One major league baseball player, Torii Hunter, is in hot water over some comments he made about his fellow baseball players. Hunter, a black player, was attempting to point out how dark-skinned Latino players are often mistaken for African-American players–but his comments created a firestorm of criticism, with some people even calling him racist for his remarks.

In the USA TODAY story, Hunter said: “People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they’re African-American. They’re not us. They’re impostors. Even people I know come up and say: ‘Hey, what color is Vladimir Guerrero? Is he a black player?’ I say, ‘Come on, he’s Dominican. He’s not black.’ …

“As African-American players, we have a theory that baseball can go get an imitator and pass them off as us. It’s like they had to get some kind of dark faces, so they go to the Dominican or Venezuela because you can get them cheaper. It’s like, ‘Why should I get this kid from the South Side of Chicago and have Scott Boras represent him and pay him $5 million when you can get a Dominican guy for a bag of chips?’

“I’m telling you, it’s sad.”

The comments certainly don’t seem to be purposefully inflammatory, though maybe ill-advised. Either way, Torii Hunter is suffering from a fair amount of internet defamation.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al/angels/2010-03-10-torii-hunter-comments_N.htm