The other side of getting to know your fav baseball stars

[A Boy Named Seo]

Meet Orioles slugger Luke Scott. "Real American", big-game hunter, and proud 'birther movement' bro.



Some highlights...

On Ted Nugent:

I'm a big fan of Ted Nugent because he's a "keep it real" type of guy. He respects wildlife, he loves to hunt. I look at Ted Nugent and ... he's an American. He has the core beliefs of what it means to be an American in his heart. He lives by those beliefs and those principles. It's the same beliefs that our forefathers, who fought for our country, have. I'd be real interested in meeting him one day.

On shooting coyotes:

There's just not much interest. You don't eat 'em. I like to hunt them just hunt them. Take their skin and get pelts made. It's pretty neat.

On "yesteryear" when no man defaulted on a loan or didn't keep a well-intentioned promise:

Eighty years ago, 50 years ago, a man would walk up to another man and go in for loan. He'd extend his hand, he'd shake it and he'd look at the man and he'd say, "I'll pay this back." He would do it. You couldn't even ... to even mention that [scenario] today ... is that a cartoon fantasy? That's how far we are removed.

On Lance Berkman:

Lance? Lance is awesome. He's what I call "A fellow American." He's a good man.

On Barack Obama:

He was not born here.

[ashie62]

I agree with just about eveything Scott says.

[G-Fafif]

Thanks to Luke Scott, I now know this:

This country is basically built on an attitude.

That part sounds like a Levi's commercial. The rest...read Seo's link.

I was thrilled when Carlos Beltran made that tumbling catch on Tal's Idiotic Hill in Houston to rob Scott of a game-winning hit in what became a 17-inning Mets triumph three years ago. Now I'm elated.

[Guest Edgy DC]

On "yesteryear" when no man defaulted on a loan or didn't keep a well-intentioned promise: Eighty years ago, 50 years ago, a man would walk up to another man and go in for loan. He'd extend his hand, he'd shake it and he'd look at the man and he'd say, "I'll pay this back." He would do it. You couldn't even ... to even mention that [scenario] today ... is that a cartoon fantasy? That's how far we are removed.

To blame this all on the defaulters is just amazing.

To look back at the Great Depression and believe nobody was defaulting on their mortgage loans --- yes, that's a cartoon fantasy. Good choice of words, Luke Scott.

[Benjamin Grimm]

If handshake agreements have gone out of style, I'm sure it's largely because too many people failed to honor them.

[metirish]

Ashie62 wrote: I agree with just about eveything Scott says.

I'll bite , you believe just about everything he says....except that Obama wasn't born here right?

I propose a major league team for the deep south , a team where all these good ole boys can play together, be like the real American team.

[Benjamin Grimm]

They could be called the Coyote Skinners.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

G-Fafif wrote: Thanks to Luke Scott, I now know this: This country is basically built on an attitude. That part sounds like a Levi's commercial. The rest...read Seo's link. I was thrilled when Carlos Beltran made that tumbling catch on Tal's Idiotic Hill in Houston to rob Scott of a game-winning hit in what became a 17-inning Mets triumph three years ago. Now I'm elated.

Awesome.

[Centerfield]

I'm with Luke Scott on this gun thing. In fact, I think everyone should be packing heat. Starting first and foremost with the deer that Luke is shooting at. Hunting is the only sport I know where one team has guns and the other team doesn't realize they're playing.

I also completely agree with his justification of shooting deer because they have no natural predator.

Other things without natural predators: Yankees. Yankee fans. Republicans. Justin Bieber.

[ashie62]

metirish wrote: Ashie62 wrote: I agree with just about eveything Scott says. I'll bite , you believe just about everything he says....except that Obama wasn't born here right? I propose a major league team for the deep south , a team where all these good ole boys can play together, be like the real American team.

You mean the Braves?

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: If handshake agreements have gone out of style, I'm sure it's largely because too many people failed to honor them.

