Pro softball was supposed to have a moment.
It wasn’t supposed to come from a tweet, and it wasn’t supposed to take agency away from the players.
The Scrap Yard Dawgs — an independent professional softball team based in Houston — were just beginning their seven-game series with the USSSA Pride in Florida on Monday, a celebratory moment for the return of pro team sports in the United States.
Instead, according to Kiki Stokes, one of two Black players on the Scrap Yard roster, it “felt like defeat.”
Not because of the result of the game, but because of the racist tweet sent by team general manager Connie May.