CHICAGO — Long after his retirement, New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio lamented the treatment of baseball players by modern-day fans.

“In my day,” DiMaggio said, “they just called you a bum.”

Oh, for the days when fans thought calling someone a bum was about as insulting as it gets. Nothing is out of bounds anymore, and now they’re armed with smartphones to catch players returning the volley with a vulgar insult of their own.

Pete Crow-Armstrong, the talented Chicago Cubs center fielder who could use an emotional support dog to relax him while playing baseball, was baited by one such fan on Sunday at White Sox Park after he missed a fly ball that no one on the planet could’ve caught. He then paid the price when the video of his vulgar response went viral. Crow-Armstrong said he woke up Monday to many text messages about the incident and expressed regret before the Cubs-Milwaukee Brewers game.

“I just regret my choice of words the most, and who that affects in my life,” he said, referring to unnamed women. “So I’m just bummed out about the word choice, and that a bunch of little kids go and probably find their way to social media and see that as well.”

Crow-Armstrong blamed it on his intensity and called it a “lack of awareness.” He did not apologize to the fan, who reportedly provoked Crow-Armstrong by telling him some version of “you suck,” which long ago replaced “you’re a bum” among popular fan insults.

Manager Craig Counsell agreed that the word choice was inappropriate, but stopped short of saying players should completely ignore harassing fans. It’s easy to say, but harder to do when they’re two feet away from someone divided by a fence.

I’m not here to defend Crow-Armstrong, who is old enough to know better. But the fan who tried to get a reaction from him for social media — and succeeded — should also be embarrassed for behaving like a meathead. Yes, women can be meatheads, too.

Of course, this is nothing new in sports. American idiots have been around hassling athletes forever. The only thing that’s changed is the verbiage and the viral videos, and maybe the fact that women seem to be as abusive as men at some venues.

I’ve been covering stuff like this for decades. Thirty years ago this week, I was covering a White Sox-Brewers game at County Stadium when a Brewers fan provoked Sox outfielder Tony Phillips, making profane remarks about his mother.

Instead of ignoring the fan, Phillips told him to meet him under the bleachers, then removed himself from the game, put on his street clothes, walked out to the bleachers and called the fan down from his seat. The two then argued, Phillips called him a “fat white boy,” the fan shoved the outfielder and Phillips decked him. The cops came and arrested Phillips on a misdemeanor battery charge, and we had a story that got national attention.

The next day, I called the Brewers fan and asked why he came down when Phillips confronted him.

“Well, I didn’t think he’d hit me,” he said. “I thought he’d just yell at me. But he gets in my face and says, ‘You’re talking a lot for a fat white boy.’ I said, ‘You should be used to heckling.’ He clobbered me twice, I hit the ground and he left.”

The charges were eventually dropped, and the American League fined Phillips $5,000. I asked him if he expected the incident to stay with him the rest of his career.

“People are going to say what they want to say,” Phillips replied. “They always do. Fans are going to say things. I opened myself up to that criticism, so I can accept it.”

Crow-Armstrong is still at the beginning of his career, and with so many kids who idolize him, he probably needs to be aware of what he says in public.

Cubs fans are not immune from stupidity either. Who can forget the night game in 2009 when a fan in the bleachers dumped beer on the head of Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino?

Cubs security targeted the wrong guy while the real culprit got away, leading to an all-out search by the Chicago police and every media outlet in town.

Eventually, the alleged beer-tosser, 21-year-old Johnny Macchione, turned himself in and was charged with two misdemeanor counts. “Bum takes rap,” read the Chicago Tribune headline, a play on the term “bleacher bum” and the old-time baseball insult Joe DiMaggio apparently preferred.

“Chicago Cubs, I’m sorry I disgraced you,” Macchione said as he left Belmont Area police headquarters. He told the Tribune it was “an impulsive move” and there was “no excuse” for his behavior. To his credit, he accepted responsibility for his actions and didn’t just say it was the wrong choice of beers.

Cubs president Crane Kenney and general manager Jim Hendry went out of their way to apologize to the Phillies and Victorino for their fan being a knucklehead. I don’t expect the White Sox brass to apologize to the Cubs for their own knucklehead. It’s just another episode from the City Series, after all.

Counsell said he wouldn’t tell his players not to talk back to abusive fans.

“Fan interaction can be fun,” he said. “It’s dangerous, but it can be fun. So I wouldn’t say ‘Don’t do it.'”

Stuff happens. When Phillips punched the taunting fan, he was already near the end of his career and didn’t care too much about his reputation.

“Trouble follows me around,” he once told me.

I concurred. And even though he’s only 24, maybe the same thing could be said for Crow-Armstrong.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

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