Dig up, stupid!

The Anthony Bass saga took several turns on Thursday, none of which presented the Blue Jays in a flattering light.

Since the earliest days of the Blue Jays' Mark Shapiro/Ross Atkins era the club's attempts at public relations have been a frequent talking point among fans. Given the poisonous atmosphere Shapiro arrived to — made only worse by the departure of Alex Anthopoulos quickly thereafter, and a full court press from Beeston-friendly media hacks doing their damndest to paint the "Cleveland crew" as untrustworthy outsiders — it's understandable that communication became such a flashpoint.

They were criticized for the jargon they used. They were criticized for being too evasive. (“The one thing that I regret is that in all the things that I have talked about with Charlie is that I had not talked to him about the importance of Victoria Day.”) They were criticized for not being evasive enough. (“Turned 14 years of control into 42 years of control.”) They were criticized, it seemed at times, for everything always, just because of who was speaking and how it was being said.

I was probably too dismissive of frustrated fans doing whatever they could to express their frustrations in those days, but the criticisms, and the "bad at PR" reputation that tended to stick because of them, felt a bit petty to me. I often found myself wondering why fans wanted the club to be better at slickly spinning things, or saying the things it was clear they were saying, only less robotically. “Tone deaf” implies that it isn’t the content of what’s being said that’s the problem, doesn’t it? Isn’t what you mean and what you do more important than what you say anyway? It often seemed to me like criticism in search of a target.

Well, it turns out that being tone deaf does not quite mean that. And I'm writing this all in the past tense here because... holy shit. After what unfolded on Thursday afternoon... holy shit.

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I know we all have probably heard most of this already, but let's quickly review.

About a week-and-a-half ago, Jays reliever Anthony Bass shared a post to his Instagram in which a man explains what he claims are "the reasons, biblically," why "Christians ought to be boycotting Target and Bud Light and any other corporation that's pushing the things that they're pushing."

To give money to Target, the video explains while citing a selective reading of Ephesians 5, "is to take part in that God of Mammon that they're serving, and to take part in the darkness that they're purveying and getting out to the world and shoving into children's faces."

“I believe the bible gives us radical precedent to say ‘No. We are running from that.’ And to instead expose those things. To shout it to all the people that have ears to hear that this is evil, that this is demonic, we won't stand for it.”

Who is being referred to here is not exactly a mystery, nor do I think I need to explain much about why this was deeply offensive. Here was a Blue Jays pitcher using his social media platform to push a video calling people “evil,” “demonic,” and perpetuating the lie that they are child predators simply for existing.

Bass made a 33 second apology to an assemblage of cameras before the Jays' game on May 30th, beginning it with, "I'll make this quick" — not exactly a mark of sincerity, as many fans noticed — then declining to take questions afterwards.

In his statement he claimed he would be "using the Blue Jays resources to better educate (himself) to make better decisions moving forward." He then continued, "The ballpark is for everybody. We include all fans at the ballpark, and we want to welcome everybody. That's all I have to say."

Bass was booed lustily by the home crowd when he pitched the following night. He has pitched only one time since. His ERA sits at 4.95. He is not an especially important part of this team.

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That week, Atkins spoke about the decision not to discipline his seventh-best reliever to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun, explaining that — at least behind closed doors — "the remorse was authentic, the apology was authentic and the accountability was also there for him agreeing to take action to ensure he’s not going to mistake like that ever again."

Not sure who appointed Ross the arbiter of which apologies to the LGBTQ+ community are satisfactorily authentic, but I digress. None of this ever passed the smell test after what we had all seen with our own eyes and heard with our own ears in the form of his apology — and the video itself. If Bass vowing to learn and spouting some slogans wasn't the bare minimum I don't know what is.

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Fast forward to Thursday and Bass finally met the media, beginning with an interview with the Canadian Press and Sportsnet, which focused on a meeting he’d had with Pride Toronto executive director Sherwin Modeste earlier in the week.

