Boston Red Sox

Red Sox Nation should give Kate Upton a pass on Twitter spat

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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After Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello beat Justin Verlander for the A.L. Cy Young Award, Kate Upton had strong words. Should we respond?

By now, Red Sox Nation has heard about or read the expletive comments of Kate Upton, the fiance of Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander. She was quite angry about him losing to Porcello, who won the American League Cy Young Award for the best pitcher in 2016. Even though Porcello had less first place votes, his amount of second place votes helped him overtake Verlander in the rankings.

Mark Townsend of Yahoo! Sports covers the Twitter barrage that Upton let loose on the world after the award was announced. Her initial tweet cannot be shown in its original form, as she used profanity to suggest that she is the only one who could [ahem] take care of her man in a particular way, not the award judges. However, here is another example of her verbal assault:

Sorry Rick but you didn’t get any 1st place votes? you didn’t win. #ByeFelicia @MLB keep up with the times and fire those writers

— Kate Upton (@KateUpton) November 16, 2016

No, her being a supermodel is not a good enough excuse, no matter how attractive she is to Red Sox Nation members.

Her love of sports, however, is a big factor. How many sports lovers have wished that their significant other, no matter the gender or sexuality, loved sports as much as they did? How many times has that special someone yelled, scolded, complained, guilt-tripped, and otherwise nagged the sports fan to stop spending so much time obsessed with the games that they love so much? How many late nights and early days have the couples in question spent torturously arguing about what the sports lover should be spending with their time?

Mar 25, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; American model Kate Upton and Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander watch the game during the second half between the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Instead, Upton not only goes to Verlander’s games, this couple goes together to many sporting events. From basketball to horse racing, Upton has a great time and actually knows what is going on. Some people would give anything for the same situation.

Another factor would be that many of us would wish that our special someone would also stick up for us when they feel that we have been slighted by the world. Very publicly, Verlander may or may not have been dissed by the judging panel. Upton believes that her man was wronged and wanted revenge for it. Whether appropriate or not, her words definitely got the baseball world’s attention to the issue.

Do we have that same backup from our partner? Do we know that they would be there for us, even publicly?

Upton’s comments may have cost her fans, endorsements, and significant amounts of money, and yet it would not matter to her. The most important person in her life is Verlander and she aimed to protect him at any cost to herself.

From a sports fan’s perspective or from anyone who wished to be cared about in the same manner, can any of us really blame her for that?

I must confess that I’ve had my moments of that same torture before from my wife; however, I know that she loves me and wants to see me safe and happy. She also enjoys watching sports with me, even if it’s mainly football (baseball tends to make her leave the room). With as much as I put her through, seemingly daily, I know that she’s got my back just as much as Upton had her man’s back the other day. I’m a lucky man; some Red Sox Nation members can’t say the same.

With all of that in mind, can Red Sox Nation give Upton a free pass on this one? Maybe she shouldn’t have let loose on Porcello’s award-winning night. Yet, maybe we can understand where she’s coming from. And, if all else fails, let Bostonians think of this: remember how Tom Brady’s wife talks, texts, or does anything at all when anyone says anything about her husband.