Crowds in Toronto greeted Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass with a chorus of boos after he apologized to the LGBTQ community for posting a video supporting the Target and Bud Light boycotts.
This past Monday, Bass shared a video on his Instagram Stories that featured influencer Ryan Miller calling on Christians to boycott Bud Light over the Dylan Mulvaney partnership and Target for the Pride Merchandise collection. Two days later, he apologized.
“I’ll make this quick,” Bass said. “I recognize yesterday that I made a post that was hurtful to the Pride community, which includes friends of mine and close family members of mine, and I am truly sorry for that.
“I just spoke with my teammates and shared with them my actions yesterday,” he continued. “I apologized with them and, as of right now, I am using the Blue Jays’ resources to better educate myself to make better decisions moving forward. The ballpark is for everybody. We include all fans at the ballpark, and we want to welcome everybody. That’s all I have to say.”
The Blue Jays issued their own statement, saying that “individual player sentiments are not representative of the club’s beliefs.”
While it remains unclear if crowd members were booing Bass due to his apology or his initial post, they booed nonetheless.
Anthony Bass comes into the game, greeted by a couple of separate choruses of boos. #Bluejays pic.twitter.com/NM3IpEA91i
— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness) June 1, 2023
Anthony Bass, pitching under a rainbow CN Tower comes out to a chorus of boos pic.twitter.com/HDNn6zdmsl
— Michie⁷ (@garciamichie) June 1, 2023
The Los Angeles Dodgers engendered tremendous backlash in May when the team invited the anti-Catholic drag queen group “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” to Pride Night, angering its Catholic and Christian fans. After initially rescinding the invite, the Dodgers caved and reinvited the group. Pitcher Blake Treinen has since voiced his disapproval.
Let’s be clear. @dodgers aren’t just welcoming the “queer nuns” as part of their Pride Night. They are giving them a “community heroes” award.https://t.co/g5JQGbdllC
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) May 23, 2023
“I understand that playing baseball is a privilege and not a right. My convictions in Jesus Christ will always come first. Since I have been with the Dodgers, they have been at the forefront of supporting a wide variety of groups,” he said in a statement.
“However, inviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to perform disenfranchises a large community and promotes hate of Christians and people of faith,” he added. “This single event alienates the fans and supporters of the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and professional sports.”
Treinen further added that people turn to sports like baseball for “entertainment value and competition.”
“The fans do not want propaganda or politics forced on them. The debacle with Bud Light and Target should be a warning to companies and professional sports to stay true to their brand and leave the propaganda and politics off the field,” he asserted.
Treinen then quoted the Bible, particularly Galatians 6:7, which says that “God cannot be mocked” and “a man reaps what he sows.”
“This group openly mocks Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of my faith, and I want to make it clear that I do not agree with nor support the decision of the Dodgers to ‘honor’ the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” he concluded.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.