Blue Jays infielder takes direct shot at Orioles fans after announcer's insult

While the Baltimore Orioles' 2025 season has not come anywhere close to what they expected, that doesn't mean that the O's don't want to ruin their AL East rivals' chances the rest of the way. Unfortunately, when the Toronto Blue Jays visited over the weekend, it resulted in a three-game sweep. Things remained mostly civil, with the notable exception of some comments from former Orioles infielder turned broadcast, Brian Roberts.

If, as a broadcaster, you feel compelled to begin your comments with “I’ve got to be real, real, real careful what I say,” it's probably wise to just not say what you are about to say.

Unfortunately, Roberts did not follow that advice, and after Blue Jays fans booed a pickoff play (a completely normal thing in every game) he decided to speak his mind. “But sometimes we had some major questions about the baseball IQ of some Canadians,"Roberts said, "At times it felt like maybe they enjoyed or knew a little bit more about hockey than baseball.”

Blue Jays fans did not take kindly to Roberts' comments, and he was eviscerated across social media, which in turn led to Roberts apologizing for the comments. The most damning response, however, came from Toronto infielder Ernie Clement who took aim at Baltimore's attendance to make his point

Toronto's Ernie Clement just escalated war of words with Orioles fans

Clement, who was factually incorrect, claimed that the Orioles average attendance has been 5,000 per game. The Orioles have actually been drawing north of 22,000 fans to home games in 2025per ESPN. One can understand Clement's mistake because, as a member of the Blue Jays, he's probably still learning how to troll others rather than being the butt of jokes himself.

That said, this is what happens when you throw stones in a glass house. Why Roberts felt the need to take this shot against a team and their fans that seems poised to win the division was certainly a choice, especially with the season the Orioles are having. Ignoring the fact that giving a rival bulletin board material during a series is objectively bad, you're also inviting a LOT of trolling when you say something that inflammatory (and probably not true) on the air.

Unfortunately, this is just another chapter in what has been a brutal season for Orioles fans. It isn't likely that Roberts' comments are going to go down in infamy, if for no other reason that Baltimore is out of the playoff picture altogether. However, one hopes the Orioles broadcast crew is more careful the next time Baltimore is playing in games that actually matter to them.

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