Atlanta Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. didn't mince words Friday night in a Twitter takedown of former MLB shortstop Álex González.
The three-time All-Star right fielder came at González, a fellow Venezuelan that had a 16-year Major League career between 1998 and 2014:
According to Google Translate, Acuña's tweet roughly comes out as the following in English:
"Alex Gonzalez, life must be difficult after retirement. When talking about the best SS in Venezuela nobody mentions you, your numbers are not impressive and now you want to use my name to appear. I keep playing making history and you keep criticizing from the sofa at home."
As Audacy Sports' Jesse Pantuosco noted earlier this week, Acuña pimped -- and then some -- a home run celebration in the Venezuelan Winter League:
Later in the same game, Acuña's family "was attacked with glasses of beer and soft drinks," according to Mari Montes of El Extra Base. There is video evidence of some sort of altercation in the stands that evening:
Following the tense situation, Acuña said that he no longer planned to play in the Venezuelan Winter League:
Sportskeeda says that González objected to Acuña walking away:
"He wrote a scathing reply to Gonzalez's post in which the former shortstop chanted "Acuna withdrew, withdrew and could not take the pressure." This was in reaction to Acuna Jr.'s decision to retire from the Venezuelan Baseball League."
While Acuña seems to have taken exception to criticism on his decision from González, the latter seemed to get a kick out of the beef when responding to the tweet on Instagram Live Friday:
According to the website Archyde, this is a translation of some of the sentiments that González had in response to Acuña.
"The former player of the Leones del Caracas responded jokingly through the live on Instagram “I have him thinking about me, he does not sleep today”, expressed González who also said “Children should be allowed to throw stones” regarding Acuña’s words in a tweet."
Seemingly at the behest of the Braves, Acuña will not represent Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic as he prepares for the 2023 season.
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