In my post the other day about a homophobic tweet sent from Texas Rangers pitcher Derek Holland’s account, I mentioned that a team official told Instant Tea last year that the Rangers would consider filming an “It Gets Better” video, but they never did.
This week we again reached out to the official, Rangers executive vice president for communications John Blake, who responded by pointing out that three Rangers players did in fact record anti-bullying PSAs as part of a campaign unveiled last month.
“These PSAs and the pledge campaign have been very well received in school systems throughout the area and the state of Texas,” Blake said in an email.
Rangers players Elvis Andrus, David Murphy, and Michael Young filmed the PSAs, which can be viewed here.
“The public service announcements were created in August and are currently being distributed to school districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for their use,” according to a press release. “Murphy and Young taped the messages in English while Andrus filmed a Spanish version.
“The Rangers are encouraging all students 14 years of age and older to make an anti-bullying pledge for this school year at texasrangers.com/stopbullying,” the release states. “All students who make this pledge can download a special full color anti-bullying poster of Elvis Andrus, David Murphy, and Michael Young. Students can also share the pledge with their friends through Facebook and Twitter. The PSA’s will also be distributed to local media outlets and are available for viewing online at texasrangers.com/stopbullying.”
I suppose this is better than nothing, but I can’t help but wonder why the Rangers wouldn’t simply join all of the other MLB teams that have filmed “It Gets Better” videos — which are, of course, specifically geared toward LGBT teens. Here’s the response to that question I got from Blake:
“The aim of our campaign is to deliver a message that all forms of bullying are abhorrent,” Blake said. “We wanted to reach the widest possible audience and encourage students all across the Dallas/Fort Worth area to take a stand against all forms of bullying.”
