Normally, it’s the athletes that issue misguided Twitter posts that cause social media blowback, but this time, we get to thank Devon La Russa, daughter of St Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, for providing yet another lesson on how not to use Twitter, especially when you are, or are related to someone who resides in the public’s eye.
What we have is a daughter talking smack on her father’s team’s behalf, and it simply backfired on her. The younger La Russa — who, it should be noted, does not have a space between the “La” and the “Russa” of the her last name, at least on her now defunct Twitter profile — made fun of some previous history connected to Texas Rangers manager, Ron Washington.
Because Devon’s Twitter account is no longer active, the tweets in question don’t exist any longer, but that doesn’t mean her attempts at being funny haven’t been captured for all to see, courtesy of a screenshot. Before that, however, the text of the tweet that started this mess, according to Yahoo’s Big League Stew, said:
I saw a crack head doing “The Wash” today. Coincidence? I think not…
Two things for those who may not know: “The Wash” refers to a dance that imitates the Texas manager’s reactions when he’s in approval mode. See it for yourself:
And second, Washington admitted he struggled with cocaine throughout his adult life, and, in fact, Washington tested positive for the stuff as recently as 2009. Again, this seems like perfect fodder for anonymous fans to use, but for the opposing manager’s daughter?
Yeah, no.
Because of her ill-advised tweet — leave that nonsense for the fans, Devon, and not the siblings of one of the World Series managers — La Russa’s daughter was forced to defend her statement with perhaps the most ridiculous excuse you’ve ever heard, which was preserved via a screenshot of her Twitter account:
See? No space in her last name.
As for the excuse, surely the younger La Russa had to know what kind of firestorm she would set off with her initial tweet, and to simply back down is weak. Once the situation reaches critical mass like this one did — this story’s pretty popular right now — it’s time to own your mistake, and not back down with “oh, I’m just being silly” responses. Apparently, the subsequent reaction was too much for La Russa’s daughter to handle, and so, she deactivated her Twitter account, at least the public one that got her into all this trouble.
Social media really isn’t this hard, folks. Really, it isn’t.
