Earlier this season, Houston pitcher Lance McCullers, Jr. received death threats against himself & his family from unhappy fans after an Astros loss.
This morning, Boston reliever Liam Hendricks wrote on Instagram that the same thing happened to him after the Red Sox lost to the Mets, 5-1.
Chalk up the death threats to fair weather "fans" who are either drunk, or just plain upset that they bet on the game, and lost, or both.
We've seen death threats issued against football players, too, in recent years, largely for the same reasons. Keep in mind, too, that this was before sports betting became an accepted thing with pro leagues. It's just a game, kids.
Back in the day, even Off Track Betting knew gambling could get out of control, especially in New York City, hence their slogan for their downstate branches, "Bet with your head, not over it". It certainly holds true today in all sports, as well as in the lottery.
The threats against ballplayers will continue until the teams and/or leagues step in to police it, and that itself will prove to be an arduous task, but it has to be done, for everyone's sake.
2 comments:
I would suspect some of these "fans" are angry with players because that player's errant pitch or whiffed third strike just cost that "fan" a big parlay and they have no one to blame but themselves for gambling on a sport.
Proof that gambling helps accelerate mental deterioration in some people.
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