There was a time during last week’s sturm und drang over the Dodgers honoring the drag-nun philanthropists Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence where it felt like Major League Baseball was a nonstop parade of Anthony Basses, Blake Treinens, and Trevor Williamses.

Not exactly the best way to start Pride Month. It left us belting out, “We need a hero! We’re holding out for hero ’til the end of the night!”

And when LGBTQ baseball fans start channeling their inner Bonnie Tyler, it’s like sending up the Bat Signal for Sean Doolittle.

The All Star Washington Nationals closer has been out all season rehabbing from surgery to repair a partially torn UCL. But even though he hasn’t pitched in 2023, he still used his Twitter platform to come through in the clutch.

Like Marcus Stroman and Julio Rodríguez before him, Doolittle took to Twitter to wish his fans “Happy Pride!”

He added:

“Sending love and support to all my LGBTQIA+ friends and family! You are beautiful and you are enough and your existence is not up for debate. Be proud and know that you are loved.”

Composing a good Pride tweet must have felt like taking the mound for a save in the 2019 World Series. Because Doolittle nailed it.

That wasn’t all, either. Doolitte’s Pride wishes were just the start of a Twitter thread amplifying LGBTQ rights organizations doing important work during a time when our community is under attack. Also within that thread, he offered up the most unequivocal support for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence that anyone in baseball has spoken to date.

“Lotta people just found out about the @SFSisters,” he wrote, “but they were on the front lines during the AIDS crisis & are literally woven into the fabric of the AIDS Quilt. For 44 years, they have been doing corporal works of mercy and spreading love to the most marginalized members of society.”

If MLB awarded saves for humanity, Doolittle would lead the league despite not taking the mound once all season.

He went on to shout out several other groups “working to make the world better for LGBTQIA+ folks” including queer and trans advocacy group SMYAL, LGBTQ homeless safe space David’s Place, and Scottish mental health charity Highland Pride.

The full list of charities and service organizations can be found on Doolittle’s thread.

For their part, the Nationals went on to host another successful Night OUT later that evening, with one of the highlights being Abe, George, Tom, and Teddy utilizing Pride Ride bicycles during that night’s Presidents Race.

In the end, Abraham Lincoln was the winner on Night OUT. Which, according to at least one researcher, might have been the most historically accurate result of all.

After a rough start to June, the LGBTQ support from Doolittle and the Nationals is helping MLB Pride feel a little bit more celebratory. It’s time for other allies in the game to step up and match their commitment to our community’s baseball fans.

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