Two weeks ago, offensive old tweets from Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Josh Hader were exposed. Over the weekend, two more MLB players found themselves in a similar predicament.
After coming this close to tossing a no-hitter Sunday, Atlanta Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb saw his tweets from 2011-12 surface. The posts used homophobic slurs and racist language.
Sean Newcomb is cancelled pic.twitter.com/0KGrXXLm6Z
uhhhhhhhhhhhhh hey @SeanNewk, you really like that word, huh? pic.twitter.com/swd0EGG2M7
Newcomb's Twitter account has since been deleted. After reporters left the clubhouse following the game, Newcomb learned his old tweets had been exposed. He asked to bring the media back in.
Sean Newcomb said he saw the tweets resurfaced when he was on his phone after today’s game and he wanted to get ahead of it and apologize, so he asked the #Braves if he could meet with media now to issue statement.
"This is something that obviously can’t be happening," Newcomb said. "I feel bad about it. I don't mean to offend anybody. I definitely regret it."
Additionally, the tweets of Washington Nationals shortshop Trea Turner—who was 18 at the time of the posts—also surfaced. The Washington Post summarized Turner's posts:
Two of Turner's resurfaced tweets were replies in which acquaintances were called homophobic slurs. In another, the tweet reads "unless ur gay" in a reply to a former North Carolina State teammate. A fourth tweet suggests that if a woman working at a drive-through were to ask who the [faggot] in the back of a car was, it would be Turner. A fifth tweet reads, "Once u go black, u gonna need a wheelchair," a line from the movie White Chicks.
Turner and Nationals manager Mike Rizzo both issued statements.
The MLB previously did not fine or suspend Hader, opting instead to order that he attends sensitivity training. Newcomb and Turner will likely receive a similar punishment.
