Mariners suspend catcher for tweet
Steve Clevenger’s apology over Thursday’s late-night Twitter rant regarding the protests in Charlotte was not enough to prevent the Mariners from suspending the injured catcher without pay for the remainder of the 2016 season.
“As soon as we became aware of the tweets posted by Steve yesterday we began to examine all of our options in regard to his standing on the team,” Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto said Friday in a statement. “Today we have informed him that he is suspended for the reminder of the season without pay.”
In tweets on his private Twitter account that were screen-grabbed and then reposted by a Seattle TV reporter, Clevenger made inflammatory comments about the protests this week over the killing of Keith Lamont Scott by Charlotte police. “Black people beating whites when a thug got shot holding a gun by a black officer haha s—t cracks me up! Keep kneeling for the Anthem!” tweeted Clevenger, who was out for the season anyway after suffering a broken hand in June.
“BLM (Black Lives Matter) is pathetic once again! Obama you are pathetic once again! Everyone involved should be locked behind bars like animals!”
Clevenger, 30, apologized later Thursday night in a statement through his agent, saying he was “sickened by the idea that anyone would think of me in racist terms.”
Clevenger will lose roughly $34,000 in salary due to the suspension. “I grew up on the streets of Baltimore, a city I love to this very day,” Clevenger said in his apology. “I grew up in a very culturally diverse area of America and I am very proud to come from there. I am also proud that my inner circle of friends has never been defined by race but by the content of their character. Any former teammate or anyone who has met me can attest to this and I pride myself on not being a judgemental (sic) person. I just ask that the public not judge me because of an ill worded tweet.”