The recent confrontation with the death of Donald Trump and his famous response to the botched shooting led to two celebrations at Major League stadiums on Sunday.
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls imitated 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.
Not to be outdone, St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Alec Burleson provided a more elaborate reenactment.
Referring to the injury Trump sustained during last week’s failed assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, the 25-year-old batter covered his ear with one hand and clenched his fist with the other as he rounded third base after belting his 18th home run of the season.
At least three Cardinals players responded in kind during Sunday’s 6-2 win over the Braves in Atlanta.
The Rays’ Taylor Walls (left) and the Cards’ Alec Burleson (right) copied Trump on Sunday
At least three Cardinals players responded in kind to Burleson’s celebration
Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 15.
A bystander, Corey D. Comperatore, was killed in the shooting, as was the shooter, who has since been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
A longtime Yankees fan and friend of the late George Steinbrenner, Trump is no stranger to the baseball world.
“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 wrestling. I think baseball was the best.”
Trump was so good, he claims, that he could have played professionally.
Trump is escorted off stage by Secret Service after failed assassination attempt on July 15
“I was the captain of the baseball team,” Trump said. “I should have played professional baseball.
“Luckily, 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.”
Leander Schaerlaeckens from Slate has since revealed nine scores from Trump’s high school games, in which he scored 4 of 29 shots.
Trump said his baseball career fell apart when he attended a tryout with “another young boy named Willie McCovey.”
But that claim turns out 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.