Your daily adult tube feed all in one place!
Rays' Taylor Walls reenacts Donald Trump's famed 'Fight! Fight! Fight!' chant after double... but Cardinals INSIST similar celebration was 'not a political statement'
Donald Trump's recent brush with death and his famed reaction to the failed shooting inspired at least one in-game celebration during Sunday's MLB action.
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls mimed Trump's arm-pumping 'Fight! Fight! Fight!' chant after the .160 hitter made a rare appearance at second base during Sunday's 6-4 win over the Yankees in the Bronx.
St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Alec Burleson followed with what appeared to be a more comprehensive re-enactment.
In what was mistaken for a nod to Trump's ear injury at the July 15 shooting, the 25-year-old slugger covered the side of his face with one hand and fist pumped with the other as he rounded third following his 18th home run of the season.
At least three Cardinals players were seen responding in kind during Sunday's 6-2 win over the Braves in Atlanta, but afterwards veteran Matt Carpenter told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the celebration was misinterpreted.
The Rays' Taylor Walls (left) and Cards slugger Alec Burleson (right) copied Trump Sunday
At least three Cardinals players were seen responding in kind to Burleson's celebration
'Definitely not a political statement,' Carpenter said. 'That is off base.'
As reported by the Dispatch's Derrick Goold, the pantomime was a reference to Burleson's rap persona, 'Biscuit,' from his college days at East Carolina. And by holding his hand to his ear, Burleson (AKA 'Biscuit') was pretending to be wearing headphones.
'It's an inside joke with [Burleson],' Carpenter said. 'This isn't a political statement by any means. I don't know where that came from.'
It has now been one week since Trump famously survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
A bystander, Corey D. Comperatore, was killed in the shooting, as was the gunman, who has since been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Trump is rushed off stage by secret service after the failed assassination attempt on July 15
A long-time Yankees fan and friend of the late George Steinbrenner, Trump is no stranger to baseball.
'When I was 17, I loved sports,' Trump told MTV in 2010. 'I was always a good athlete and I played football, baseball, soccer, and I wrestled. I think the thing I liked the best was baseball.'
Trump was so good, he claims, he could have played professionally.
'I was captain of the baseball team,' Trump said. 'I was supposed to be a professional baseball player.
'Fortunately, I decided to go into real estate instead. I played first base and I also played catcher. I was a good hitter and I just had a good time. Now I play golf.'
Slate's Leander Schaerlaeckens has since uncovered nine box scores from Trump's high school games, during which he went 4 for 29 at the plate.
Trump said his baseball career was derailed when he attended a tryout with 'another young kid named Willie McCovey.'
However that claim appears to be untrue. McCovey, the late Hall of Famer and legendary Giants slugger, was born in Alabama in 1938 – eight years before Trump was born in Queens.