ESPN’s Jeff Passan Apologizes for NSFW Tweet Directed at MLB Analyst

MLB’s division series got underway on Tuesday, with four games on the schedule following last weekend’s wild-card round. But perhaps the most eye-popping encounter of the day took place not on the diamond, but in the Twitter-sphere.

ESPN national baseball insider Jeff Passan got into a social media sparring match with Fox Sports’ Ben Verlander. Verlander, the younger brother of Astros ace Justin Verlander, is known to be a vocal supporter of reigning American League MVP Shohei Ohtani. Passan referenced this fact ahead of the older Verlander’s start in Game 1 against the Mariners when lobbing a very NSFW barb after Verlander poked at Passan for his height.

Passan eventually deleted the tweet, but not before it was seen and screenshot by many other accounts. He later offered an apology for taking things too far.

“Earlier, a tweet directed at Ben Verlander crossed the line and was hurtful to many,” Passan wrote. “I deleted the tweet and sincerely apologize. Though Ben and I have known one another for a while and often joke on Twitter, it’s no excuse for my mistake. I will be better and learn from it.”

As of this writing, Verlander had yet to publicly respond to Passan’s apology.