This pitcher refused to wear a Pride logo. He was just nominated for a humanitarian award.
Jason Adam did not wear a rainbow logo on his jersey during Pride Night in 2022. Now he's nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award with his new team.
Mark
According to MLB’s website, the Roberto Clemente Award “is bestowed annually to the player who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”
Each team nominates one player for the Clemente Award during September and invites their fans to vote for the eventual winner. And it’s important to remember what the league believes it is honoring when you read this next bit of news about the 2026 award.
The San Diego Padres nominated Jason Adam.
The same Jason Adam who, while playing with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2022, decided to commemorate Pride Night by refusing to wear a rainbow logo on his jersey.
He also served as the spokesman for four bullpenmates who did the same, telling the media, “when we put it on our bodies, I think a lot of guys decided that it’s just a lifestyle that maybe — not that they look down on anybody or think differently — it’s just that maybe we don’t want to encourage it if we believe in Jesus.”
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Rays pitcher Jason Adam’s homophobia undercuts every message of welcome on Pride Night
Adam’s message about our ‘lifestyle’ reinforces an ugly stereotype about how athletes view the LGBTQ community.
To the best of my knowledge, Adam has not publicly addressed his homophobic words and actions since then.
As often happens in baseball and sports in general, though, his hateful behavior has mostly gotten memory-holed because Adam produces on the field and teams like the Padres are still willing to use him to get batters out in high leverage innings.
It’s definitely not great, especially for LGBTQ Padres fans.
But to nominate Adam for MLB’s most important humanitarian award, named for one of its most beloved philanthropists of all time? That’s a slap in the face to every fan with an ability to remember anything that happened before The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
None of us wants to live in a sports world where “not repeating a brazen act of public homophobia in at least four years” is suddenly considered extraordinary character.
As the Padres press release noted, Adam was singled out for his work in support of Olive Crest, a religious-based charity aiding children suffering from abuse and homelessness. Obviously, providing help to vulnerable and neglected kids is a great thing.
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Phillies and Padres hurt their LGBTQ fans with trades for homophobic players Austin Hays and Jason Adam
Even though trades for Hays and Adam might improve their teams, the players’ homophobic pasts also make them harder to root for. Plus: an injured pitcher steps up for drag queens & two thirst traps!
But you don’t need me to remind you of the many instances of children being abused or kicked out of their homes because they’re gay or lesbian or transgender. What would Adam say about helping them?
Community involvement and philanthropy shouldn’t be followed by *(with exceptions).
Considering its infamous role in baseball history, no one wants to see that kind of asterisk associated with the Clemente Award.
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