Former Major League outfielder and current Houston Astros announcer Preston Wilson has apologized for a recent reference to slavery he made during Saturday’s game against Cleveland.
While working for Houston’s AT&T SportsNet Southwest, Wilson, unprompted, brought up the subject of slavery with fellow former major leaguers Jeff Bagwell and Geoff Blum.
Wilson, a veteran of 10 MLB seasons, was trying to describe his struggles against the slider after reigning American League MVP Jose Altuve struck out against Cleveland’s Corey Kluber in the bottom half of the first inning.
‘I don’t know how you guys feel about this, Blummer and Baggy, but for me, it was the slider,’ Wilson said in the bottom of the first inning. ‘I can take the fastball. But I actually had somebody ask me if I could go back in history and change one thing, I skipped right over slavery and went to the slider. That’s how I feel about it.’
Wilson did try to walk back his comment at the time.
‘I realized that was selfish,’ he continued, ‘so then after I thought about it, I was like, you know what, maybe I should change what I said, but that’s how hard it is to hit a slider in the big leagues.’
Wilson, the nephew and stepson of retired New York Mets centerfielder Mookie Wilson, apologized on Twitter.
‘Earlier today I made a comment that may have offended people and for that I am sorry,’ he wrote on Twitter. ‘What I said was inappropriate and not a reflection of the Houston Astros nor AT&T SportsNet.’
An All-Star in 2003 who won a World Series as a backup with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006, Wilson did have his struggles at the plate during his career. Not only did he lead the league with 187 strikeouts in 2000, but he finishes his career with an unimpressive .264 average and .329 on-base percentage.