Jim Kaat pitched for the Twins in his on-field career, and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame last year. He’s been a broadcaster for decades, and while he’s no Thom Brennaman, he had a major screw-up in last night’s broadcast of the Tigers v. Twins game. Though he was announcing the Tigers game, he attempted to give some praise to the Yankees pitching ace, Nestor Cortes.
“That favorite pitcher being kind of like Devin Smeltzer, ‘Nestor the Molester,’ Nestor Cortes. Man is he fun to watch,” was the direct line from Kaat. As bad as it is to call someone a “molester” on live television, it’s probably even worse to immediately follow that statement up by saying you like to watch him. What exactly are you trying to tell us here, Jim?
Dustin Morse, the VP of Communications and Content for the Twins, said the matter is going to be handled privately, but that Kaat meant “no ill will.” Additionally, Nestor “The Molester” Cortes spoke on the matter himself, saying “I’m sure, you know, he didn’t really mean it, and people make mistakes, but it didn’t offend me at all.”
It seems like Kaat is going to get away with this without any real damages, but that wasn’t the case for his last on-air screw-up, which happened less than a year ago. The former was way worse:
It’s safe to say old Jimmy-boy is walking on some thin ice.
