Glen Perkins was a perfect 28-for-28 in save opportunities before the All-Star break. That’s good!

Since then, in four games, he’s blown two saves and lost another. That’s really bad!

It’s the kind of stretch that’s not altogether uncommon for a relief pitcher, but the timing of it has been awful. Fortunately, baseball fans, particularly those on Twitter, are usually of the rational bent and use the social media platform to express words of encouragement when players are in times of struggle.

Wait, that’s not true at all. Perkins has been getting lit up on Twitter. (This is a tame example). And his wife, Alisha, as part of a larger post about teaching their kids that it’s OK not to be perfect and that we all fall down, writes about it here:

Listen, I get that you want to hold Glen to a higher standard because he gets paid a lot and you are used to him being darn near perfect but that does not give you the right to cyber bully him and our family when things don’t go according to plan.

Do you think he doesn’t feel bad already?

Do you think he wanted to fail?

You are delusional if you think he doesn’t feel worst than anyone when he doesn’t succeed.

It is easy to hide behind a screen and spew venom at people you will never meet and who are doing things you could only dream of but it does not make it ok. The “cyber bullying” fad in America needs to stop; it is destructive, offensive, unnecessary, and just pain cowardly. Let’s have a little grace for one another and for ourselves.

I tend to agree. While criticism comes with the territory of being a professional athlete (just as praise often does), personal attacks do not.