Former MLB player Zack Cozart comes out as pro-bully during embarrassing Spirit Day meltdown

A former MLB player just outed himself as an anti-gay and pro-bully.

Veteran infielder Zack Cozart, who played nine seasons in the major leagues before retiring in 2019, expressed his vehement opposition to Spirit Day, which is celebrated in honor of LGBTQ+ youth. Nearly every MLB team acknowledged the campaign on social media.

As part of National Bullying Prevention Month, Spirit Day began in 2010 after high school student Brittany McMillan made a Tumblr post asking other high school students to wear purple in recognition of the suicide crisis among LGBTQ+ youth. In subsequent years, Spirit Day has become the “most visible annual LGBTQ+ anti-bullying campaign in the world,” according to GLAAD.

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The Cincinnati Reds were one of 27 clubs to recognize the occasion. “The Reds are joining MLB for Purple today in honor of #SpiritDay! We are proud to support LGBTQ youth and speak out against bullying,” the team wrote Thursday.

The nice, seemingly innocuous message drew the predictable ire of homophobes, who shamed the Reds and other teams for “subscribing to LGBTQ+ ideology…” or whatever nonsense they spouted.

And Cozart was one of them.

“This shit is getting ridiculous… I’m so sick of it,” he ranted. “How many months and days do we celebrate true heroes of the military? 🤬🤬🤬”

This shit is getting ridiculous…so sick of it…how many months and days do we celebrate true heroes of the military? 🤬🤬🤬 https://t.co/xbdZJ8aY88

— Zack Cozart (@zack_cozart) October 17, 2024

Ah yes, the whole “why don’t we honor the military?!” catering. As many have noted, the U.S. Armed Forces is perhaps the nation’s most celebrated institution. Respect for the military is especially evident at sporting events, which often begin with special flyovers and other acts of admiration. (In fact, the Pentagon was once scrutinized for spending nearly $7 million on patriotic displays at NFL games.)

Like any professional sports team, the Reds host multiple military appreciation nights (four to be exact) and salute a veteran during the second inning of every home game. They also offer discounts to veterinarians and first responders.

Cozart was apparently unaware of the team’s efforts, despite playing seven seasons in Cincinnati. Maybe he’s talking about himself when he complains that people are ignoring the military?

The Reds held four Military Appreciation Nights in 2024 and are offering discounts to military personnel and first responders. Next time, please do a little research before arguing about an organization that supports the bullying of LGBTQ youth.

— Jeff Young (@BaseballJeff1) October 17, 2024

How DARE MLB is taking a stand against bullying!

How many MONTHS have we been celebrating troops? It literally happens every game. On top of a dugout. And the entire stadium stands and applauds as it should.

Dedicate just one day to combating bullying?! That’s gone TOO FAR 🤬 https://t.co/Y2s0F3Aair

— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) October 17, 2024

The National Anthem is sung before all 2,430 games during the MLB regular season (+ playoffs), and every game I’ve attended has featured veterans

Members of the LGBTQ+ community deserve to be treated with love and respect. Inclusivity is important. https://t.co/ZIaL5Yh1GK

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) October 17, 2024

I’ve never been to a baseball game where the military wasn’t honored. https://t.co/ZaEqcBmWgI

— Tyrone (@TheTyronePalmer) October 17, 2024

he has a point. I don’t think there has been one sporting event where the military has been recognized. pretty crazy when you think about it. https://t.co/D7n7nGcyS1

— Grant Brisbee (@GrantBrisbee) October 17, 2024

Longtime baseball analyst Keith Law called Cozart out on his bigotry.

“All the time, with the national anthem, military flyovers, veterans appreciation days, GBA, Memorial Day, teams asking veterans to stand for everyone to applaud, and more. But one tweet about supporting LGBTQ+ youth is too much?,” he posted.

Cozart, in turn, mentioned his opposition to the “sexualization of children.” 🙄🙄🙄

Another baseball writer, Craig Calcaterra, pointed out that Cozart’s own background is a picture of… the military being honored at a Reds game.

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MLB’s efforts to honor Spirit Day were especially poignant this year, given the passing of Billy Bean in August. Bean, the second MLB player to publicly come out as gay, served as the league’s senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion.

After ten years of leadership, all but one MLB team now hosts an LGBTQ+ Pride Night. While there has still not been an active gay player in the MLB, the landscape is now more inclusive.

Some teams even adopt queer-coded personas, such as the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets. The Mets essentially saved their season with a dominant Pride Month, during which they embraced Grimace and became known as the “Gay Mets.” (And now they’re in the NLCS!)

The Mets’ opponent in the NLCS, the Los Angeles Dodgers, recently made headlines for their very gaycharacteristic cross-hump celebration.

Without a doubt…. the happiest baseball party I ever saw in my lifepic.twitter.com/421ktwkzcT

— Jayroo (@jayroo69) October 12, 2024

Speaking of the playoffs, a sportswriter named Alex Kirshner reminded Cozart of one of his favorite memories of the postseason. His favorite team, the downtrodden Pittsburgh Pirates, had a rare moment of success against the Reds in 2013. They ousted Cincinnati in the National League Wild Card Game… and Cozart recorded the final out!

zack, I want to thank you because being a Pirates fan is horrible, but your grounder to Jason Grilli to meekly end the 2013 wild card game was one of the few good baseball moments of my life. thanks for not having more pop

— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) October 17, 2024

That’s the kind of bullying we can get behind. Grab some pine trees, Zack!

Related*

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