The roar of the crowd and the passion of the fans are the lifeblood of baseball. But sometimes that heady passion sours and turns ugly, crossing a line into a disturbing realm of personal attacks and threats. For players, the dark side has been exponentially multiplied by the digital age, with social media becoming a vehicle for abuse that follows them home. The most recent flashpoint of this escalating crisis came following the Red Sox’s 5-1 loss to the New York Mets.

Liam Hendriks of the Red Sox took the loss, giving up three runs and getting only two outs. Shortly thereafter, Hendriks and his wife faced a barrage of “horrible and cruel” death threats online. Some vile messages even wished he “died from cancer”— a particularly devastating remark given his very public fight with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Red Sox Manager Alex Cora was quick to express his support for the player. “We’re in the public eye, and people feel they have the right to say whatever they want. Sometimes, it comes from burner accounts, fake people. It puts everyone in a tough spot,” he said.

Cora further emphasized the team’s responsibility: “We have to protect our players, and we have to voice what we think.”

The Sox manager knows this ugly reality all too well. He revealed his own scary experience. After being suspended in2020 for his part in the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, his family endured severe threats. “I put my family in a tough spot, especially when the news came out. It was dangerous, and we were afraid, to be honest,” he shared.

Cora, however, credited Major League Baseball’s security division, saying, “I don’t want to go into details, but they did an amazing job.” This admission highlights such threats for high-profile baseball personalities are not new.

Liam Hendriks, in his own powerful statement, declared, “enough is enough.” He is demanding more than just condemnation; he wants tangible action. “This is one thing that more people need to talk about so we can get some sort of action, some sort of response, some sort of repercussions for the people doing it,” he urged.

Hendriks further stressed, “This is something that is deplorable. There needs to be some sort of punishment so that people can think twice before they start doing this stuff.” This is not the first time an MLB player has spoken out against online abuse.

MLB and the abuse crisis

Unfortunately, Hendriks and Cora are just the tip of the iceberg. Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. said in 2025 that he had received death threats against his young children, adding it’s “a little bit tough to deal with.”

Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, who had courageously detailed his previous mental health challenges and suicide attempt in a documentary, was disgustingly heckled about it by a fan. Players like Logan Webb and Paul Sewald have shared how sports gambling losses feed fan anger, with Sewald saying threats escalate to, “I’m going to kill you and then kill your family.”

Confronted about the gambling threats, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has said the league is “discussing internally what and whether we should do to be more proactive.” He affirmed MLB takes threats “really seriously.”

However, some look to organizations like the NCAA, which has publicly and proactively worked to combat online abuse of college athletes with its Draw the Line campaign.

The Red Sox, in the meantime, are managing a tough 2025 season with a 25-26 record as of May 24 and now sit in third place in the AL East standings, 6.0 games behind the Yankees. Their +8 run differential implies some competitive underlying numbers, but consistency remains elusive.

While players battle on the field, the league faces a crucial off-field fight: When will enough truly be enough and the athletes will be protected from this dangerous wave of harassment?