Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger’s ‘not that special’ Astros comment will live on forever

It’s OK to make bold statements. In fact, it’s usually great when professional athletes do it.

But sometimes, you have to eat your words. And when that happens, the internet is right there to make sure you do. Just ask Cleveland Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger.

Back in May, Clevinger said the Houston Astros — the defending World Series champs with a stacked roster — are “not that special.”

His words, not ours.

Obviously, his hot take was a juuuuuuuuust a bit off as the Astros finished in first place in the AL West and are headed to the ALCS. Combined with the fact that Clevinger and the Indians just got swept by the Astros in the ALDS, the pitcher’s now infamous quote has been enshrined not just on the internet, but onto this T-shirt as well (note the Alex Bregman mean mug face, too).

BreakingT

So why did Clevinger’s quote go viral?

For one, it’s likely Bregman and Astros fan kept Clevinger’s quote in the back of their minds during the past few months.

Once the sweep was complete, an updated version of this mashup video dropped. Astros fans were pleased and it spread quickly online.

But something else also happened.

On Tuesday, MLB Network’s Robert Flores shared the video from May, created by the Twitter account Space City Sports, and Clevinger got mad online. Flores and Clevinger went back and forth in a Twitter fight, and the Indians pitcher made his feelings known.

After tweets were deleted on both sides, Flores and Clevinger said they’d spoken directly and cleared up their differences.

That’s good for them, but Astros fans still walk away with the last laugh. Oh, yeah, and they still have the chance to defend their World Series title.

Indians fans haven’t said that since 1949. Yikes.

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