Handshake agreements aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I look at Ted Nugent and ... he's an American. He has the core beliefs of what it means to be an American in his heart. He lives by those beliefs and those principles. It's the same beliefs that our forefathers, who fought for our country, have.

Well, yeah, how could you not look up to a guy like that, considering Nuge's heroic non-dodging of military service, his long history of not having sex with children, and a public life that isn't riddled with hypocrisies big and small?

(Did I really just waste time questioning Ted Nugent's character?)

Eighty years ago, 50 years ago, a man would walk up to another man and go in for loan. He'd extend his hand, he'd shake it and he'd look at the man and he'd say, "I'll pay this back." He would do it. You couldn't even ... to even mention that [scenario] today ... is that a cartoon fantasy? That's how far we are removed.

Say what you will about his beliefs, his defense, or his ability to handle left-handed pitching... but Scott looks GREAT for his age.

(My favorite little part is where the Yahoo! guy links to Obama's birth certificate in the middle of asking Scott about it.)

[A Boy Named Seo]

Myself, I love the hunting shit, like 'He respects wildlife, he loves to hunt.'

It's always been an odd thing to me to remark at an animal's beauty and then shoot its fuckin brains out.

But the exploding deer population and their filthy diseases is a huge problem, sez Luke Scott. What are you gonna do, what with all the deer AIDS, deer the Clap, deer SARS, and what have you spreading like wildfire? Go shoot some, dad gummit. Glad he went to a hunting ranch in Michigan to help fight that horrible problem.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Not a big believer in deer condoms, it seems.

(And have you heard Deer the Clap's latest? Handclappy, twangy goodness, ladled with gobs of guitar-fuzz-- it's like if prepubescent Will Oldham met up with the Apples in Stereo, and they decided to go play in an effects-pedal factory. And those hooks! You could hang an entire family of elk heads on each one of them.)

[Guest Edgy DC]

If you're involved in treacherous acts, or you're saying things that are against, or are selling out our country, you should be brought to trial.

Does that include the all the things he said against our country in this interview.

[Guest attgig]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: But the exploding deer population and their filthy diseases is a huge problem, sez Luke Scott. What are you gonna do, what with all the deer AIDS, deer the Clap, deer SARS, and what have you spreading like wildfire? Go shoot some, dad gummit. Glad he went to a hunting ranch in Michigan to help fight that horrible problem.

LOL.

my coworker gave me a strange look cuz of my little outburst reading that...

[metirish]

Seo being from Cali he's obviously not a real American.

[Valadius]

Naturally he'll be offered a contract from Fox News in 3...2...1...

[Lefty Specialist]

Ah, Luke, Luke, Luke. Ya can't cure stupid. Not that you'd even try.

[metirish]

O's statement

�Luke Scott�s comments do not reflect the opinion of the Baltimore Orioles organization. The fact is that Barack Obama is our President, duly elected by the people of the United States. End of story.�

[Fman99]

What a dickfuck.

[Guest Edgy DC]

metirish wrote: O's statement �Luke Scott�s comments do not reflect the opinion of the Baltimore Orioles organization. The fact is that Barack Obama is our President, duly elected by the people of the United States. End of story.�

If they're going to jump in there with that, they can also use the modifier "natural-born."

[MFS62]

Apparently the only Force this Luke believes in is measured in caliber.

Later

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

On Barack Obama: He was not born here.

It's possible he's thinking of the other guy.

[seawolf17]

metirish wrote: Seo being from Cali he's obviously not a real American.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Ashie62 wrote: I agree with just about eveything Scott says.

