Mariners catcher Steve Clevenger found himself in hot water on social media on Thursday evening. He tweeted some racist statements pertaining to the Black Lives Matter movement. After receiving criticism, he locked his account and presumably deleted the tweets.
The Score has screen caps of both tweets Clevenger made. [One] [Two]
After being made aware of Clevenger’s tweets, the Mariners issued a statement:
Statement from Jerry Dipoto, Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations on Tweets from catcher Steve Clevenger. pic.twitter.com/1xWk6dy5ap
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 23, 2016
The Seattle Mariners are very disappointed at the tweets posted on Steve Clevenger’s account. While he is certainly free to express himself, his tweets do not in any way represent the opinions of the Seattle Mariners. We strongly disagree with the language and tone of his comments.
We are currently examining all internal options that are available to us as we determine appropriate next steps. We will have no further comment at this time.
Kudos to the Mariners for being quick to respond to the issue.
Clevenger, 30, has played in 22 games for the Mariners this season after they acquired him from the Orioles in the Mark Trumbo trade this past offseason. Across 76 plate appearances, mostly against right-handed pitching, Clevenger has hit .221/.303/.309 with three doubles, one home run, and seven RBI.
