For a brief while on the mound Sunday, Sean Newcomb stood atop the world. The young Atlanta Braves pitcher had thrown more than eight scoreless innings and allowed zero hits — until, with just one strike left to close it out, a line-drive single derailed his bid for the Braves’ first no-hitter in a quarter-century.
Yet even as the 25-year-old starter walked back to the bench, deflated as the crowd clapped around him, another unpleasant reality was awaiting him.
As the game unfolded, social media sleuths were unearthing and circulating several of his old tweets that used offensive language. Posted in 2011 and 2012 when Newcomb was in his late teens, the tweets featured racist and homophobic slurs, including the N-word and, more frequently, a certain other F-word.
Read this story now for free
To continue reading, sign up for our newsletter and get unlimited access to WABE.org
You can select your preferences for news and local content. We will never share your email address. Learn how your newsletter sign-up will support WABE and Public Media
