A hometown crowd erupted in boos when Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass walked onto the field on Wednesday — his first appearance since he commented on the Bud Light and Target boycotts and then, a short time later, apologized for doing so.
Several separate waves of boos could be heard in a video clip shared by The Toronto Star’s baseball columnist Mike Wilner.
WATCH:
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
Bass first stirred controversy when he shared an Instagram video from creator Ryan Miller — who called on Christians to boycott Target over clothing catering to trans-identifying children and Bud Light over its partnership with trans-identifying influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
The Major League pitcher racked up a second round of criticisms when he offered an apology, saying in part, “I recognize yesterday I made a post that was hurtful to the Pride community, which includes friends of mine and close family members of mine. I am truly sorry for that. As of right now, I am using the Blue Jays’ resources to better educate myself to make better decisions moving forward.”
WATCH:
Statement from Anthony Bass: pic.twitter.com/UXLrx1HVO5
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 30, 2023
Critics attacked Bass for apologizing, noting that he professed to be a Christian and arguing that his apology amounted to a compromise of his beliefs.
“Looks like a hostage video. Congrats on getting a Christian scalp, Blue Jays,” one person tweeted in response.
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“How shameful you force him to make this idiotic statement and apologize for his beliefs,” Tom Elliott added.
How shameful you force him to make this idiotic statement and apologize for his beliefs
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 30, 2023
“Humiliating. What type of employer would force their employee to do something like this?” Terry Schilling asked. “It’s truly enraging. And all around the sport of baseball. Woke ruins everything.”
It was unclear from the video taken of Bass at Wednesday’s game whether the crowd was booing because he had shared a video supporting the boycotts or because he later gave in to the calls to apologize for it.