Tampa Bay's Elliot Johnson Checks Twitter, Heads to the Parking Lot to Play Catch With Rays Fans

The Tampa Bay Rays are slowly falling out of the playoff picture despite being 9-games over .500. Before last night’s game against the Red Sox, Rays’ utility player Elliot Johnson checked Twitter to find an invitation from a fan in the parking lot. Chris e-mailed us the story this morning:

Prior to the Rays game last night, I was with a few buddies tailgating in the parking lot. Out of the blue I posted a tweet to Elliot Johnson that I was in the lot, and to come out and play catch. He comes out into the lot, in full game gear minus the jersey (with a glove and a ball) and plays catch with us. Additionally after the game we were behind the dugout, Elliot spots us and tosses us a few game balls. What a great experience, Elliot couldn’t have been a nicer guy.

This is one of those great stories where social media leads to something cool. The gold standard is Jeremy Guthrie played catch with a fan this spring.

I know what you’re thinking – Who invites a Major League Baseball player out to the parking lot to play catch and doesn’t even have a glove? Chris thought his buddy had one in the trunk. In his defense, even if he knew he didn’t have a glove, who would have thought Johnson would actually call his bluff? Either way, Elliot Johnson is now officially one of the most fan-friendly players in baseball. Oh, and the Rays went on to beat the hapless Red Sox, 13-3. All-in-all, a pretty memorable day at the ballpark.

[@elliotjohnson9, @chrisbelltb]