Justin Verlander says he was blindsided by his wife Kate Upton’s viral tweetstorm attacking Major League Baseball after he narrowly lost the 2016 American League Cy Young Award to Rick Porcello.
Verlander finished behind Porcello by five points in the voting, announced on Nov. 16, 2016. Upton, a model who had already appeared on two Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue covers, responded on social media with a message that has stuck around for nearly a decade: “Hey @MLB I thought I was the only person allowed to f— @JustinVerlander ?! What 2 writers didn’t have him on their ballot?”
Speaking recently on the podcast On Base with Mookie Betts, Verlander explained he had no advance warning that his wife planned to go after the league.
“I was doing MLB Network, they had the three finalists on the air, and as soon as it came out, she was firing,” Verlander said. “And so we finished the interview and I go down, and she’s like, ‘You’re not going to like it.’ And sure enough, she had fired off a bunch of stuff, and she had another one preloaded, ready to go.”
According to Verlander, Upton had at least one more tweet queued up and ready to post before he asked her to stop. What that follow-up message would have said remains unknown.
The tweet has become one of the more memorable moments connecting a professional athlete’s family life to public criticism of a sports institution, and it’s often cited as part of what cemented Upton’s public identity beyond modeling as an outspoken MLB wife.
Add comment