Soon after Lance McCullers Jr.'s family received online death threats following a tough start by the Houston Astros pitcher, his 5-year-old daughter, Ava, overheard his wife, Kara, talking on the phone about it. What followed was a painful conversation between McCullers and his little girl. "She asked me when I came home: 'Daddy, like, what is threats? Who wants to hurt us? Who wants to hurt me?'" McCullers tells the AP. "Those conversations are tough to deal with." McCullers is one of two MLB pitchers whose families have received online death threats this month as internet abuse of players and their families is on the rise.
The Astros contacted MLB security and the Houston Police Department following the threats to McCullers. A police rep said Thursday that it remains an ongoing investigation. McCullers, who has two young daughters, took immediate action after the threats and reached out to the team to inquire about what could be done to protect his family. Astros owner Jim Crane stepped in and hired 24-hour security for them. It was a move McCullers felt was necessary after what happened. "You have to at that point," he said.
Liam Hendriks, a relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, took to social media soon after the incident with McCullers to call out people who were threatening his own wife's life and directing "vile" comments at him. Hendriks, a 36-year-old reliever who previously battled non-Hodgkin lymphoma, said on Instagram that he and his wife received death threats after a loss to the Mets. He added that people left comments saying that they wished he would have died from cancer, among other abusive comments. "Enough is enough," he said. "Everyone just like sucking up and dealing with it isn't accomplishing anything."
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Players from around the league agree that online abuse has gotten progressively worse in recent years, leading some to abandon social media altogether. Many players believe the abuse is directly linked to the rise in legalized sports betting. "You get a lot of DMs or stuff like that about you ruining someone's bet," veteran Red Sox reliever Justin Wilson said. "I guess they should make better bets." Both the Astros and the Red Sox are working with MLB security to take action against social media users who direct threats toward players and their families, if those users can be IDed. More here.
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