "Did Torii come here only because other teams wouldn't give him $10.5M because they considered him washed up due to his age and a drop-off in defense."  And oh yeah, those were addressed.  Berardino's questions look like grandstanding after having a very bad week or two of reportorial Fails.

This was Hunter's first time as a free agent after his public comments on homosexuality and recent political endorsement.

 

Also, for grandstanding, Berardino has been pretty quiet about eliciting a name-calling response.  That response is mentioned nowhere in the PiPress, and I don't think Berardino's even directly mentioned it on Twitter.

[Major League Ready]

Berardino had lots of time to construct the questions in a manner that made the question look less opportunistic.  This is what reporters do to call attention to themselves and their media outlet. 

[Celebrity Weddings!]

But to be fair, we don't know how he would react as a teammate. We don't know how any of the players would. It's uncharted territory. No one knows in baseball. My guess, and my hope, is that players, including Torii, would accept them if that case were to come to fruition. My sense is if they wanted to win, they'd all come together. 

 

That's correct. What we do have, though is Hunter's own words - freely offered - acknowledging a potential difficulty. What we need, then, is a reporter to broach the topic. A press conference announcing an eight figure deal that he landed, at least in part, due to his ability to mentor young players seems like an ideal time to try and reach some clarity on the topic.

 

Either way, he's not uniquely responsible for deciding when it constitutes a relevant discussion and when it doesn't. He clearly thought it was a baseball matter when he spoke to the LATimes about gay teammates. If he doesn't think that's the case any longer, a simple "no comment" would have been sufficient. But it's unfair to blame Berardino for taking his word that it matters.

[Otto von Ballpark]

But to be fair, we don't know how he would react as a teammate. We don't know how any of the players would. It's uncharted territory. No one knows in baseball. My guess, and my hope, is that players, including Torii, would accept them if that case were to come to fruition. My sense is if they wanted to win, they'd all come together. 

I don't know if the territory is as uncharted as we think it is -- gay players/prospects/personnel might not be out to the world but could very well be out to their employers, coaches, and/or teammates.

 

And it's not just what Hunter does.  Hunter could be a saint in the locker room with a gay teammate, but the PR hassle of his past statements alone might not be worth the performance upgrade he provides at this point in his career.  He hasn't been a Twin for 48 hours and they're already likely devising some very careful statements and action plans to disassociate themselves from Hunter's remarks, all while trying not to alienate anyone else.  What if the Twins wanted to quietly support pro-equality events at the ballpark, or offer benefits to their employees?  Think of the extra scrutiny on them now, from all sides.

 

Related to the Adrian Peterson situation, how do you think Target feels about having their name and logo plastered behind Hunter as a repeatedly calls someone a "prick" in public?

[Linus]

I think part of the issue is that (I am speculating) Torii uses the word "prick" as more of an everyday term than most people do.  In other words, substitute "jerk" for "prick" and the whole thing doesn't even get noticied.

 

I am not defending Torii here because he has a long history of stuff like this.  I don't think he is nearly as nice or intelligent as he is made out to be.  There are so many ways he could have handled this, even a simple "look 'em up, my views have been quite public.  Next question please."

[nicksaviking]

Whatever Berardino's intent, I'm guessing the Twins aren't thrilled that their beat reporter decided to tie LGBT discussions to the team.  They'll probably be answering somewhat politically charged questions for the foreseeable future now. 

 

Not that I normally have a problem with the beat reporters straying from the requested puppies and rainbows theme.  I wish it had been a fair fight though, Berardino should have given the team the heads up that he wouldn't be playing softball today.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Berardino had lots of time to construct the questions in a manner that made the question look less opportunistic.  This is what reporters do to call attention to themselves and their media outlet. 

Berardino's question, in full:

 

"Speaking of storms, you have accepted some criticism, or taken some criticism, from places like Deadspin and social media just since your backing of Gov. Hutchinson.  Can you talk about that process, and do you think it affected your market at all?  Was it a topic at all with the Twins as you sat down with them, in terms of speaking about your religious beliefs or political beliefs?  And, going forward, do you see that experience changing you at all, and your openness to answering those questions?"

