Bud Norris apologizes for culture clash comments

Bud Norris apologized for his comments about wanting foreign players to adapt to the American style of baseball when it comes to respecting the game.

Norris’ comments were published Wednesday in a USA Today article suggesting that most fights in baseball are due to a culture clash between players of different ethnic backgrounds. Norris said foreign players who are coming in and making American dollars need to respect the American pastime and way it is played. The San Diego Padres pitcher apologized for his remarks later in the day.

“I want to apologize for how it came out and the words that were taken out of context in passing. I apologize to anyone I might have offended. I love this game and admire everyone who plays this game with all the passion that I do,” Norris said via The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Dennis Lin.

Norris also said he actually learned a few things by reading the comments of other players in the article.

“Actually in reading the article, I learned a lot more out of [Carlos Gomez’s] point of view,” Norris said. “I never had the opportunity to play winter ball in a foreign country, and I guess a lot of players have said that they’ve learned some things about how they play the game. There’s things that culturally I don’t understand and haven’t seen with my own eyes. I don’t think I offended (Gomez) in any way, but we all come from different walks of life. Whether I was born in California and taught the game this way or in Mississippi or the Dominican or Japan or anywhere, we all come from different cultural backgrounds and we love this game, and that should be the No. 1 focus.”

At least Norris was quick to apologize and seems to be learning something. Maybe that’s all some players really need. They may not have considered that other players come from cultures where the game is played differently, so their behavior is not intended as disrespect and should not be taken that way.