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Dexter Fowler's wife takes down reporter after he blames error on Fowler's 'swag'

A note to reporters everywhere, if you go after St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler, you better have a legitimate reason. If you spout off nonsense, his wife won’t hesitate to set the record straight.

What happened?

That’s what happened following the Cardinals’ 4-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday. In the sixth inning of the contest, Fowler made an error on a Starlin Castro line drive. That’s when Mark Saxon of The Athletic decided to fire off this tweet.

Saxon decided to blame Fowler’s “swag” as the reason he made the error. That didn’t go over well with Fowler’s wife.

What was the response?

Fowler’s wife, Aliya Fowler, called out Saxon’s use of the term, and told him not to make her husband a “discriminatory image.”

She explained what she meant by that, and also laid out why it was a problem for Saxon to criticize Fowler in that way.

Did Saxon respond?

He did. He claims he’s heard Fowler use that term “in that context” before.

Are fans defending Fowler?

As you might expect, things are pretty split. Some believe Fowler’s wife is overreacting. Others think Saxon’s comment was tone deaf.

Many in the Twitter comments are explaining what the word “swagger” actually means. That doesn’t really apply in this instance. Saxon is using swag to describe a negative action, which, as Aliya Fowler explains, he may not have done with a white player.

For anyone arguing semantics, plenty of players can have swagger. It’s using the term as if it’s somehow a negative thing that has people questioning Saxon here.

A reporter thought Dexter Fowler’s swag was the reason he made an error. (AP Photo)
A reporter thought Dexter Fowler’s swag was the reason he made an error. (AP Photo)

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik

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