Modeste said he was satisfied by the conversation, and Bass acknowledged that he hadn't understood the difficulty many people have when coming out of the closet, though he mostly framed his mistake as being one of saying the quiet part a little too loud.

"I have my personal beliefs in my faith and that's what initially drew me to re-post the video that I did," he said. "Through this process, speaking with Sherwin, getting the backlash from the majority of people here in Toronto, I just need to be more sensitive in understanding people are free to think and feel the way they want, and not to cause any type of burden or strain on someone that may be trying to make a decision with their life that some people might not be accepting of."

Then, in a line that could just as easily be read as him talking about himself and the boos he’d received from Jays fans, he added: "I think I've learned that being accepting of everyone's views and values and beliefs is important."

What he didn't say, of course, was anything about the people he weirdly calls the "Pride community" not being "demonic" or "evil" or a threat to children.

And this is where this sort of no longer becomes about Bass. I don’t know if we can expect him to renounce whatever all-too-common corruption of faith he says he adheres to. But we can certainly expect the Blue Jays to not stand by those beliefs, and to not ask fans to have to cheer for someone who holds them and uses their platform to promote them.

Or we might expect that if anything they’ve said throughout this whole episode seemed even the slightest bit sincere — or made it appear as though they have anything deeper than the thinnest veneer of commitment to inclusivity beyond their marketing materials.

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Screengrab via Twitter

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With the hours until Friday’s kick-off of the club’s Pride Weekend celebrations counting down, Atkins faced the media at 3 PM on Thursday.

From SI's Ethan Diamandas:

#BlueJays GM Ross Atkins said there would’ve been a “different outcome” had he felt Anthony Bass’ apology was inauthentic.

Atkins said he was personally hurt by Bass’ actions and that the duo had a “charged” conversation, during which Atkins expressed his disappointment.

From MLB.com's Keegan Matheson:

Ross Atkins says Anthony Bass is using resources in Toronto and with MLB:

“This is just a first step for him and the fact it was so enlightening and hearing his reaction to it, I think, makes those next steps much more powerful and I think he can share more about that as we go.”

From Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith:

#BlueJays GM Ross Atkins says he was angry and disappointed to see Anthony Bass share hateful anti-LGBTQ+ content recently. Asked whether Bass’s comments are a distraction, Atkins said any distraction created is worth spending time on given the importance of inclusion.

From Keegan:

Asked Ross Atkins if he feels Bass has changed his beliefs or only feels remorse for causing this situation:

“I do get the sense that the awareness has increased, the enlightenment has occurred, and those are words from him. But to changing his beliefs, I’d rather you ask him.”

In other words, Bass was turned toward the light by a "charged conversation" after his GM expressed disappointment. He authentically expressed remorse, thereby avoiding a "different outcome." Already he has started using those "resources" provided him, which he's found "enlightening." Awareness has increased. Powerful stuff! But even more work lies ahead, because while it may be a distraction, it's worth it given the importance of inclusion.

Wow! It sounds like this couldn’t have gone more perfectly, huh? Every box already checked. Each step forward a greater triumph. What are the odds?!?

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Bass spoke to reporters after Atkins did. As well-oiled a PR machine as the Blue Jays seem to believe themselves might have been keen enough to switch up the order of those events.

From SI’s Mitch Bannon:

Anthony Bass just met with the media and answered questions:

“Moving forward I will definitely know better than to post my personal beliefs on social media platforms.”

From Keegan:

Bass was asked if he thinks the video he shared on Instagram was hateful:

“I do not. That's why I posted it originally. When I look back at it, I can see how people would view it that way and that's why I was apologetic.”

In other words: I’m sorry you felt that way. A classic of the non-apology genre!

Truly incredible stuff. Atkins expends all this effort to try to launder Bass’s reputation for him, and then in three little words Bass admits that he’s learned nothing. That all the talk about authenticity, about enlightenment, it was just bullshit. A purely self-serving attempt to preempt Pride Weekend backlash and make this all go away as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Or, pretty much exactly what the club’s handling of this has felt like all along.

