ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Rays left-hander David Price verbally apologized for his Twitter rant that he said "embarrassed his organization" after a loss to the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.
Early Sunday morning, after he allowed seven runs and nine hits in the Red Sox's 7-4 victory at Fenway Park, he criticized members of TBS' broadcast team online.
He said former right-hander Dirk Hayhurst, who appeared in 25 major league games for the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays, "COULDNT hack it" and added that Tom Verducci, a noted baseball analyst, "wasn't even a water boy in high school."
"I'd like to start this by sending a deep apology to everyone here that has been affected throughout my actions after the game against Boston," Price said Monday before Game 3 between the Rays and Red Sox at Tropicana Field. "That's not the way anybody should handle themselves at any time. ... I'm a person who likes to take pride in character. That was probably the exact opposite of that. I've hurt a lot of people. I embarrassed myself. I embarrassed my family. I embarrassed this organization. It's not good. It's not good for baseball. It's not good for our team, especially at a time (like) right now. I'm deeply sorry."
Price's tweet was part of a series of frustrated messages sent to his more than 188,000 followers after the loss to Boston. He also sent a series of tweets that rattled off his career awards and, at one point, he said, "not bragging...you can google that...true fans understand..fake one don't..PERIOD."
On Sunday, Price, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, tweeted an apology in which he said, "Last night got out of hand and I apologize for the things that I said on here...if I offended you I am very sorry for doing so...#thatsnotme."
Rays manager Joe Maddon also addressed the issue Sunday.
"Next spring training, when we have our media training, you're going to see this as a perfect example of what not to do," Maddon said.
Price finished the regular season 10-8 with a 3.33 ERA in 27 starts. The seven runs allowed Saturday were the most he had given up since allowing eight in a loss to the Cleveland Indians on April 7.
"I let my emotions completely take over the situation," Price said. "I've never felt anything like that before in my life. ... I feel like I let our organization down, I let my teammates down. It was a very dark spot on my career up to this point. It doesn't sit well with me.
"Twitter should be used for good. That wasn't the right way to use it."
You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.
