Former Tampa Bay Rays’ Player Aubrey Huff Banned from Giants’ World Series Reunion

Former Tampa Bay Rays’ slugger Aubrey Huff has been invited not to attend the Giants’ 2010 World Series Championship reunion.

Aubrey Huff began his major-league career with the Tampa Bay Rays in the year 2000, back in the stone-age when they still had a little devil in them. Huff was a true slugger for the Rays.

In seven seasons in Tampa, he clobbered 128 homers including a run of five straight seasons of more than 20 homers.

Huff was a major contributor to the 2010 World Series Champion, San Francisco Giants. He finished seventh in MVP voting and helped lead the Giants to the title.

He finished his career with San Francisco in 2012 at age 35, by celebrating one more championship.

Today, Huff is in the news for being uninvited from the reunion celebration for the 2010 team.

It’s a polarizing issue as Huff is an outspoken conservative on Twitter and many are blaming politics as the primary culprit for Huff’s exclusion from the party.

Here is the Giants’ official statement: 

"“Earlier this month, we reached out to Aubrey Huff to let him know that he will not be included in the upcoming 2010 World Series Championship reunion. Aubrey has made multiple comments on social media that are unacceptable and run counter to the values of our organization,” the Giants said in a statement. “While we appreciate the many contributions that Aubrey made to the 2010 championship season, we stand by our decision.”"

Huff released the following statement via Twitter.

In the statement, Huff says that CEO Larry Baer informed him that the board voted against his attendance based on his tweets and his “political support of Donald Trump.”

Huff then stated that he finds this “whole thing very hypocritical coming from a man who has had his share of real controversy.”

Huff is referring to an incident in which Baer had a public dispute with his wife and ended up shoving her off of a chair to the ground. You can see the video and read more about that incident here. 

Many are pointing out that his tweets go beyond humor and politics and may warrant the exclusion.

Huff deleted the tweet and said it was a joke.

In January of this year, Huff posted the following controversial tweet regarding a hypothetical Bernie Sanders presidential victory and how he is preparing his family for socialism.

Huff argues these tweets were satirical. His “locker room humor” played a big role in keeping the 2010 Giants’ clubhouse loose and aided in their “charge at a World Series title.”

"“That’s not the issue, it’s politics.”"

On the heels of his tweet about kidnapping and enslaving Iranian women, Huff posted the following statement after the Giants hired MLB’s first full-time female coach, former Sacramento State softball player Alyssa Nakken.

"“I got in trouble for wearing a thong in my own clubhouse when female reporters were present,” Huff continued. “Can’t imagine how it will play out with a full time female coach running around. This has #metoo & #BelieveAllWomen written all over it.”"

Aubrey Huff’s exclusion from the reunion in August has certainly become a polarizing issue. Do you believe it’s solely based on politics? Will teammates defend Huff or were some of his tweets too egregious? Do you think his comments on women are worse than the CEO’s actions?

Could the Giants just be concerned he may show up in a thong? 

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!