Hall of Fame pitcher and current Minnesota Twins announcer Jim Kaat coined a nickname for a Yankees pitcher that probably shouldn’t stick during a Thursday afternoon game.
As Nestor Cortes, the New York lefthander enjoying a breakout season, was mowing down the Angels in the first game of a doubleheader, the 83-year-old Kaat sought to pay him a compliment. Something got lost in the translation, however.
“‘Nestor the Molester,’ Nestor Cortes,” Kaat said as he noted the out-of-town score. “Angles and different speeds. He’s a pitcher.”
Well, that's certainly a new and unique nickname for a big league hurler. https://t.co/9ng9EFRLeY
— OutKick (@Outkick) June 3, 2022
It was clear that Kaat meant Cortes was making batters uncomfortable with a dazzling menu of pitches en route to authoring seven innings of five-hit, shutout ball in the Bronx. But suffice to say nobody wants to be referred to as a “molester.”
“Obviously, we take these matters seriously and, like in all cases, will handle this internally and privately,” said Twins Vice President of Communications and Content Dustin Morse, who spoke with Kaat after the broadcast. “Jim meant no ill will.”
Kaat said he intended to apologize privately to Cortes, who heard about the remark and took it with good nature.
“I’m sure, you know, he didn’t really mean it, and people make mistakes, but it didn’t offend me at all,” Cortes told the Associated Press.”So, you know, I don’t really have anything more than just that, honestly.”
Yankee fans have given Cortes a more acceptable nickname this season: “Nasty Nestor.” The win on Thursday rasied his record to 5-1 with a sterling 1.50 ERA.
Kaat, who previously was an announcer for the Yankees, apologized in October after recommending that teams “get a 40-acre field full of” players who look like White Sox infielder Yoan Moncada while doing a game between the White Sox and Houston Astros for the MLB Network.
Some viewers took it as a reference to the U.S. government’s post-Civil War pledge to 40 acres and a mule to freed slaves. He apologized later in that game between the Houston Astros and White Sox.
“Earlier in the game when Yoan Moncada was at the plate, in an attempt to compliment the great player that he is, I used a poor choice of words that resulted in an insensitive and hurtful remark,” Kaat said. “And I’m sorry for that.”
During his own career, Kaat pitched for five teams over 25 years and won 283 games before retiring in 1983. The lefthander was snubbed by sportswriters in Hall of Fame balloting, but finally made it to Cooperstown last year, when the Golden Days Era Committee voted him in.