As Brewers pitcher Josh Hader is learning this week, a person's old tweets can unearth some ugly, embarrassing skeletons. The lefty is under fire for a string of racist and homophobic remarks he tweeted in 2011 and 2012, when he was 17, which were dug up during the All-Star break.
It's happened repeatedly in sports, including to Villanova guard Donte DiVincenzo on the heels of his NCAA title win, and to Mitchell Trubisky, freshly drafted by the Bears.
One Chicago athlete who doesn't have this problem? White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito. In fact, as Twitter user @ChiSoxFanMike pointed out on Wednesday, the 24-year-old's teenage tweets are pure gold.
Giolito's tweets quickly made the rounds, and it’s not hard to see why. He waxes poetic on the simple joys of the aquarium touch tank and cereal with dad, on the genius of Pixar sequels.
The Californian's choicest posts span from 2011 to 2013, a formative period during which he was drafted by Washington Nationals. Giolito eventually made his major league debut in 2016, and landed in Chicago via a trade that winter.
He also seems to have a zest for baking:
Ya boy is baking tonight… Stay tuned
— Lucas Giolito (@LGio27) 22 February 2016
Can you guys guess what's coming tonight??? #PiDay #PieDay pic.twitter.com/eTntH56fe4
— Lucas Giolito (@LGio27) 14 March 2016
We are back in the kitchen! What could it be? #theBaker @lgio27 pic.twitter.com/qtbqUuayQE
— Spencer Kieboom (@KieBOOM22) 7 March 2016
Can't wait to dig into this thing. #Strawberryshortcake #perfect pic.twitter.com/GZotcUZyGD
— Lucas Giolito (@LGio27) 22 March 2016
Chocolate Chess fresh out of the oven…. Homemade whipped cream coming soon! pic.twitter.com/pbJV74jjdi
— Lucas Giolito (@LGio27) 15 March 2016
Lemon bars!!! pic.twitter.com/qAeAYvw615
— Lucas Giolito (@LGio27) 8 March 2016
Little Krispy kreme style bday cake for @KieBOOM22 pic.twitter.com/27fNSfrE5v
— Lucas Giolito (@LGio27) 17 March 2016
"Best cinnamon roll I've ever had in my entire life" – Brian Jeroloman #theseareinsane @BryanHarper45 @KieBOOM22 pic.twitter.com/ubs0qPYKDJ
— Lucas Giolito (@LGio27) 25 April 2016
Just kidding. 2 for the clubhouse tomorrow pic.twitter.com/623MmMNEJh
— Lucas Giolito (@LGio27) 1 March 2016
A scroll through Giolito’s Instagram provides moments of wonder as well:
Extraordinary indeed.
Of course, as Sirius Black once said, “we've all got both light and dark inside of us," and Giolito reminded fans yesterday that he's not perfect.
I have a dark side too. Sometimes I drink the milk right from the carton in the fridge https://t.co/vNxCTkaxrQ
— Lucas Giolito (@LGio27) 19 July 2018
Just kidding, he is perfect.