MLB pitcher released amid backlash to tweet on homosexuality refuses to renounce Christian beliefs
A Major League Baseball pitcher released by the Boston Red Sox after one start in June following backlash to his social media activity, including a 2021 tweet stating that "homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God," has vowed not to apologize for his Christian beliefs.
Matt Dermody, a 33-year-old pitcher who signed with the Boston Red Sox organization this year and made one spot start, appeared on Tomi Lahren's "Tomi Lahren is Fearless" podcast Friday to discuss the fallout over his now-deleted June 2021 tweet.
In the tweet in question, Dermody wrote, "homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God" and "will go to hell," citing 1 Corinthians 6:9.
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"May we all examine our hearts, ask Jesus to forgive us and repent of all our sins. I love you all in Christ Jesus!" Dermody tweeted. In addition, concern was raised by progressives about his social media activity supporting former President Donald Trump.
Although the tweet was posted two years earlier, it didn't draw media attention and social scrutiny until Dermody was called up to make a spot start in June against the Cleveland Guardians after pitching in nine games for the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate.
Lahren claims that the "tweet got pulled out by the woke mob," which drove the Red Sox to separate themselves from Dermody's beliefs. After giving up three runs across four innings of work on June 8, Dermody was designated for assignment the next day, meaning he was placed on waivers and cut from the team. After clearing waivers, he was assigned to the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate in Worcester on June 11. Five days later, the Red Sox released Dermody from his contract, meaning he is now a free agent.
Dermody told Lahren that the Red Sox general manager knew of the tweet in spring training, before the regular season even started, and the two had a conversation about it. He recalled assuring him, "I don't want anybody to go to Hell."
"I saw the list of all the things ... that lead people to Hell, and I was on that list," he added. "That instilled the fear of the Lord in me. And so now, it's not really about me anymore, but it's about helping others and preaching the Gospel and the Good News of Jesus Christ, that He saves us from ... the fires of Hell."
Dermody defended the tweet as "far from homophobic," stressing, "I don't hate anybody in this world."
He said the 2021 tweet came not long after he first embraced the Christian faith.
"The whole pandemic kind of shook my whole world up because … I lost my job in baseball, I … was kind of searching for the meaning of life after that," Dermody, who previously pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs, said.
The baseball player purchased a Bible to please his then-girlfriend, now his wife. And after reading it during his "mini-identity crisis," he was "super convicted with the life that I was living." According to Dermody, "I knew at that moment ... if I died that night, I was not going to be in Heaven with God."
Dermody claims a "big identity crisis" is plaguing the United States, defined by "males thinking they're girls and girls thinking they're boys."
As Dermody is "still pursuing baseball," Lahren asked him how he would respond if another team offered him the contract in exchange for apologizing for the tweet.
He outlined how he would respond: "I'm sorry for hurting people's feelings … but I believe in God; I believe in the word of God ... and I want people to get to Heaven."
"I'm not going to affirm any kind of sinful or immoral behavior … that's going to lead people astray," he concluded.
Commenting on Dermody's dismissal in a statement to The Boston Globe, Red Sox General Manager Brian O'Halloran cited the fact that "we wanted to give the opportunity to other players" and acknowledged that "we factor in everything."
"Certainly we considered everything that became public with regard to his Twitter activity. That was also something that we factored into this decision," O'Halloran maintained.
O'Halloran also apologized for calling up Dermody even though the Red Sox knew about the tweet.
"We regret that this caused people to feel that hurt," he said. "I'm sorry about that. We're sorry about that. We celebrated Pride Day the other day and that was an incredible day at the ballpark. The atmosphere was so joyous and celebratory on the field and in the stands."
"We're proud of our history celebrating Pride Night and standing next to the LGBTQ+ community. We're sorry that a roster decision that we made caused harm to that community. We regret that it hurt people in the community, it hurt our fans, it hurt people that work in the organization."
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
