During the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday night, bigoted and offensive tweets posted several years ago by then-teenaged Josh Hader surfaced, prompting an immediate public and media firestorm.
After the game, Hader apologized and expressed regret for posting the messages, which conveyed racist, misogynist and homophobic sentiments, though multiple times he also blamed his youth for the mistakes.
"You know, it was something that happened when I was 17 years old," said Hader, now 24. "As a child, I was immature, and I obviously said some things that were inexcusable. That doesn't reflect on who I am as a person today, and that's just what it is. Obviously, when you're a kid, you just tweet what's on your mind.
"You can't … there's no excuse for what was said. I'm deeply sorry for what I've said and what's been going on, and like I said, it doesn't reflect any of my beliefs going on now."
Hader said that he was prepared to accept any consequences "for what happened seven years ago." MLB announced on Wednesday that the pitcher would not be suspended, but will be required to attend sensitivity training and participate in diversity and inclusion initiatives.
In a statement, the league addressed Hader’s "unacceptable social media comments in years past" and said he "took the necessary step of expressing remorse for his highly offensive and hurtful language, which fails to represent the values of our game and our expectations for all those who are a part of it."
On Wednesday, the Brewers also released a statement. In it, general manager David Stearns condemned Hader’s comments – and became the first to, rightly, say that when they were made is irrelevant – but also said the club supported the relief pitcher, who allowed a three-run home run in the eighth inning of his first All-Star Game.
"We have been in contact with Josh and he is fully aware of the severity of the situation related to his social media comments, regardless of the timeline of his posts. His comments are inexcusable, and he is taking full responsibility for the consequences of his actions. In no way do these sentiments reflect the views of the Brewers organization or our community.
"Those of us that have come to know Josh do not believe that these posts are representative of his beliefs. He has been a good teammate and contributor to the team in every way. We will continue to work through this issue with Josh as we prepare to resume games after the break."
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
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