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Posted: 2019-08-06T13:41:27Z | Updated: 2019-08-06T13:41:27Z

The Miami Marlins baseball team has apologized after its social media team attempted to taunt the Tampa Bay Rays with a tweet about the late Australian wildlife expert and broadcaster Steve Irwin .

Twitter trash-talking between the rival Florida-based MLB teams took an insensitive turn on Sunday, after the Rays beat the Marlins twice in a weekend double-header. The Marlins called the Rays literally the animal that killed Steve Irwin.

Irwin, known as The Crocodile Hunter, died in September 2006 after a stingrays barb punctured his heart while he was filming a documentary.

The Marlins tweet split opinion online, and former team president David Samson called for the person responsible to be fired:

In a statement released Monday, a spokesperson for the Marlins said it was a regrettable exchange by our otherwise creative social media team.

Unfortunately, in this medium, sometimes we swing and miss, and this was definitely a miss, the statement said.

An apology was also issued on the teams Twitter feed: