Mark Bowman on X
By Robert O'Neill on

Sunday afternoon’s game between the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays saw Braves third baseman Austin Riley tie the game at six in the eighth inning with his sixth home run of the year.

Riley, we would later find out, was playing with a heavy heart, as Mike Brumley, former major leaguer and former Braves hitting instructor, passed away in a car accident Saturday night.

However, the way Braves beat writer Mark Bowman first reported the news on X has caused many people to be upset with the MLB.com writer.

“That’s going to be one of the most memorable and emotional homers of Austin Riley’s career. He lost a good friend and mentor in a car wreck last night. I don’t want to release who it is until after Riley has a chance to talk about it postgame” Bowman posted immediately after the game-tying home run, leading to many asking why he would mention that in the first place if he was waiting for Riley to have a chance to talk about it.

Instead of deleting the post or waiting for Riley to talk about it, Bowman doubled down ten minutes later.

“I should have known this would just create speculation. Former Braves hitting instructor Mike Brumley was killed in a car accident. Riley spent time working with him in Baltimore this week.” Bowman said in the second post.

After the game, Riley did get to share what Brumley meant to him and how he processed the news. It’s just unfortunate that so many people had to find out the way they did through Bowman’s posts.

[Mark Bowman, Bally Sports Braves]

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