Even though Bryce Harper remains in Washington and his team didn’t make any blockbuster deadline deals, it was a tumultuous day at Nationals Park.
Forty-five minutes before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET non-waiver trade deadline, shortstop Trea Turner held a news conference in regards to offensive tweets he made in 2011 and ’12 that surfaced over the weekend,. The tweets included a gay slur, anti-gay comments and a joke with racist undertones.
“For starters,” Turner said, “I want to apologize to everybody that was affected by things that I said. LGBT community, African-American community, special-needs community, I’m truly sorry for what I said and I want to take full responsibility for that. I want to apologize to my teammates. I just had talked to them, to make sure they know my thoughts and where I’m at. I want to apologize to [general manager] Mike Rizzo and the Nationals for bringing this distraction to this team and the organization.”cheap nfl nike jersey
It’s a distraction that the Nationals can ill afford right now. After Tuesday’s 25-4 win over the New York Mets, Washington (53-53) sits in third place in the National League East, 5½ games behind the the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.
After Sunday’s 5-0 loss to the Miami Marlins, Turner released a statement apologizing for the tweets that had surfaced earlier that day. On Tuesday, he elaborated on that apology.
“Most importantly, apologize to the fans,” said the 25-year-old shortstop, who delivered his comments in the Nationals news conference room with his hands clasped and appearing to be visibly choked up. “The fans have been sharing their thoughts over the last few days and I’ve had the chance to read a few of them, and I think that’s where it’s the most affected by what I said. I want to apologize to those people.cheap nfl jerseys china nike
“It’s not when I said the things that I said — it’s that I said them at all. That’s a clear learning point from this. Making sure that anybody is aware of what they’re saying at all times, and no matter how you use it or what context you use it in, words hurt. It’s wrong and inexcusable for what I said. I know I said I’m an athlete and I want to use that platform for good and make a difference in a positive way, and I think I can do that and I want to do that. Moving forward, that’s something I need to look into and make sure I’m doing. I just want to reiterate that I’m really sorry for what I said.”
Turner hit leadoff on Tuesday and went 4-for-6 with three runs scored. He didn’t receive a notable reaction from the crowd in Washington ahead of his first at-bat, then he singled, stole two bases and scored on a Harper double. That was part of a seven-run first, the team’s largest opening inning in over three years and the most first-inning runs by any NL team this season. It ended the night with a franchise record 25 runs.