Minnesota Twins TV Analyst Bert Blyleven Takes Shots At Detroit During Rain Delay
By Evan Jankens
@kingofthekc
Former MLB journeyman and Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, now an analyst for the Minnesota Twins, did not do himself any favors with Detroit fans during the rain delay before Thursday's game between the Twins and the Tigers.
The game was delayed by more than three hours, and Blyleven decided to use the time to talk trash about Detroit.
He started off by getting the game time wrong.
From there he corrected himself and took a shot at Detroit: "Maybe they meant 4:45? It is the best I have seen downtown Detroit though! Thank you low clouds!"
Okay, so he took at shot at the Detroit skyline. Maybe in his next tweet he would apologize? Nope. He decided to pile on instead.
Fans did not find his comments amusing.
@BertBlyleven28 I guess you haven't seen how ugly your personality is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
— shan (@shan_cake) April 9, 2015
@BertBlyleven28 DO YOU NOT REALIZE YOU PLAYED HERE. THIS PICTURE IS NEXT TO THE WORD UGLY IN A DICTIONARY pic.twitter.com/GPDz7piYax
— Detroit Tigers Fans (@DTigersFanss) April 9, 2015
Following the barrage of angry Tweets, Jeff Riger of 97.1 The Ticket approached Blyleven and asked if he stood by what he said.
With an expletive not fit for print, Blyleven told Riger that fans should do something to themselves that is anatomically impossible and had to take it because "the city's ugly." Riger says it is unclear whether Blyleven was joking.
Blyleven pitched in the majors for 22 season for five different teams.
The Twins and Fox Sports North issued a joint statement about Blyleven's tweets.
"The Minnesota Twins and Fox Sports North were disappointed with Bert Blyleven's comments on social media earlier today regarding the city of Detroit," the statement read. "His attempt at humor during the rain delay certainly missed the mark and in no way is reflective of the Twins and Fox Sports North's collective respect for the city of Detroit and the Detroit Tigers organization."