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Jason Kipnis uses expletives on Twitter after fan calls Indians 'pathetic'

Big League Stew

Jason Kipnis of the Cleveland Indians did something Saturday night — well, a few things — a major leaguer probably shouldn't do after a tough loss.

• He went on the internet.

• He checked Twitter.

• He responded emotionally to an emotional message left by fan Tom Horsman that was uncomplimentary toward the Indians.

Kipnis frequently engages fans on Twitter, which is great, but he leaves himself open for moments like this:

 
 

 

To see the tweet uncensored, click here. Kipnis has not deleted it, as others might have.

The fan explained that he had driven all of the way to Comerica Park (from Cleveland, presumably) to watch the Detroit Tigers win 5-4 after Alex Avila hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth. It was the kind of loss that ripped your heart out if you're an Indians fan or — as sometimes we forget — a player.

 

And if you watched the game, it was easy to see why Kipnis snapped. The Indians didn't play poorly at all — they certainly didn't get blown out or make a bunch of errors — they're running out of time to catch Detroit in the AL Central or anyone for a wild card berth. Anyone calling them "pathetic" seems misplaced, inaccurate and unfair with their criticism.

Note, though, that Horsman addressed the tweet to Kipnis personally, and referred to the "9,000 people" who go to Indians home games in September. The Indians are next-to-last in home attendance this season, and sometimes it's a sore subject with players.

Also, Kipnis individually has performed well off his pace of a season ago, when he made the All-Star team and finished 11th in AL MVP voting. Kipnis is batting .245 with a .316 on-base and .335 slugging percentage this season. Partly, or perhaps significantly, it's because of an oblique injury.

Via a post on the team's website, Indians manager Terry Francona stood up for his player:

Though Francona did not necessarily condone the way Kipnis handled the situation, the manager agreed with the second baseman's overall message.

"He just showed he cares. He cares about us winning," Francona said. "I think as difficult as a loss can be, for me, I was no less proud of their effort last night. Shoot, man. We got after it. We just lost.

"It hurts, but if anything, that's where the loyalty and stuff like that grows, because we're going to do it together. That's part of what I think will get us eventually where we want to be."

Sitting at his locker on Sunday morning, Kipnis declined to discuss his late-night tweets. "That's not a story," Kipnis said. "We're not talking about that. It's not a story -- don't make it into one."

Well, it's too late for that.

It's not ideal, from a public relations and marketing standpoint, to have your players calling fans bleeping idiots, even if the fan is in the wrong. After Horsman noted that he was wearing a Kipnis No. 22 jersey at the time of his brief diatribe, Kipnis jokingly wondered if he had thrown the jersey away. It doesn't sound like it. Kipnis had gotten away with trying to burn down one of his bridges. The next Indians player would be advised to stay off the internet after another loss like the one to the Tigers.

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David Brown is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rdbrown@yahoo-inc.com and follow him on Twitter!

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