 

That's "opportunistic"?  "Grandstanding"?  C'mon.  And when Berardino sat quietly after Hunter gave a long "no, I don't want to talk about it" answer -- was that more opportunistic grandstanding?  And that Berardino has yet to put the subsequent name-calling response in print or on Twitter?

[amjgt]

Torii's defensive metrics in press conferences are off the charts!!

[Linus]

Berardino's question, in full:

 

"Speaking of storms, you have accepted some criticism, or taken some criticism, from places like Deadspin and social media just since your backing of Gov. Hutchinson.  Can you talk about that process, and do you think it affected your market at all?  Was it a topic at all with the Twins as you sat down with them, in terms of speaking about your religious beliefs or political beliefs?  And, going forward, do you see that experience changing you at all, and your openness to answering those questions?"

 

That's "opportunistic"?  "Grandstanding"?  C'mon.  And when Berardino sat quietly after Hunter gave a long "no, I don't want to talk about it" answer -- was that more opportunistic grandstanding?  And that Berardino has yet to put the subsequent name-calling response in print or on Twitter?

Thanks for posting that - I didn't see the press conference.  That really was a pretty articulate question - he could have phrased it in a much more incendiary way had he chose to.  Phrased like that, it really wasn't that difficult of a spot for Torii.  

[twinsnorth49]

Uhh, he's been at this for 20 years and has succeeded at putting his foot in his mouth far more often than not, I think we all are aware of Torii's limitations at "adpetness"/"adeptitude" in this regard.

Exactly, I'm well aware of Torii's history of squarely planting both feet in his mouth, my comment is more related to the numerous people commenting on how "unfair" Berardino's line of questioning was. Those types of questions should come as no surprise to Hunter, regardless of the time or place, yet he's still the perfect example of how not to act. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

I wish it had been a fair fight though, Berardino should have given the team the heads up that he wouldn't be playing softball today.

It was hardly an ambush.  All Hunter had to say was "no."  And he said it.  That's standard operating procedure.  Then Hunter added his little aggressive name-calling thing.

 

And I don't like the idea that a reporter should have to clear his questions with the team in advance, which is what you are effectively saying -- I am guessing the Twins don't call on Berardino (and/or Hunter just ignores him) if they know he's going to ask about this.

[StormJH1]

This is a tough one for me.  The idea of hating on anyone because of a sexual preference, or telling them basically "God doesn't love you" because of some attribute a person arguably can't control is very offensive to me, and to a LOT of other people. 

 

But for whatever reason, I don't have the personal dislike for Torii that I had for, say, Matt Birk, who expressed basically the same views but also did so in the climate of a Minnesota marriage amendment debate.  Birk's response felt more cold and premeditated, and he made more of an effort to evangelize people with op-ed pieces, etc.  Maybe that's why I have differing opinions of what is largely the same "offense". 

Torii, by contrast, just likes to talk and he has a big mouth.  I can relate that at times.  He is also human and he holds some views from his upbringing that are distasteful to others.  Okay.  I wish he didn't feel that way, but so long as the worst thing he does with it is respond to direct questions about his views when prompted by the media, then so be it.  Birk was a Harvard grad and a guy that wanted to be viewed as important on subjects.  Torii's views, even if they are the same views, I just never felt like he was trying to get everyone to agree with him.

 

It's also worth noting that Torii is popular particularly BECAUSE he is open and jovial with the media.  Joe Mauer could have horrible personal views on something, and we would never know about it.  But is THAT the personality you want all athletes to have?

 

As for Bernadino, I just don't know the point of the question he was asking.  I think Mark Rosen or something said that a question like that could have been done in private, if the reporter was really worried about being able to ask him about that in the future.  Once it's done in front of cameras at a signing press conference, where the mood is usually receptive and upbeat, it becomes about the reporter trying to set a discussion topic.  I could see circumstances this year where a refresh on Torii's views on homosexuality may be a relevant topic, but this December press conference wasn't it.

