Happy Pride, y'all! And what better way to start the celebration than by promoting an outwardly and unapologetically homophobic pitcher less than a week before Pride Night at your ballpark?
The Boston Red Sox organization did just that and defended their decision—for a day anyway.
Pitcher Matt Dermody was brought up from the Worcester Red Sox to pitch against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday despite the fact he openly tweeted an anti-LGBTQ+ message tagged for Pride Month in 2021.
The now-deleted post said:
“#PrideMonth. Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God."
"They will go to hell. This is not my opinion, but the #Truth."
"Read 1 Corinthians 6:9. May we all examine our hearts, ask Jesus to forgive us and repent of all our sins. I love you all in Christ Jesus!"
But guys, he's "not a homophobic."
The Red Sox chose to start Dermody, anyway, claiming they were at first unaware of the tweet and—after speaking with the newly-promoted pitcher amidst the exposed controversy—Dermody "didn’t realize that his words would be hurtful."
Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom added:
"Obviously, that doesn’t mean that we endorse anything he said or anything he believes."
"But the fact of the matter is, if we’re committed to creating an (inclusive) environment, it’s not right for us to police what people believe."
But fans weren't having the excuses and shared their dismay Dermody was a member of the Red Sox in the first place.
And while the Red Sox were "unaware" of Dermody's tweet because it was deleted, a quick search—according to one Twitter user—had people questioning if they hired the right person to conduct background checks.
Yikes.
Dermody's career as a Boston Red Sox pitcher lasted about six hours as he was DFA'd after the game and outrighted back to Worcester.
The 32-year-old Dermody played in the Majors for the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs beforebeing picked up by Boston. Dermody also played in Japan and Korea.
It remains unclear if the decision to drop Dermody from the 40 man MLB roster was made due to the backlash over his Twitter history or as a result of his dismal performance on the mound. Dermody gave up three runs off four hits plus one walk over the span of only four innings—after which he was yanked from the game—during Boston's 10-3 loss against Cleveland.
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