�Ashie�s comments do not reflect the opinion of the Crane Pool organization. The fact is that Barack Obama is our President, duly elected by the people of the United States. End of story.�

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

You wanted more? You get more! Amy K. Nelson delves into the "complex" world of Luke Scott, and-- like a great actor or a writer for a corporation that makes its bones making nice with professional athletes and blunting unpleasant truths-- she doesn't judge. Come get some:

The reason I'm even here at this shooting range in late February during baseball's spring training, holding this gun, is that Scott is the left fielder for the Baltimore Orioles, and I'm trying to understand him better. Scott is one of baseball's most complex characters. His questions about President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship put him in headlines during an otherwise-quiet offseason. He speaks bluntly and with heavy opinions. He's fluent in Spanish and loves Latin culture, but in the clubhouse, he'll make potentially inflammatory comments to a Latino player who is his best friend -- throwing plantain chips at him to keep him in line. He wears religion on his sleeve. Given all that, the simple assumption is that Scott is a right-wing nut, a borderline racist and a loudmouth redneck ballplayer who should keep his mouth shut. But it's not that simple. Luke Scott will require a deeper line of thinking.

Like Gandhi! Or Rasputin! Only not faggy!

"People who tell the truth, they're very easy to � their actions prove it. Something as simple providing a birth certificate. Come on. � There needs to be accountability for the truth. I don't care if you're the president of the United States, you need to be held accountable." Scott is certainly not alone in those views, and he received a lot of support for expressing his opinion. But negative reaction cascaded, too, with some bloggers saying that evidence Obama was born in Hawaii is overwhelming and that Scott must be a racist or a moron, or both.

Some people say I was born in New York City at St. Luke's-Roosevelt, went to P.S. 116, then graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in 1995, third in my class. Other people swear they saw me emerge from a chrysalis with the "Houses of the Holy" album cover airbrushed on its hull in 2004. Who is right? We may never know.

The day before going to the shooting range, I mention to Scott that I want to explore his relationship with the Dominican Republic-born Pie, because it's a part of his life that few outside the clubhouse seem to know about. He smiles. "Felix is my friend," he says. "I give him a hard time. The reason why I give him a hard time is because there are certain people you deal with and you go up and talk to them, and it doesn't work. They don't understand. "I tell him about some of the ways he's acted: 'Look, you're acting like an animal, you're acting like a savage.'" Scott turns to his locker and pulls out a bag of plantain chips. "So I throw bananas in his helmet. Here are my banana chips to remind him that whenever he acts like an animal, 'Hey, that's what other people are thinking. They're just not telling you, but that's what they're thinking about. And I'm telling you so that you're aware of that so you can make a cognitive decision to not behave like that.' I would want someone to tell me that instead of letting you making a jerk of yourself."

So, does Pie line his shirt collar with Red-Hot, or nut-based allergens?

If Scott loves America, not far from his heart is South America. He grew up around Spanish speakers in Florida, fell in love with the Latin culture after playing in Venezuela in the winter leagues. He grew fluent in Spanish once he became roommates with Taveras in the minors. He says he feels he has more in common with Latino players. "That's why I never did well in the minor leagues with my American teammates, because a lot of these guys were high draft picks and got a lot of money and were used to Mom and Dad taking care of them," Scott says. "They'd leave trash everywhere and didn't do their dishes because they were used to someone cleaning up. That's fighting grounds for me. I'm gonna punch someone's face in because I'm not cleaning up after anybody, so I lived with Latins my whole minor league career." Humberto Quintero, the Astros catcher, was teammates with Scott in Houston and said he, Scott and Taveras would get three rooms on the road that all connected with Scott's in the middle. He loves Scott, says he helped save his career in 2007 after Quintero needed to lose weight. Scott, a health nut, cut out red meat and taught Quintero how to eat and cook well. Quintero lost 20 pounds. As Scott called Taveras and Pie, he also called Quintero "savage" and "animal," and he, too, laughs when asked about it. "He's not racist; he's a good friend," Quintero says. "I give it right back to him, too."

Okay, so he's not an uncaring redneck ignoramus... he's a paternalistic redneck ignoramus, determined to combat clubhouse "savage"ery. He's like a man on a mission!

Amy Nelson must have fantastic calf muscles, because she seems to live on tiptoe.

[metirish]

What a load of old bollox.....

Scott is one of baseball's most complex characters.

I doubt that, it's so typical that the journalist feels the need to point out that Scott likes Latinos.


Amy Nelson is not a complex person.