Nate Silver is getting slammed for trying to make fun of the Red Sox cheating scandal

Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for AWXII

Nate Silver.

A report by Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times says the Boston Red Sox were caught stealing signs against the New York Yankees using Apple Watches.

The scandal is not terribly unlike the cheating scandals that have plagued their local NFL brethren, the New England Patriots, especially "Spygate." Nate Silver of ESPN's FiveThirtyEight seemingly tried to start a social-media meme making fun of the Boston-area teams and their alleged cheating ways, and is getting slammed for the effort.

The quality of the meme posted to Silver's Twitter account is certainly questionable in and of itself. However, to make matters worse, the young boy in the photo is Henry Richard, the older brother of Martin Richard, who was killed in the Boston Marathon bombing.

Twitter/Nate Silver

Richard was part of an on-field ceremony with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick prior to the Red Sox' home opener in 2015. Richard handed Brady the ball used during the ceremonial first pitch.

Richard also clearly has nothing to do with anything the Red Sox or Patriots may or may not have done during leading to their respective controversies, something people were quick to point out.