Torii Hunter: Royals fan who called me a racial slur at The K paid a heavy price
Over the weekend, former Twins/Tigers/Angels outfielder Torii Hunter revealed that he had a no-trade clause that kept him from being dealt to one team in particular: the Boston Red Sox.
The reason? He heard racial taunts from fans of all ages as a visiting player at Fenway Park.
On Tuesday, Hunter was on WEEI-FM’s Greg Hill Show in Boston and talked about his experiences of hearing racial slurs at Fenway Park and all around the majors. That included Kauffman Stadium.
“I would get it everywhere, like Seattle, Kansas City,” said Hunter, who played in the major leagues from 1997 to 2015.
“Kansas City once did something for me about it. When they called me the ‘N’ word standing over our dugout. Our whole team, we were almost going to jump this guy, but this guy’s kid covered his mouth.”
Hunter didn’t reveal what year the incident occurred. While the child may have helped his or her father avoid a physical altercation, Hunter said the dad was dealt with immediately.
“The police right next to our dugout got up and took him to a back room, they talked to him, interrogated him and banned him for life,” Hunter said. “That was cool. I’m like, ‘Wow, Kansas City took care of that.’
But when I went to Boston it was so consistent. 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 has really nothing to do with the fans. But that’s the issue when you hear that.”
Hunter also told a story of a group of children chanting the N-word at him in Boston while the adults around them laughed and clapped.
“I’m pointing like, ‘Tell them to shut up. That’s bad.’ Then can say, ‘You suck, Torii,’ they could say, ‘You can’t hit water if you fell out of a boat.’ But that N-word, I hate. I’m from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and I hated it,” Hunter said.
Hunter actually loved visiting the city Boston and didn’t hold the action of the fans against the Red Sox organization. He believes there’s a reason why players hear racial epithets during sporting events.
“It happened the majority of time when I played baseball because people would scream and they get drunk and their true nature comes out,” Hunter said. “From high school I heard it. I’ve heard in minor leagues and I’ve heard it in the major leagues. It’s amazing because it has nothing to do with the team. It’s got something to do with society that allows it to happen and no one does anything about it.
“God gave you two eyes and two ears and He wants to see more, He wants you to hear more. He gives you one mouth, stop talking. Just listen and hear it, and when you see it, you’ve got to act on it.”
Here is the conversation (if that doesn’t play, here is a link):
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 11:24 AM.
