Being a Rockies fan is difficult a lot of the time, most of the offseason we have wished for the Rockies do so something and make some sort of impact on the free agent market. Seeing them make the effort to improve upon the team, especially in positions where there are players underperforming or departing is an intelligent thing to do. This move either neglected or forgot to account for a lot off the field.
In 2015, Daniel Murphy said the following:
“I would say you can still accept them (homosexuals), but I do disagree with the lifestyle, 100 percent.”
This is still a very controversial statement, especially since Daniel Murphy has moved teams twice in 2018, there has been discussion after each transaction about what he said in 2015 and rightfully so. Murphy is saying that he disagrees with the life that gay people live. This is not the time to discuss the genetics of homosexuality, but there has been much research to show that homosexuality is not truly a choice.
Daniel Murphy has a right to believe these things and I am certain he is not the only person in Major League Baseball or even the Rockies to hold this belief. The difference is that he is public about it, putting his thoughts out there makes him fair game for criticism and is a part of his public identity now. People have responded, notably a Cubs subreddit donating money to a LGBTQ+ charity whenever Daniel Murphy got a hit as a Cub last season.
Since we are all armchair GMs, we actually cannot change the fact that the Rockies signed such a controversial figure. Despite this fact, that does not mean being incredibly upset about it will make the situation better. Rockies fans, we can reply to posts about Daniel Murphy all we want but all that does is create more discourse. I hope that the Rockies can have an official pride night, last year they donated profits from certain tickets sold to an LGBTQ+ organization in Colorado but, did not have a formal pride night. Perhaps having him on the team will give us all a bitter reminder at how much homophobia still exists, and how it is always swept under the rug. Maybe after two years on the Rockies, Daniel Murphy will learn more about this topic and change his views, let’s not forget Colorado’s incoming governor Jared Polis is an avid Rockies fan as well as openly gay.
Until such events occur, no matter how much of an improvement he is over Ian Desmond at first base, the Rockies signed a homophobe, one who I cannot support. Having close family members and friends that are in the LGBTQ+ community, it is wrong of me to support a player who does not support their lives and it is wrong of me to support a team that is giving him $24 million with my own money. I hope that the team, fans and Daniel Murphy can learn from homophobia, to create a more inclusive world.
