HOUSTON (AP) – MLB Network commentator Jim Kaat apologized during the playoff game between the Astros and White Sox on Friday, saying both teams should try to “get a 40-acre field full” of players like Cuban slugger Yoán Moncada.
Kaat, a former All-Star pitcher who has been a commentator for many years of the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins, made the statement in the first inning of the second game of the American League Division Series, in response to something Buck Showalter said about the Cuban Moncada.
“After I saw him for the first time in the majors, I looked around the dugout, thinking: ‘Do we have one of those?’ “Showalter said, who faced Moncada when he was manager of the Baltimore Orioles.
Kaat replied, “Get a 40-acre field full of them.”
The comment reminded some viewers of the broken promise by the United States government that freed slaves would receive a 40-acre (16-hectare) field filled with muless after the Civil War.
Kaat, 82, apologized during the fifth inning.