GLENDALE, Ariz. -- White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton issued an apology for any insensitivity shown or hurt feelings caused by a Twitter message he sent out during the Academy Awards on Sunday night.
The tweet came shortly after Chris Rock's monologue discussing the lack of diversity in this year's Oscar nominees, with no African-Americans nominated for any of the main categories, and read, "What does it always have to be about black and white ...? #American."
Eaton explained a message of equality was at the heart of this tweet, something he tried to explain in a number of tweets to follow.
"I feel terrible, I truly do," Eaton said on Monday. "However it came across, I feel terrible. It was a tweet basically to talk about equality, that's realistically what I wanted to say.
"That was kind of my feeling. Why does it have to black and white? Why can't we just be Americans? Why can't we all just be equal across the board? That's how the quote came across in my eyes. Again, I apologize to anybody that was offended. I am not by any stretch of the imagination trying to downplay racism in this country.
"Just talking to the guys in the clubhouse -- maybe African-American, Latin American, of all descent -- I like those guys in there just as much as anybody, and they like me," Eaton said. "And to be honest, they didn't see any problem with the tweet. I asked them all and they laughed about it, and said it's one of those things where you can get traction either way.
"But in my eyes, again, I apologize wholeheartedly. I didn't mean anything by it."