MLB pitcher gets standing ovation after racist, homophobic tweets went viral
A Milwaukee Brewers pitcher received a standing ovation on Saturday at his first game after a series of his past racist, sexist and homophobic tweets surfaced.
The crowd at Milwaukee’s Miller Park gave Josh Hader a standing ovation as he took the mound against the Los Angeles Dodgers, video from the game shows.
Brewers Josh Hader gets standing ovation from fans in Miller Park #LADvsMIL pic.twitter.com/oz10XWeqjt
— AwesomeSauce (@Just1nMKE) July 21, 2018
During last Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game, screenshots of Hader’s years-old tweets from his protected account went viral, including one that read: “I hate gay people” and another that said “White power lol.”
{mosads}In a post-game press conference on Tuesday, Hader apologized and said he was “ready for any consequences” for the tweets, which were posted in 2011 and 2012, when he was a high school student.
“There’s no excuse for what was said,” Hader told reporters. “I’m deeply sorry for what I said and what’s been going on. It doesn’t reflect any of my beliefs now.”
“I was in high school,” he added. “We’re still learning who we are. I was in high school. You live and you learn. This mistake won’t happen again.”
League rules state that athletes cannot be punished for comments made before joining, but he could be required to undergo sensitivity training. Hader was drafted in 2012 by the Baltimore Orioles, the same year some of the tweets were posted.
Hader addressed the tweets again speaking to local media on Friday night, saying that they are “not [his] beliefs at all.”
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