Wednesday night was not the homecoming that Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass was hoping for.
Last week, Bass made headlines after he shared a video promoting anti-LGBTQ boycotts of Bud Light and Target, something that has been making the rounds in conservative circles. The video not only contained harmful stereotypes about the LGBTQ community but referred to pride campaigns by each company as “demonic” and “evil.”
On Tuesday, Bass apologized, saying he was “truly sorry” and that he would use the resources within the Blue Jays organization to become better educated about the issues.
While that might be something for the future, right now, Toronto fans were not pleased with Bass when he took the field on Wednesday, booing him over his video and perceived stances.
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
As another person at the game pointed out, the CN Tower, which is next to the stadium, lit up in rainbow colors as Bass took the mount and pitched.
The CN tower made the colours pride when bass comes out in relief for the jays #bluejays #nextlevel pic.twitter.com/59pGtAGe4b
— happyleafsfan (@sebasti13730725) June 1, 2023
Bass pitched one scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one. He was then booed again by the home crowd after leaving the mound.
It’s adding insult to injury for Bass, who entered the game with a 4.50 ERA over 18 innings. It’s also the first time since 2017 that his WAR is under 0.0.
