To say Daniel Murphy had a great October would be an understatement.
With seven home runs (including going deep in a record six-straight games), the New York Mets second baseman is just one shy of tying Barry Bonds (2002), Carlos Beltran (2004) and Nelson Cruz (2011) for the most in one postseason.
But not everyone is a fan.
“Everybody’s calling him a hero. I say zero,” Joe Dziemianowicz from the New Yrok Daily News writes. “So while others cheer the guy, I’m silent. You can applaud, but I’m sitting on my hands. You can stand, but I’m rooted the chair.”
Why the disdain for the Big Apple’s latest hero?
“It’s a gay thing,” the longtime theater critic continued. “Murphy is famously homophobic — and that doesn’t play in a major league town where the pennant is rainbow-colored.”
You see, prior to the season, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson invited Major League Baseball’s inclusion executive to visit the team and Murphy, a devout Christian, was having none of it.
“I disagree with his lifestyle,” Murphy said of the openly gay Bean. “I do disagree with the fact that Billy is a homosexual. That doesn’t mean I can’t still invest in him and get to know him. I don’t think the fact that someone is a homosexual should completely shut the door on investing in them in a relational aspect. Getting to know him. That, I would say, you can still accept them but I do disagree with the lifestyle, 100 percent.”
Seven months later, some are still reeling from Murphy’s comments. So what’s a gay Mets fan like Dziemianowicz to do?
“For me, it’s hate the homophobia, love the hometeam,” Dziemianowicz added. “And marvel at all the superfans painting the town with bright orange-and-blue pride.”
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