Giants Cancel Championship Legend Aubrey Huff For Tweeting Support Of Trump

Sports used to be a thing over which people of different political and social backgrounds could join in support of their local team. No longer. The trend of politicizing everything infected professional sports years ago but now has even started creeping into sports history. This week, the San Francisco Giants cast Aubrey Huff’s legacy down the memory hole because he made the mistake of backing the wrong political party...How times have changed in the decade since. Many of the politicians are the same, but the new occupant of the White House — and people’s extreme reactions to him — have changed even normal events such as these into political contests. Aubrey Huff, a first baseman and outfielder for the 2010 Giants, was recently informed by the team that he is not welcome at an upcoming celebration of the 10th anniversary of the World Series win. His crime: publicly supporting Donald Trump. In an interview with Steve Berman and Dan Brown of The Athletic, Huff discussed the snub from his former employers. Asked for his opinion, Huff said he was “quite frankly, shocked. Disappointed. If it wasn’t for me, they wouldn’t be having a reunion.” Huff, who hit .290 with 26 home runs and slugged .506 that year, was not exaggerating. He was the most valuable player on the team that year, as measured by Baseball Reference’s wins against replacement stat, and finished seventh in the National League’s MVP voting. He was also known as a great presence in the clubhouse, a team leader who had an unusual sense of humor. Huff was no bit player; he was the heart of a winning team...Far from being cowed at being made into an unperson, Huff used social media to tell his story. He tweeted, “My locker room humor on Twitter is meant to be satirical, and sarcastic. And it was that type of humor that loosened up the clubhouse in 2010 for our charge at a World Series title. They loved it then, and it hasn’t changed. That’s not the issue. It’s politics.” Huff also took aim at the Giants owner, Larry Baer. “I find this whole thing very hypocritical coming from a man who has had his share of real controversy for pushing his wife, for which he had to take a break from the Giants and issue a formal apology. All I did was tweet.” Huff was referring to a 2019 incident in which Baer was seen and filmed arguing with his wife in a park, an argument that left her sprawled on the ground after Baer wrestled a cell phone from her. Major League Baseball, under the pusillanimous leadership of Rob Manfred, suspended Baer for three months. It’s a good thing Baer didn’t vote the wrong way, or else he’d be out in the cold for good...MORE