On Sunday, Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Taylor Walls earned a “Dishonorable mention” from Florida Politics for the past week.
Walls’ crime, as many see it: He actually had an opinion that ran against the liberal current. And like so many salmon in those National Geographic shows, the left-wing bears on social media came for him.
Walls last week decided that he would publicly agree with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that biological men claiming to be transgender should not compete with biological women.
On Tuesday, the Republican governor tweeted a comment about the recent NCAA swimming championships, in which controversial University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a trans woman, won the 500-year freestyle event.
“By allowing men to compete in women’s sports, the NCAA is destroying opportunities for women, making a mockery of its championships, and perpetuating a fraud. In Florida, we reject these lies and recognize Sarasota’s Emma Weyant as the best women’s swimmer in the 500y freestyle,” said DeSantis. The tweet included a shot of the state proclamation recognizing Weyant.
Walls chimed in with his own tweet: “Couldn’t agree more.” That’s it.
On Wednesday, Walls, who reportedly got a lecture from Rays manager Kevin Cash about sharing his thoughts, gave an explanation of his comment.
“In my opinion, I don’t think I did anything wrong,” Walls told the Tampa Bay Times. “I think I just gave my opinion. Some people may have taken that out of context. And I’m very sorry to them. I respect them. I don’t mean any disrespect to anybody at all.”
“Usually, I try to keep politics away from everything,” he continued. “Other people’s views are other people’s views. I respect that 100 percent. The same way I feel that mine should be respected, too. So, no, I’m not a big political-rant guy, I’m not trying to spark many conversations.”
Walls added, “Honestly, it’s just something to where I was kind of voicing my opinion out loud. It was just more of an impulsive thing to where I saw something, (and) I agreed with it.”
“Everybody’s opinion should be valued or heard. The same way that I do my best to understand everyone’s perspective, even if I don’t agree with it, I think that should be reciprocated to everyone,” said Walls.
“I feel like it’s a two-way street. I feel like I respect others. I don’t do anything out of disrespect or harming anyone else. It’s just my opinion. And feel free to disagree, there’s no harm done. I don’t have any hard feelings towards anyone else. And that’s kind of it.”
Accordingly, Florida Politics columnist Joe Henderson on Sunday made the ballplayer a “dishonorable mention” for the political loser of the week.
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Henderson allowed after recounting the controversy surrounding Walls.
“However, pssst, kid?,” Henderson added. “As someone known for giving my opinion, often the best key to use before sending a tweet is the delete key. Just sayin’.”
Now, Walls may not be Bryce Harper or Clay Kershaw. But he is an American, free to express his opinion on what is the hottest issue in politics besides gas prices, inflation, and the war in Ukraine.
He, unfortunately, has to deal with the blowback.
But those who criticize Walls, DeSantis, and those who think as they don’t want a debate, cordial or otherwise. The only thing they want from their opponents is silence. They demand that people like Walls “use … the delete key.”
Which is why Elon Musk recently generated a huge uproar with a subtle suggestion that he may launch his own social media platform to counter Twitter. It’s also why each day we show we are one nation, easily divisible.
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