In the Phillies’ last series before the All-Star break, they took two of three games from the Boston Red Sox. The game they lost, Vincent Velasquez was on the mound and got lit up by the Red Sox. Velasquez allowed six hits, eight earned runs, and four walks while striking out only two in just 2.1 innings of work. The Phillies lost that game 11-5. 

After the game, fans gathered outside of Fenway Park to watch the Phillies board their bus. As Vinny Velo was boarding, a fan called him “pathetic” which prompted the following interaction that was caught on video. 

As expected, from there, people across social media took sides on who was in the wrong here. Should athletes have thick skin and deal with criticism or should they have the right to chirp back at some loser fan that waited outside of their bus just to call someone pathetic? 

Vinny certainly didn’t help the situation by say words such as “fat-ass” when responding to the fan chirping him. It’s 2021, you can’t comment on people’s physical appearance in an insulting matter. People take that and go completely overboard. That’s exactly what happened in this situation and Vinny was getting ripped for “fat shaming”. 

To be clear, you shouldn’t insult people in general. Be nice. Ignore the hate. It’s just a better way of living. Insulting on physical appearance is a low form of an insult. Vinny should have known better. 

On the other side of things, if you’re sitting outside a team bus waiting to insult someone, you sure as shit better have tough enough skin to take a few jabs yourself. With social media however, it’s not about the single interaction between a player and fan anymore. It’s about everyone’s reaction to the video. 

From there, Vincent Velasquez took the high road and apologized on his instagram. I don’t think he had to honestly, but it was definitely the right move from a public relations standpoint.  These are battles you simply don’t win, so credit to Vinny for squashing it. 

Cheers Vinny. I’ll leave everyone else with this: 

If you’re going to take a video of you insulting a professional athlete, then you better not go running to social media to post the reaction for likes and engagement and then play victim. Either grow up and take the chirps yourself or stop being a total loser. 

Ring it. 

Mandatory Credit: Getty Images