The Rumor That A Red Sox Fan Grabbed A Live Ray And Threw It During An MLB Playoff Game Is Bogus

In the moments after the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox in dramatic fashion to stay alive in the MLB playoffs, a crazy rumor burst to life on the Internet.

Thomas Beisner, a Kentucky Sports Television host, tweeted that a friend at Tropicana Field in Tampa saw a Red Sox fan get ejected from the stadium after he took a live ray out of the tank in centerfield and threw it.

Team officials eventually came out and shot down the rumor, but not before it spread like wildfire.

The game-winning home run landed in the tank, which is probably how this whole thing got started:

As you can see, there's a huge net right there to prevent people from getting into the tank.

There was also some hilariously sad Red Sox fans within grabbing distance of the Rays:

let's see, if I had to guess which Red Sox fan took a ray out of the tank and threw it... pic.twitter.com/j3YBBfsnYH

- Lana Berry (@Lana) October 8, 2013

The lessons:

1. Even if something on the Internet is so weird and crazy that you can't see how anyone could make it up, it's probably made up.
2. Video or it didn't happen.