Seattle Mariners: Erik Swanson details threats against family

Every player has an off night. Even the greats have days where nothing goes as planned and they come up short. Regardless of position, every player will eventually struggle. That was the case for Seattle Mariners reliever Erik Swanson on Sunday.

Swanson, who had been pitching well, had come into Sunday’s game against the Rangers to attempt to protect a 3-1 lead. Three batters later, he was walking off the mound as he blew his first save of the year. That performance led to an outburst from Mariners’ “fans.”

Erik Swanson right to put Seattle Mariners’ “fans” on blast

Even with that outing, Swanson has pitched well this season. He has posted a 1.86 ERA and a 0.931 WHiP in his 19.1 innings, striking out 19 batters with seven walks. He has allowed just three homers on the season, with two coming in that one disastrous outing.

We have seen far more unruly behavior amongst fans this season. Fights in the stands have been much more common, streakers have been running onto the diamonds, and fans are even throwing baseballs at players or spitting on their family members.

Maybe it is just pent up aggression due to fans not being in the stands last season. Or maybe it is frustration boiling over now that everything is open after the pandemic. But this is clearly becoming a problem that almost every team has to deal with.

As Swanson said, it is okay to boo a player. It is okay to heckle them on the diamond. However, there is a line that should not be crossed. That includes threatening a player, or their family, wishing them death because of one bad game. It is, in the end, exactly that – a game. Players will have that outing where they struggle, just as Swanson did.

Seattle Mariners reliever Erik Swanson had one bad outing. That does not mean that he and his family should receive death threats.