As if the Rays-Yankees rivalry needed any further fuel on the fire, it appears there’s now a war between the two teams’ media…sort of, and only on Twitter.
During Game 1 of the ALDS, the Rays’ radio broadcast team was discussing a double play turned on Aaron Judge when a comment was made that “if you’re the Rays, you want to see Aaron Judge trying to sprint and prevent a double play…you want to see that from (Giancarlo Stanton), maybe they get some of those recurring leg issues they’ve had in the past bounce back again.”
Seemed like an innocuous comment referencing the lower-leg issues that have plagued the two sluggers, but Yankees Twitter is not having it.
Nick Costanzo, whose bio at Twitter handle @ncostanzo24 lists him as a contributor to Bronx Pinstripes, Tweeted a link to the audio call with some choice words attached. (WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE)
Another Twitter user responded, tagging Rays radio broadcasters Dave Wills and Andy Freed, as well as WDAE-FM (the Rays’ radio outlet), in trolling for answers, and all hell broke loose – with the radio station’s account, program director John Mamola, and Wills himself all responding to the criticism in different ways.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a rivalry if it was left at just that; more and more members of Yankees Twitter piled on, and, well, the Tampa side took the bait, with Wills and Mamola both sending out “thanks for listening to Rays radio” among their defenses, and the station itself using that tried and true trick…
One team will be crying by week’s end, but just a reminder that as of Tuesday afternoon, the Yankees lead the series 1-0, and all ALDS games can be heard called by the inimitable John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN and all of our streaming platforms.
But what do you think, folks? Malicious attack, or innocuous comment blown out of proportion?
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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