New York Yankees & Tampa Bay Rays Tag-Team Twitter

What happened in the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo on May 14th is an unthinkable tragedy brought on by hate. Fast forward 10 days later, another unthinkable tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. Mass murder in the United States is becoming routine. On Thursday, the first-place New York Yankees teamed-up on the issue with the second place Tampa Bay Rays prior to the first game of their four game series.

Since Tuesday's horrific event, we have seen emotional statements like the one from Golden State Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr. Many times in the past, we have seen league-wide initiatives but I can't recall two division rivals teaming up like this, especially prior to a 4 game series. However, in the scheme of all of the lives lost, as a result of two violent acts, those 4 games are meaningless in comparison and the Yankees and Rays know it.

The responses by fans were mixed, with most commending the organizations for trying to do something positive in the shadows of two horrible events. There were those that told the @Yankees or @RaysBaseball to "stay in their lane"; "post sports or I unfollow." More than one person wrote "I follow sports to get away from all of that." There were more back-and-forths then there were posts by the teams. Maybe that was the point.

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I think it is pretty cool that Major League teams got together without the league and showed a united stand. Gun control is a touchy subject in America. It doesn't seem like any governing body should ever dispute ownership hunting rifles. Trying to make handguns illegal seems unrealistic. Assault weapons are a different story. Background checks and deadly-weapon training seems reasonable. Congress is getting a paid a lot of money. It's time to figure this out.