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Twitter reacts to Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass and his apology statement

By Nigel Clarke

Mark Blinch/GettyImages
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It has not been a good week for Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass, and as you might expect, Twitter is having a field day.

Already, Bass was something of a punchline among Jays fans, both for his abysmal performance on the mound early this season, and for mid-April’s infamous ‘popcorn incident,’ where Bass complained via a since-deleted tweet that a United Airlines employee had asked his pregnant wife to clean up the popcorn their daughter spilled all over the floor of the plane.

As it turns out, it’s tough to be both an entitled millionaire and a below-replacement-level pitcher and enjoy the support of fans.

But then, on Monday of this week, Bass took things to the #NextLevel, so to speak.

Mere days away from the start of Blue Jays Pride Month, Bass shared a video on his Instagram account calling for the boycott of Target and Bud Light, a boycott which has become the rallying cry of a movement in the United States best described as the opposite of Pride, one that calls support for the LGBTQ+ community, in the words of the post Bass shared, “evil” and “demonic,” and those doing the supporting, “the enemy.”

The post caused an uproar among large segments of the Blue Jays fan base, many of whom suddenly found themselves as “the enemy” of a player on their favorite team. It can probably be assumed that the uproar extended to the boardroom, since Budweiser, the makers of Bud Light, are one of the Jays’ premier sponsors.

Caught in a storm of his own making, Bass appeared in front of the media before Tuesday’s game and offered the kind of cookie cutter quasi-apology we’ve come to expect in these types of situations. Unsurprisingly, an ‘apology’ which started with “I’ll make this quick” and ended with a refusal to take any questions only inflamed the fan base further.

How bad has it gotten for Bass? Well, if Twitter is any indication …

Want to go further than the Twitterverse? Many Jays fans are now going full Bills Mafia and using the opportunity to donate to LGBTQ+ charities such as PFLAG in Anthony Bass’s name.

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