The Rangers and Angels already seem to be building a potentially epic rivalry in the American League West, and now that C.J. Wilson has switched sides, he seems to have upped the stakes a bit. Some, including myself, would say he went a bit too far.
Wilson tweeted out Napoli's cell phone number Sunday night. Wilson has well over 100,000 Twitter followers. He ended up deleting the tweet eventually, calling it a prank, but the damage was done.
"I don't even know why he did it," Napoli said (Foul Territory). "You don't do that. I am not taking it as a prank."
"You know, I haven't even talked to him since the end of last season," Napoli continued (Foul Territory). "We don't have that type of relationship."
Wilson tweeted that the two were now "even" due to Napoli saying he "can't wait to hit homers" off Wilson.
"I don't even remember saying I want to take him deep," Napoli said (Foul Territory). "But as every power hitter, you're always trying to take pitchers deep. So I'll say it now, I'm going to try and take him deep."
And as far as firing back on Twitter, Napoli will pass.
"If I have a problem with somebody, I'm going to call them," Napoli said (Foul Territory). "I just think it was uncalled for."
It's personally funny hearing this spat now, considering it was just last October when Wilson told a group of reporters, including myself, that he'd vote for Napoli for President of the United States in 2012 if he ran. But evidently they weren't the best of friends.
I'm fully on Napoli's side here. I don't think an eye for an eye is giving out someone's cell phone number to over 100,000 people -- many of whom are likely Angels fans -- in response to someone saying he wants to beat his rival on the field. An equal response would be: "Yeah, well I can't wait to strike him out."
Not that it makes Wilson a bad guy. He may have just not completely thought it through.
Also, obviously Napoli can get a new number. In fact, he probably already has. But that's just a waste of time and we all know sometimes those things can turn into a major hassle -- not to mention how annoying it would be if his phone was blowing up with prank calls and texts all night Sunday.
The blame game, however, is largely irrelevant moving forward. What matters is that this is a rivalry that will only get more intense once the two clubs battle on the diamond this summer.
The two clubs don't play until May 11, which kicks off a three-game series in Texas. Hopefully Wilson gets the start in one of those three games. It should be fun. Even if we have to wait a bit longer, surely Wilson will face his old 'mates at some point. The Rangers and Angels face off 19 times this season.