[nicksaviking]

It was hardly an ambush.  All Hunter had to say was "no."  And he said it.  That's standard operating procedure.  Then Hunter added his little aggressive name-calling thing.

 

And I don't like the idea that a reporter should have to clear his questions with the team in advance, which is what you are effectively saying -- I am guessing the Twins don't call on Berardino (and/or Hunter just ignores him) if they know he's going to ask about this.

 

I don't like the idea that he shouldn't be able to ask a well constructed somewhat relevant question either.  However these kinds of introductory press conferences seem to have had an unwritten rule where the gag-worthy discussions were about love and togetherness since Ivan Drago roid raged in Rocky IV.  I'm fine with the game changing, and no one should have to clear their questions with the powers that be like the shams we see at a presidential debate. 

 

However since the Twins surely thought the old rules were in effect, fair warning of tough questions may have been kind.  Torii was still an idiot either way. 

[minnesota transplant]

I like Mike and his work, but Mike knew Tori`s views and asking the questions and pursuing more was out of line.

[ashbury]

That really was a pretty articulate question 

I actually found it pretty rambling, in real-time.  Lots of pauses groping for words, like he was dancing around what he really wanted, leaving me to guess that what he wanted was "here's a controversial topic, wanna say something foolish?"  Torii didn't take the bait, and then... at the last moment he did anyway.

[twinsnorth49]

I actually found it pretty rambling, in real-time.  Lots of pauses groping for words, like he was dancing around what he really wanted, leaving me to guess that what he wanted was "here's a controversial topic, wanna say something foolish?"  Torii didn't take the bait, and then... at the last moment he did anyway.

I agree, Torii initially answered the question like a pro....and then turned into Torii.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I actually found it pretty rambling, in real-time.  Lots of pauses groping for words, like he was dancing around what he really wanted, leaving me to guess that what he wanted was "here's a controversial topic, wanna say something foolish?"  Torii didn't take the bait, and then... at the last moment he did anyway.

Some of that rambling is standard for these press conferences.  These things aren't scripted, and we're talking about sportswriters, not war correspondents.

 

I think Berardino was trying to be delicate with his question, as best as could given the limitations noted above, because it was at heart a question that required some delicacy.  Given his initial answer, Hunter apparently does not deal with delicate questions well, and he shouldn't really be expected to -- he's an athlete too, not a war correspondent.  That's fine.  But I'm glad that part got out, and both did the best they could.

 

After a pause, though, somehow Hunter felt personally attacked by the delicate question, so much so that he had to vocalize an actual personal attack (utilizing a borderline curse word) -- I don't think Berardino should have to be less delicate or forgo the question altogether because of that potential outcome.  Neither of these guys are toddlers.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I like Mike and his work, but Mike knew Tori`s views and asking the questions and pursuing more was out of line.

The question was not about Torii's views, but rather potential effects of those views.  And Berardino didn't pursue it at all (in the form of a follow-up).

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Hunter's musings on gay teammates were also shared pretty candidly in the LA Times. It seems like a perfectly legitimate line of inquiry for a player that seems to have been acquired, in large part, for his clubhouse presence. We've wanted Twins' reporters to challenge the team-driven narrative. This is what that looks like.

 

+1

[Otto von Ballpark]

However since the Twins surely thought the old rules were in effect, fair warning of tough questions may have been kind.  Torii was still an idiot either way. 

I have never heard this rule.  I doubt the Twins have either.  I am guessing they just didn't have very good PR foresight, which would not be the first time.

[nicksaviking]

I have never heard this rule.  I doubt the Twins have either.  I am guessing they just didn't have very good PR foresight, which would not be the first time.

 

That could be, but I can't remember any hardball questions at introductory pressers.  Maybe I'm wrong, but these things have always seemed low key and unrehearsed.  Like I said, I'm not opposed to a change in forumla, but I doubt the Twins were expecting it.