Mariners Catcher Steve Clevenger Racial Tweets and His Apology

Steve Clevenger. (Getty Images)

In the wake of all the civil unrest going on in this nation, here is something we just don’t need.

Mariners backup catcher/infielder Steve Clevenger is in hot water for criticizing via Twitter the civil unrest in Charlotte, N.C., President Barack Obama, and national anthem protests begun by 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

In his first tweet, Clevenger said: “Black people beating whites when a thug got shot holding a gun by a black officer haha s— cracks me up! Keep kneeling for the anthem!” He added: “BLM is pathetic once again! Obama you are pathetic once again! Everyone involved should be locked behind bars like animals!”

Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto issued a response later Thursday:

“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 steps. We will have no further comment at this time.”

Clevenger’s account is currently private on Twitter. The catcher apologized on Thursday night in a statement posted to the Facebook of Fox Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal.

“First and foremost I would like to apologize to the Seattle Mariners, my teammates, my family and the fans of our great game for the distraction my tweets on my personal twitter page caused when they went public earlier today. I am sickened by the idea that anyone would think of me in racist terms. My tweets were reactionary to the events I saw on the news and were worded beyond poorly at best and I can see how and why someone could read into my tweets far more deeply than how I actually feel.

Clevenger, who was limited to 22 games this season because of an injury. We all know this country gives us all freedom of speech, but  you just got to use better judgement when speaking your mind, especially on social media.

I’m not going to call Steve Clevenger a racist but his comments and deleted tweets where in poor taste and terrible timing.