The Miami Marlins apologized on Monday for making light of Steve Irwin’s death in a tweet to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.
“This was a regrettable exchange by our otherwise creative social media team. Unfortunately, in this medium, sometimes we swing and miss, and this was definitely a miss,” the team said in a statement.
The Marlins said they have also addressed the matter internally, according to 640 The Hurricane.
The team also tweeted an apology Monday.
Hi, guys. Like everyone who grew up watching him, we miss Steve. We’re so sorry to have made light of his passing.
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) August 5, 2019
On Sunday, a member of the Marlins’ social media team tweeted to the Rays that “you’re literally the animal that klled Steve Irwin.”
That tweet came after the Rays and Marlins exchanged jabs in response to a highlight tweeted by the Marlins of Brian Anderson throwing a Rays player out at the plate in the teams’ recent two-game series, which Tampa Bay swept.
Irwin, an Australian zookeeper known as the “Crocodile Hunter,” who became known around the world because of a popular reality television series chronicling his adventures with wildlife, died in 2006 at the age of 44 when he was pierced in the heart by a stingray.