Detroit Tigers TV analyst Jack Morris apologized on air during the team’s game against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday after using a racist accent in response to a question from his broadcast partner regarding Shohei Ohtani.
The incident occurred in the sixth inning of the game, when Tigers play-by-play announcer Matt Shepard asked Morris how the team should handle pitching to Ohtani, due up soon after. In response, Morris said, in what seemed to be a mocking Asian accent, that Tigers pitcher Joe Jimenez should “be very, very careful.”
Ohtani, whose dominant campaign has him among the favourites for an AL MVP nod, is from Japan.
In the ninth inning, with Ohtani up to bat again, Morris apologized for the comment.
“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 I don’t blame a pitcher for walking him.”
Morris — a Hall of Fame pitcher who won 254 games during his 18-year MLB career and captured two World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays — has worked as a broadcaster since retiring in 1995, including on Sportsnet 590 The Fan’s Blue Jays broadcasts in 2013.
