Orioles designated hitter Luke Scott isn't apologizing for his comments about President Barack Obama and won't be facing disciplinary action from the team, which distanced itself from his statements but not from the slugger's right to speak his mind.
A day after Scott told Yahoo Sports that he did not believe Obama was born in the United States and that he thinks the president "dodges questions" and is "hiding something," the 32-year-old stood by his opinions and his ability to exercise them.
"We all have the right of freedom of speech under the First Amendment. We all don't have to agree with one another on our opinions," Scott told The Sun on Wednesday. "Everyone in my circle, that I run around with, we all feel the same about God, country, integrity and character."
Scott, who has received national attention in the past for his ardent defense of an individual's right to bear arms, added that he has "always been the type of person where you know where I stand. I am not politically correct. I am all about the facts, I am all about the truth and I am all about Godly pursuits and what this country was built on, and I am not apologetic about it."
On Wednesday afternoon, the Orioles issued a statement through team communications director Greg Bader.
"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."
During his daily gathering with the Baltimore media Wednesday, club president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail addressed the issue and said Scott would not be fined or otherwise disciplined.
"This is a country that allows free speech for all, no matter how goofy you might think their free speech is," MacPhail said. "We would prefer that when he speaks as a baseball player at the winter meetings, and in some respect in representing the Orioles, that he would confine his remarks to baseball and whatever his opinion is there. He didn't, but I don't know that that is a fineable offense."
Scott, the 2010 Most Valuable Oriole, lives about an hour from where the winter meetings are being held and attended Tuesday to see his agent. While there, he visited with Orioles manager Buck Showalter and the local media — proudly displaying photos of his most recent hunting expedition — and then spoke with some individual reporters on his way back to the lobby.
In an interview with blogger David Brown of Yahoo Sports, Scott discussed the Orioles and hunting before the conversation turned to politics. He eventually was asked whether he thought Obama was born in the United States.
"He was not born here," Scott said.
"That's my belief. I was born here," Scott said. "If someone accuses me of not being born here, I can go — within 10 minutes — to my filing cabinet and I can pick up my real birth certificate and I can go, 'See? Look! Here it is.' The man has dodged everything. He dodges questions, he doesn't answer anything. And why? Because he's hiding something."
The full transcript was reported on Yahoosports.com, along with a copy of Obama's birth certificate. On Wednesday, there was a firestorm of comments to various media and Internet outlets — both in opposition and support of Scott's comments.
Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, a teammate of Scott's, posted a reaction on the social media site Twitter, saying: "Whatever comments Luke Scott made were made by him. I'm his teammate and friend. Besides that we have different views, so that's that."
Jones, who has engaged in spirited political debates with Scott in the past, later tweeted that in this country everyone has freedom of speech.
http://twitter.com/danconnollysun