Torii Hunter had to deal with his share of racism while playing in the major leagues. The former Minnesota Twins star was on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show in Boston and revealed he was the subject of racial slurs in different cities. Hunter also said he told teams not to trade him to the Boston Red Sox because of racial incidents.
“I would get it everywhere,” Hunter said when it comes to racial comments. He went on to say that it happened in Boston, Seattle and Kansas City. Hunter shared a story about a time where he was called the n-word in Kansas City and the team was ready to attack the guy who said it. “Our whole team was almost going to jump this guy, but this guy’s kid covered his mouth,” Hunter said. “The police right next to our dugout got up and took him to a back room, talked to him, interrogated him and banned him for life. That was cool.” While that incident and Kansas City ended up being a good one for Hunter, the same can’t be said anytime he played in Boston, saying the comments were non-stop.
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“After a while, I just kind of shoved it off and I went out and played. I played with aggression though. I played like I really wanted to play well in Fenway. It has nothing to do with the Red Sox. It has nothing to do with the players. It has nothing to do with the organization. It really has nothing to do with the fans. But that’s the issue when you hear that.” Hunter went on to say he heard kids chanting the n-word while the parents are laughing. “I’m pointing saying, ‘Tell them to shut up. That’s bad,’” Hunter stated. “They can say, ‘You suck Torii,’ or ‘ You can’t hit water if you fell out of a boat.’ But that n-word I don’t like. I’m from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and I hated it. So when I looked at the grown-ups and they didn’t do anything, that’s not a Red Sox issue. That’s an issue in society.”
Hunter never was a member of Red Sox, playing 11 seasons with the Twins followed by five seasons with the Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim, two seasons with the Detroit Tigers and he ended his career in Minnesota in 2015. He was one of MLB‘s top outfielders, being named to the All-Star team five times and winning the Gold Glove award nine times.