And then! Before we really even had a chance to fully process the whiplash from “the enlightenment has occurred,” to “no I do not” (think it’s hateful), another completely insane twist…

Screengrab via Twitter

I’m not sure I saw a single person online who didn’t immediately think this must have been a joke. I mean, I suppose if you’re delusional enough to have thought not only that your PR strategy was sound, let alone that it was actually working, it follows that you might be delusional enough to think this is a good idea. But I’m pretty sure it’s very deeply, and very obviously, offensive.

The guy catching the first pitch thinks you’re a predator, and doesn’t think it’s hateful to say you’re demonic and evil, but don’t worry, we’ve decided on your behalf that he’s sufficiently apologetic for not keeping it to himself. Thanks for taking part in his image rehabilitation. Here, have a rainbow sticker in the shape of a bank logo!

Who wins but the exact kind of homophobe as in the video Bass posted if you put people off of your Pride night? If you dampen the mood? And what else could the outcome of having this guy front and centre be?

Why not invite Bill Madlock to a 1987 Jays reunion while you’re at it?

Hell, even Bass, though he apparently was the one who offered to catch the ceremonial pitch in the first place, seems to have a better read on how he’ll be received.

“I would expect more boos,” he said, according to Gregory Strong’s CP piece, when asked about the reception he envisions if he were to pitch on the weekend. “It's still fresh, it's still pretty new and I think it's going to take some more time than just a week and a half to get the fans hopefully changing those boos into cheers. But I get it.”

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I don’t doubt that the internal politics of all this are maybe a little more complicated than I’m acknowledging here. Given the demographics of the sport, these types of views aren’t necessarily going to be uncommon in any given clubhouse, and Bass, when asked about how he first saw the video, implied that the person who sent it to him may be someone we know.

“I won't throw this person under the bus, but someone sent it to me on Instagram, sharing their views of the situation going on in the world. When I watched it, obviously it aligned with my personal beliefs.”

Is losing the room why the Blue Jays are seemingly so afraid to do anything here? Signalling to future free agents and extension candidates and coaches that certain hateful views aren’t welcome here? Is that why they’re insisting there’s no need for any sort of discipline — quite the opposite, in fact! — while Bass continues to make fools of them every time he opens his mouth?

For people who think and talk about leadership as much as they do, they sure don’t seem to recognize when it’s called for, do they?

And that’s just it. Whatever dumb-dick instincts have been driving the decisions they’ve made, the way they’ve handled all of this can only be taken by those of us on the outside as a reflection of the organization’s values. And when it comes right down to it those seem awfully distant from the slogans and the lip service paid every June for the sake of branding and selling tickets.

I realize that’s completely unsurprising behaviour from a business — probably even more so from one whose cretinous chairman of the board jetted off to Mar-a-Lago during a pandemic lockdown and posed for family pictures with Donald Trump — but I don’t think it’s unreasonable or too Pollyannaish to expect better.

In my line of work you occasionally let your internal guard down and find yourself wondering if what you do matters, or if you’re just grinding away for the sake of something entirely frivolous. (Thanks, Chomsky!) And one of the things that I think about whenever those moments hit is what it was like in the city in the fall of 2015, when the Blue Jays were finally heading back to the playoffs for the first time in over 20 years on the back of the absolute, bar none, best team in baseball. The way strangers would chatter about the previous night’s game while in line for a morning coffee, or how you could jump in any cab and the driver would already have the game on the radio. How every TV in every bar and window seemed to always be tuned in.

These memories may not be exact, nor were they universal, I’m sure. But the Blue Jays brought the city together in a really tangible and kinda beautiful way. So, for a lot of people this probably isn’t quite like a bank or a grocery chain doing cynical rainbow capitalism. A sports team means more. The Jays mean more. And when people who comprise a huge part of the fabric of the city you represent are made to feel unwelcome by them, the team shouldn’t be surprised if it’s taken as betrayal that cuts deep.

Based on the messaging they’re trying to put out there, the team does understand this. But for some unfathomable reason they just can’t seem to match their words with their deeds. Disappointing doesn’t even begin…

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