Pride Toronto director feels connection with Blue Jays is still strong after Bass saga

Pride Toronto executive director Sherwin Modeste feels the organization's relationship with the Blue Jays remains strong but notes there are still "mixed feelings out there" as a result of the Anthony Bass saga.

"The entire community has not let go and has not forgiven," Modeste said. "It's going to take time. For some folks, it may take two weeks. For some folks, it may take a year.

"But we have to allow people to deal with this as individuals."

"I think the Jays did what they should have done, which was provide opportunities for Anthony to really reflect on his behaviour," Modeste said. "Clearly I think Anthony as an individual has [his] own personal beliefs and the issues that [he] needs to work on. I thought the final decision, I was fine with it.

"I'm a believer that when you call people out, you have to call them in and provide an opportunity for them to change that behaviour. But I don't think that Anthony was there. So I think they made the right call."

The Bass story started to snowball after his brief apology on May 30. He prefaced his statement by saying, "I'll make this quick," before returning to the dugout without taking questions.

Linguist Edwin Battistella, the author of "Sorry About That: The Language of Public Apology," said while it was positive that Bass said he planned to educate himself, he didn't say whether he was sorry for sharing the post or for hurting the community.

"Bass was kind of struggling there with the specificity part," Battistella said from Ashland, Ore. "He sort of waffles about what he's apologizing for."

WATCH | Bass apologizes for Instagram post:

Bass was noticeably booed by home fans in his next pitching appearance.

Over the days that followed, he spoke in the clubhouse on