Cliff Lee landed in hot water on Wednesday for stereotyping Phillies fans as both “exciting” and “intelligent” during his introductory press conference.

The bigoted comments unfairly paint a welcoming picture of Phillies fans, which could destroy the town’s reputation for crass, rude and dangerous behavior that took the national media several decades to build.

“They get excited. They’re passionate fans,” Lee said during his unprovoked attack on Phillies fans. “I didn’t realize until I got here how interesting the city is. My family really liked it.”

Lee joins Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt in carrying on a disturbing trend of high-profile pitchers falling in love with playing in Philadelphia.