Jim Edmonds shares troubling opinion on teams named after Native Americans during broadcast
Former All-Star Jim Edmonds had a foot-in-mouth moment Thursday night's broadcast of the St. Louis Cardinals' tilt with the Houston Astros surrounding sports teams named after Native Americans.
During the seventh inning of a lopsided affair, the topic of sports nicknames came up, leading to some cringe-worthy responses from Edmonds.
"I'm still shocked that we've changed so much as a whole that we're not allowed to have the Cleveland Indians, now the Guardians," Edmonds said.
Edmonds isn't Native American. However, to make his points more valid, Edmonds quickly pointed out that his wife is half-Native American before continuing to dig a hole.
"I always thought it was kind of a cool thing, not a bad thing, to have a team named after the Indians or vice versa, whatever, the Washington Redskins," Edmonds said.
Edmonds' thoughts on the delicate matter surrounding using racist tropes to name professional sports teams aren't new and usually come from ignorance to the deeper issue. If Edmonds can't see why these names might be offensive to those groups, perhaps he'll be educated following his slip-up on the mic Thursday.
Edmonds played 17 MLB seasons, eight with the Cardinals, before retiring following the 2010 seasons. In 2013, Edmonds transitioned to broadcast and serves as a color commentator and studio analyst for Cardinals games on Bally Sports Midwest.
The 53-year-old is only the latest baseball broadcaster to find themselves in hot water after making alleged racist statements on-air. Earlier this month, former Arizona Diamondbacks manager-turned-announcer Bob Brenly took a leave of absence from the booth after making a remark about a head covering worn by New York Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman. Meanwhile, in May, longtime Oakland A's broadcaster Glen Kuiper was fired after using a racist slur during a game against the Kanas City Royals.
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