Gleeman & TheGeek, Episode 173: Talking Torii

Here's the thing - if you want to blame someone for making this an issue, it's Hunter, and it's not just about him talking about it first. It's about him going back to it. 

Berardino's question wasn't asking Hunter to expound on his beliefs. His question was whether Hunter thought that stating his support of a political candidate affected his free agent market. Then he followed up asking if, in the future, Hunter would want to talk about his views on "marriage." Certainly, that gives Hunter the chance to get in trouble, but it's a legitimate question about Hunter's free agency experience - and Hunter even handled it so that it wasn't really a story. 

It exploded because Hunter couldn't leave it alone. He stayed away from it at first, didn't take the bait. But he was the one who went back to it, though it might have also been a reaction to the awkward silence that followed that question. He used the term "prick" when using a less vulgar term like "pitbull" or "rabble rouser" would have kept it a non-story. And he kept using it when stopping after the first or second sentence would've seemed like jocular, maybe even bonding, humor. 

I even think it's fair to blame both sides of the issue for blowing up this story into a controversy, so both sides can sound off on their view. But I don't think it's fair to blame Mike for asking the question.