Tigers broadcaster suspended for using cartoonish Asian accent before Ohtani at-bat
Hall of Famer Jack Morris made an on-air apology during Tuesday night’s Tigers game after using a cartoonish accent when talking about Angels star Shohei Ohtani.
Morris, who is an analyst for Bally Sports Detroit, was asked how the Tigers should pitch to Ohtani. Channeling the awful mock accents one may have heard in a movie or cartoon more than a half-century ago, Morris said: “Be very, very careful.”
Someone apparently told Morris he was out of line because he offered up an apology in the ninth inning.
“Well folks, Shohei Ohtani is coming to the plate and it’s been brought to my attention and I sincerely apologize if I offended anybody, especially anybody in the Asian community for what I said about pitching and being careful to Shohei Ohtani,” Morris said. “I did not intend for any offensive thing and I apologize if I did. I certainly respect and have the utmost respect for this guy and don’t blame a pitcher for walking him.”
Twitter user Spencer Wheelock shared a video of what Morris said and his apology:
Morris was widely criticized on Twitter for the incident.
Joon Lee, a writer for ESPN, shared his thoughts in a series of Twitter posts.
“The fact that this type of lazy racism keeps popping up around Shohei Ohtani speaks to so much of the media being apathetic and lacking any empathy towards the AAPI experience,” Lee wrote.
“It’s impossible for Jack Morris to play something like this off as ‘sorry if you were offended’ when there’s not any purpose in doing this accent other than to make a caricature of AAPI people.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Morris was suspended indefinitely by Bally Sports Detroit.
The Tigers said in a statement that the team takes “immense pride in honoring the diverse cultures that make up our players, coaching staff, front office, fan base and community. We are deeply disappointed by the comments made by Jack Morris during the broadcast last night. We fully support Bally Sports Detroit’s decision and their ongoing commitment to ensure that all personnel are held to the highest standards of personal conduct.”
Per the Detroit Free Press Evan Petzold, Bally Sports Detroit said in a statement that it was “extremely disappointed with the remarks analyst Jack Morris made during last night’s Tigers game. Jack has been suspended indefinitely from Tigers broadcasts and will be undergoing bias training to educate him on the impact of his comments and how he can be a positive influence in a diverse community. We have a zero-tolerance policy for bias or discrimination and deeply apologize for his insensitive remark.”
This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 9:00 AM.
