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"Cleveland Indians pitcher Chris Perez was once among the team's most open and engaging players online. The closer would respond to fans, and became known for sharing a \"song of the day\" with followers. \nBut all that is no more. Perez shuttered his Twitter account after incurring the digital wrath of fans who were upset over his recent struggles on the mound. In a somewhat surprising move, the Indians even released a statement on Tuesday afternoon saying that Perez had, in fact, shut down his account. \nMany Cleveland sports fans piled on Perez after he gave up back-to-back homers to blow a save against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday. Then, on Monday, he gave up another homer in the ninth inning of a tie game. \nSEE ALSO: Are Twitter's Sports Trolls Out of Control?\n\nHere are just a few examples of the many ugly messages that fans sent Perez:\n\n@chrisperez54 you suck, dude. We don't need you\n\u2014 Maxwel (@MCB832) May 20, 2013\n\n\n@chrisperez54 u blow\n\u2014 Tyler Davis \u26BE\u26F3 (@BuCkNuTs0) May 20, 2013\n\n\nI will personally buy out the rest of @chrisperez54's contract just to see him leave Cleveland.\n\u2014 feller (@2fellerz) May 20, 2013\n\nThat's unpleasant stuff to have directed your way, to be sure, but unfortunately nothing out of the ordinary for what many pro athletes get after poor performances. NBA star Pau Gasol, NFL player Kyle Williams, NBA player Steve Blake and sportscaster Erin Andrews are just a handful of big names to get abused online. \nSome have even received death threats from fans on Twitter \u2014 although there's also the case of the British boxer who turned the tables on his harasser by hunting him down in real life. \nPerez alienated himself from some Indians fans last season by criticizing poor game attendance, which may have contributed to the animosity towards him. His statement released by the team on Tuesday was vague, and didn't blame angry fans messages for his decision to shut down his Twitter account, but was notable for its mere existence.\n\"The decision to deactivate my Twitter account was a personal choice I made in order to maintain  greater focus on the success of the team this season and our shared goals moving forward,\" Perez's statement reads in part, according to Cleveland.com. \nAre sports trolls on Twitter out of control, or should athletes simply accept them as part of the job? Give us your take in the comments. \nImage via Jason Miller/Getty Images\n      window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement('script');js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);};\n_msla(\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\",\"twitter_jssdk\");"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/05/21/pitcher-quits-twitter/>