Cubs pitcher Jon Lester took to Twitter on Monday to defend the recent rash of players whose old, insensitive tweets have surfaced and to implore people to scrub their accounts.
“Listen, I’m far from the sharpest tool in the shed and there’s certainly no halo above my head (pardon the rhyme) but I know some of these guys are great dudes who just had lapses in judgments,” he wrote.
Braves starter Sean Newcomb and Nationals shortstop Trea Turner are the latest players to have racist, homophobic tweets from the past exposed. Brewers reliever Josh Hader was the first, and after some of his old tweets surfaced during the All-Star Game he was ordered by MLB to undergo sensitivity training. Hader received a standing ovation at Miller Park in Milwaukee after the incident, and was booed loudly in his first road game in San Francisco last week.
Newcomb’s tweets were revealed after he came within one out of throwing a no-hitter Sunday afternoon, and he apologized after the game. Turner’s tweets were revealed Sunday night.
Nationals President Mike Rizzo said in a statement that Turner understands his comments “are inexcusable and is taking full responsibility for his actions.”
“Trea has been a good teammate and model citizen in our clubhouse, and these comments are not indicative of how he has conducted himself while part of our team,” Rizzo said. “He has apologized to me and to the organization for his comments.”
Lester believes everyone should look at their old tweets and remove anything offensive to avoid a repeat of what Hader, Newcomb and Turner are going through.
“If you’re on Twitter, please spend the 5 minutes it takes to scrub your account of anything you wouldn’t want plastered next to your face on the front page of a newspaper,” he tweeted. “Better yet, don’t say stupid things in the first place. Too many young guys getting burned. #themoreyouknow.”