A chant of "Detroit's bankrupt" broke out at Cleveland's Progressive Field thanks to Indians fans who did not appreciate Detroit fans chanting "Let's go Tigers" during Wednesday night's baseball game.
One could argue that a group of Detroit Tigers fans started it in the top of the ninth inning with the score tied 4-4, chanting "Let's Go Tigers" as the visiting team, an unwritten no-no in baseball etiquette.
Cleveland fans, which saw its team drop the previous game to the Tigers, first greeted the Tiger chants with boos. Then Indians fans took it a step farther, with the loud and repeated "Detroit's bankrupt" chant.
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On July 18,
Detroit became the largest city in American to file for bankruptcy protection, according to the Washington Post. While it could be years before the city emerges from bankruptcy, the filing begins a one- to three-month process to determine whether the city is eligible for Chapter 9 protection and who may compete for the limited settlement money.
But Tigers fans got the last laugh, as Detroit scored two runs in the top of the 14th inning to grab a 6-5win Wednesday. Detroit would win on Thursday as well, extending its winning streak to 12 games and its lead over the second place Indians by seven-and-a-half games, going into Friday night.
Nate Scott of
USA Today called the bankruptcy chants "below the belt" on his "For the Win" blog.
Matt Rudnitsky of
SportsGrid.com called the chant "mean heckling" and that Indians fans should "keep your heckles at least somewhat baseball-related next time, guys."
Tigers fan Sean Mohan attended the game at Progressive field and confessed Detroit fans were not blameless.
“We were doing a lot of trash talking,”
Mohan said to WWJ-TV in Detroit.
While the series hardly gets the same attention as the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry, the Detroit Tigers-Cleveland Indians rivalry has a long history and has gotten pretty testy from time to time. The series has increased in interest this year with Detroit and Cleveland on top of the American League Central standings.
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