Josh Hader’s dream night quickly turned into a nightmare Wednesday.
As the Milwaukee Brewers reliever pitched in his first career Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Twitter users unearthed a string of racist, homophobic and very vulgar tweets Hader sent back in 2011 and 2012 when he was 17 years old.
While some of Hader’s tweets appeared to be quoting song lyrics, others didn’t, such as tweets that read “I hate gay people,” “KKK” and a fist emoji followed by “white power lol,” according to Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan.
Below are screenshots of more of Hader’s tweets, courtesy of Yahoo Sports. Be warned: They contain highly offensive language.
The tweets resurfaced after Hader allowed a three-run home run to the American League’s Jean Segura in the eighth inning of the All-Star Game, which the AL went on to win 8-6 in 10 innings. The 24-year-old deleted his account before the game even finished, then faced reporters about the insensitive tweets after the game.
“It was something that happened when I was 17 years old,” Hader said, via Yahoo Sports. “As a child, I was immature. I obviously said some things that were inexcusable. That doesn’t reflect on who I am as a person today. And that’s just what it is.”
Wednesday also was a tough night for the Maryland native’s family. About a dozen family members attended Nationals Park wearing his No. 71 jersey, but as news of his old tweets broke, they actually took off those jerseys, according to Passan.
Hader apologized for the language he used but chalked it up to nothing more than youthful immaturity.
“I’m deeply sorry for what I’ve said and what’s been going on,” he added. “And like I said, that doesn’t reflect any of my beliefs going on now. … When you’re a kid, you tweet what’s on your mind.”
Hader is one of several young athletes — most recently Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback Josh Allen and former Villanova guard Donte DiVincenzo — to come under fire for offensive old social media posts.
