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It all began innocently enough with a tweet from Marc Topkin expressing, with perhaps unspoken incredulity, Kevin Kiermaier’s plan to stay warm.
#Rays Kiermaier will try something new today to combat cold weather vs #Yankees - covering his whole body with Vaseline to serve as an extra layer against the wind.
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) April 3, 2018
I’m not sure either Topkin or Kiermaier expected what would happen next, though this being the social media era, it was almost inevitable.
Baseball Twitter got ahold of the story and oh boy did they love it.
— Jon Tayler, Smiling Politely (@JATayler) April 3, 2018
He don't use butter/and he don't use cheese/he don't use jelly/or any of these/He uses... https://t.co/AIAGLqoS45
— SI MLB (@si_mlb) April 3, 2018
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) April 3, 2018
Kevin Kiermaier tonight. pic.twitter.com/27eZ2BbjLZ
— Mark Suleymanov (@TheMARKOut1) April 3, 2018
— Stacey Gotsulias (@StaceGots) April 3, 2018
Live look of KK coming out of the training room today pic.twitter.com/VfmTBzGkRG
— Mike Bruu (@Mike_Bruu96) April 3, 2018
Even Micah Johnson got in on the discussion.
In Indiana you learn this right after you learn an elbow jumper https://t.co/ozk5TQrMc2
— Micah Johnson (@Micah_Johnson3) April 3, 2018
Alas, the man himself has said the Vaseline experiment wouldn’t happen today.
Sorry to disappoint the blown outta proportion comment about me possibly applyin vaseline to help keep me warm tonight. Forgot to put it on. Have my 2 under shirts on already and goin vaseline free. Print that folks.
— Kevin Kiermaier (@KKiermaier39) April 3, 2018
It was a brief whirlwind of Twitter at its finest: making fun of something that didn’t even happen. And now that the game is in a weather delay, at least we have these tweets to amuse ourselves with.