Indians’ Closer Chris Perez: I Don’t Regret Confrontation With Fan [Video]

Cleveland Indians All-Star closer Chris Perez implied that he won’t apologize for his R-rated tirade against a heckler in Oakland on Sunday that went viral because the heckling wasn’t an isolated incident.

“He’s been wearing me out for four [seasons],” Perez told MLB.com. “I had enough.”

Perez got into the shouting match (see NSFW video below) with the fan while he was shagging fly balls in the outfield during batting practice. Perez stressed that the fan, more precisely a non-fan, was not a “random guy” in the stands and instead was someone that keeps showing up when the Indians visit the Oakland A’s ballpark.

Chris Perez indicated to AP that he has no regrets about the confrontation except for the part that it was caught on video:

“I don’t regret it. Looking back it’s not the best thing to be on the Internet and stuff. I had no idea they were videotaping it. I wouldn’t have done it. Looking back, that’s what he was planning. So he got me….It was pretty bad, but it could have been worse.”

Indians management have discussed the situation with Perez, and apparently he acknowledged that he needs to handle things better going forward.

Chris Perez created a different form of controversy earlier this season for publicly criticizing Cleveland-area sports fans for lackluster attendance at Progressive Field when the Indians were still in first place.

Going into tonight’s action, the right-hander has 100 MLB career saves, with 32 this season, along with four blown saves (that is prominently mentioned on the video) in 2012 and a season ERA of 3.63

Watch the confrontation between Chris Perez and the heckler in Oakland:

[iframe src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/4jinvhRG24s?rel=0? width=”420? height=”315?]

Who do you think got the better of the exchange, if anyone?

[Image credit: Keith Allison]