MLB fines Indians pitcher for 'reckless' tweet
Cleveland Indians pitcher Chris Perez is the season's first reported violator of Major League Baseball's new Twitter policy.
Perez has been fined $750 for a tweet last Saturday night after a heated game with the Kansas City Royals that included two heated exchanges and three ejections between the teams, he told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer
Joe Garagiola Jr., MLB's dean of discipline, fined Perez for tweeting: "Huge team win tonight, time for a sweep of the Royals. It's not 'Our Time,' it's TribeTime. P.S. You hit us, we hit you. Period."
The Royals' marketing campaign is based on the "Our Time."
Garagiola said in a letter to Perez he "demonstrated a reckless disregard for the players on both clubs."
Perez told the Plain-Dealer he has read MLB's and the Indians' social media policies and defended his tweet.
"It's freedom of speech," Perez said. "I felt I was within my rights as an American."
