Tampa Bay Rays’ 3rd baseman, Evan Longoria, blocked me on twitter a couple months ago.

Lil’ ol me – can you believe it?

Well here’s why……

No Bueno, Hombre

Any good grudge-holding Red Sox fan will remember the 2014 Memorial Day weekend series in Tampa like it was yesterday.

Former Rays’ pitcher now turned Tiger, had some cahones in his apparent intentional pitch to the back of Big Papi – who certainly didn’t appreciate such disrespect from the mound.

After David Price drilled him in the back on Friday night, David Ortiz said of the Rays lefty, "I had a lot of respect for the guy, man. … It is over now." – via ESPN.com — After David Price drilled him in the back on Friday night, David Ortiz said of the Rays lefty, “I had a lot of respect for the guy, man. … It is over now.” – via ESPN.com

So why would anyone be surprised to watch Red Sox strong armed Brandon Workman follow suit with a bit of a warning shot from the mound to our favorite third-baseman?

For the record, Longoria was NOT hit by the ball on any part of his body. However, for some reason in Tampa, you get ejected – and ultimately suspended for 6 games – for missing what should have been an even better pitch if it was just a tad bit higher and to the left (lesson learned, Brandon.) Price’s direct hit to Ortiz went undisciplined.

Rules Book Missing in Tampa

Big Papi stated after the game, “”I don’t think what they’re doing is fair. I think the rules should be for everybody. I guess the rules aren’t for everyone.”

Well, here’s another rule the Tampa Bay Rays don’t abide to: Common Courtesy to your fans.

On June 14, a Rays’ fan tweeted to Evan Longoria the following – in which you can also read Longoria’s snarky response to a fan, who in turn responded with dignity and self control.

Kudos to you Mr. Allen Finkelstein. If any athlete I looked up to responded to me in that manner, I’d pull a Travis Wright vs Chiefs on them.

And So It Begins……

If you know me, you know it’s hard for me to hold my tongue. In this case, it was my fingers.

I had to chime in.

Seriously…. What a disgrace as a professional athlete to treat your fans in such a way.

How embarrassing to the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization and its reputation. I’m not a Lebron fan – never have been, never will be – but with as much criticism as he gets online, please show me when he, or anyone else from the Miami Heat has responded in this manner. At least the Miami Heat organization has some sort of code of conduct, control of their players’ communications and their image as a whole.

Apparently that isn’t the case in Tampa.

longoria — I’m not sure there’s much hope for a guy that chooses to die his already horrible un-stylish choice of hair bleach blonde… and be proud of it. I bet he can’t grow a beard 🙂

Heart Broken …(almost)

All of us little people on Twitter get a bit of a rush when one of our favorite celebs or figures acknowledges our presence, even if it’s just a RT or a simple Thx! When the official Red Sox Twitter handle replied to me, that one sentence was enough to send me into euphoria.

But Evan, oh Evan. You are a special kind of thrill.

Mama Always Told Me I Was Special

Some people feel special to be mentioned or followed by a “professional” athlete, but I was BLOCKED!

Beat that! Ha! Some may even call this an accomplishment considering it took me all of two tweets while others spend hours upon hours attempting to harass, stalk or discredit others. Mine wasn’t even intentional.

I guess I was just that much of a pain in the butt to you for you to go to such lengths.

It takes at least five separate clicks of your million dollar fingers to actually go thru the process to block me AND THEN…. to actually write the post that you did so. (which totally defeats the purpose of blocking someone, but we’ll leave that one alone)

All I gotta say is, wow. Thanks for the energy, man. Much appreciated.

Last But Not Least

Well you know I couldn’t turn my head at that comment, especially without a great laugh and a few phone calls of “You’re never gonna believe this…..”

So I simply expressed my sadness to him and continued on with my day.

Call Me Maybe…. Probably Never

So there you have it – the history behind my lack of love, respect and any positive energy towards the Rays’ organization and especially their super – non World Series winning – star, Evan Longoria – whose All Star appearances ceased in 2010, along with any other notable award he’s received.

Until then, talk to me when you’ve got a few World Series under your belt, buddy.

OK, fine… you can call when you at least get one…. and MLB 2K doesn’t count.

Red Sox Fans: Labor Day Look Out For TifDiP

Labor Day Weekend 2014 – Saturday & Sunday games in Tampa – TifDiP will be sitting in the 2nd row behind the Red Sox dugout …. can you catch me?!? Make sure to tweet to @TifDiP if you do!

TifDiP was in Tampa last month for the Sox series but was on her best behavior despite being sooooo close to her favorite player!

Just A Thought….

Perhaps a cold bath of CHAMPIONSHIP to cool down his hot temper…. (photo from Game 4 win against Rays to advance to ALCS btw)

UPDATE:

Read my follow up post here: Red Sox Recap

Find out what really happened when TifDiP returned to Tampa for the Labor Day series

TifDip is a digital marketing consultant with a unique perspective on social media. Follow her on Twitter as she continues to bring a new twist to her coverage of the health industry, sports and other eclectic passions.