USA Today's Bob Nightengale received backlash for his tweet regarding diversity during the MLB Draft. Screen grab: Foul Territory
MLBBy Ben Axelrod on

With the number of Black players on Opening Day rosters reaching a record low for a third straight year, Major League Baseball has taken steps to improve its diversity.

And with the first round of the MLB Draft seemingly indicating that those efforts are paying off, one reporter took to social media to note as much — only to receive backlash for his post.

“MLB Draft: 9 of the first 21 players selected in the first round are Black players. #Diversity,” USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale posted to X after the Minnesota Twins selected Kansas State shortstop Kaelen Culpepper.

While there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with the content of Nightengale’s post, many were quick to note his awkward use of #diversity, in hashtag form. Even if it’s notable that Black players comprised nearly half of the first 21 picks — and it is — the situation seemingly deserves more context than a hashtag, which was originally implemented on social media as a device to group similar posts together.

As some noted, this isn’t Nightengale’s first awkward social media post regarding diversity in the MLB Draft. Amid the George Floyd protests in 2020, the longtime USA Today reporter and columnist commemorated the Chicago Cubs’ selection of Ed Howard, who is Black, by posting, “The #Cubs draft Ed Howard, yes, showing action instead of hallow words.

The Céspedes Family BBQ account called back to Nightengale’s since-deleted tweet following Sunday’s post.

Unlike his post about Howard — which many took as Nightengale implying that his race played a role in the Cubs drafting him — there wasn’t anything wrong, per se, about his post on Sunday. It was just awkward. Considering that making the post without the hashtag might have also led to some uncomfortable replies, the best solution like would have been to include more context as to why the number of Black players selected on Sunday was significant in the larger context of MLB’s recent diversity issues.

Ultimately, the reality of social media is that even if there wasn’t anything malicious about Nightengale’s intent, there’s a reason why his post was received similarly by so many people. And considering it came five years after his post regarding Howard and his previous social media mishaps, the reaction was hardly surprising.

[Bob Nightengale on X]

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

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