When my grandfather turned 80, he went from mildly crabby to a full-fledged curmudgeon. He was always happy to tell you what he thought of you or fall asleep in the middle of a story he found particularly uninteresting. Unlike getting old enough to not give a crap, it seems that an induction into the Hall of Fame does not give a person free rein to say whatever they want.
In a move that might have been more expected of Keith Hernandez, Bert Blyleven elected to rip on the city of Detroit during a Twins rain delay. The fiasco started innocently enough, with just a bit of confusion about what time the game started.
If they are starting this game at 3:45, 22 minutes from now, EST! Don’t you think they have taken the tarp off? pic.twitter.com/jUcM4DBhn0
— Bert Blyleven (@BertBlyleven28) April 9, 2015
Bert was quickly made aware of his mistake and took the moment to make an ill-fated joke at Detroit’s expense.
The fine folks of Detroit took none too kindly to that and proceeded to fiercely troll Blyleven on Twitter, including a gem about how the city isn’t as ugly as his baseball team. Bert responded in kind, seemingly not caring whose panties ended up in a bunch.
A statement was later issued by the Twins and Fox Sports, apologizing for the insulting tweets. But in Bert’s defense, the Twins scoring one lonely run over three games is enough to make any Minnesota alum really cranky.