Me no understand Bizarro World: Man ejected from Tropicana Field for wearing ‘Yankees Suck’ T-shirt
May 25, 2011, 5:26 PM EDT
In a dazzling display of good judgement and shrewd public relations, the Tampa Bay Rays ejected a fan — who happens to be a lawyer — from Tropicana Field for the crime of wearing a T-shirt that reads “Yankees Suck.” But it gets even more fascist. When the fan, Melvin Little, was told that he could appeal the decision during the game with the Rays front office, all they did was shut the office door in his face. Later, when Little sent the organization a letter of protest, the Rays would only reply that “We get tons of letters from people.”
From the Tampa Tribune:
The game got under way, but in the fourth inning a security guard came down the aisle and approached Little.
“The security guard says Major League Baseball has determined that the shirt constitutes profanity,” Little said. “He tells me to get another shirt, cover it up, turn it inside out or leave the stadium.
“I said, ‘That’s unbelievable,’ and he says, ‘I don’t’ make rules, I’m just telling you.’ “
Little and his two sons, 8 and 19, instead accompanied the security guard to the offices to appeal the decision. But he got no relief there. He said a front-office Rays employee just shut the door on him.
It’s amusing to picture Bud Selig in a control room monitoring all fan attire at MLB parks. More amusing if you picture him in his underwear.
As a noted Rays fan might say:
“That’s great PR! Stalin or Mussolini couldn’t have handled it any better! Who cares about paying customers? It is absolutely wacky, baby!”
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Huh? Rays Fan Kicked Out Of Tropicana Field For Wearing ‘Yankees Suck’ Shirt [Sportress of Blogitude]
Yankees hating shirt gets Rays fan in trouble [Tampa Tribune]
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- goforthanddie - May 25, 2011 at 8:17 PM
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Always a smart idea to piss off a lawyer.
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- cleanslaton - May 26, 2011 at 12:11 PM
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but the Yankees suck….I don’t get it (I say as I’m wearing an Astros hat.)
Rays mgmt. must’ve wanted the other 19 people attending the game to take heed of the rules governing decorum. The MLB needs to go to a Phillies game if they’re cracking down on profanity.
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- marshallnbrown - May 27, 2011 at 3:32 PM
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Once again, MLB shows it simply doesn’t care about fans. It’s getting harder and harder to be a fan of any major league sport… all they care about is three things: money, money and more money. I’m generally not a fan of lawyers, but I hope this one sues the Rays and MLB for at least the cost of three season tickets for life.
