Dodgers infielder Max Muncy inadvertently found himself in hot water on Monday. He posted what he thought was a minor complaint to his Instagram story, a photograph of stacks of white and yellow envelopes containing autograph requests. Muncy captioned the image, “Coming home from a mini vacation to this many requests for autographs through the mail is just absurd.” He added, “Please respect my family’s home and our limited time here.”
The problem was that someone recently leaked Muncy’s home address online and autograph seekers took full advantage of the newfound information. Muncy was pleading with anyone who would listen to stop flooding his mailbox with autograph requests and to respect his and his family’s privacy. Seems pretty reasonable.
That didn’t stop the Internet from taking Muncy’s Instagram post out of context, acting like he was discouraging fans from seeking autographs at all. One fan, who had one of the more popular responses to Muncy, tweeted, “Imagine being ungrateful for your fans. There are better ways to go about this, @maxmuncy9. This ain’t it.” Baseball fans grabbed their pitchforks and took to the proverbial streets. Muncy was forced to clarify his comments with another Instagram story. He wrote:I would like to take a moment to clarify my previous post. My wife and I genuinely cherish and respect each and every one of you, and can honestly say there are no better fans in baseball than Dodger fans. I truly enjoy going through and reading each of your letters and am more than happy to sign any cards or memorabilia that you have for me.
With that being said, at some point over the past few months our home address in Texas was leaked and we have been swamped with all of the items we are receiving. To help protect my family’s privacy and safety, I want to ask you to please send all requests going forward to the Dodgers clubhouse in Los Angeles.
Please accept my apology and know how thankful we are to be a part of the best organization in the MLB!
Muncy didn’t owe anyone an apology, but it was nice of him to offer one anyway. Hopefully, all this effort leads to an unclogged inbox.