Dustin May starts; Carrot Top trends on Twitter
Carrot Top was picking up a pizza near his Las Vegas home on Thursday night when the texts started rolling in: “You’re trending!” was one.
The copper-topped prop comic was heating up on Twitter.
The Luxor headliner, legal name of Scott Thompson, quickly found out why. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Dustin May was starting the team’s home opener against the San Francisco Giants. May’s mane is red, long and curly, same as Topper’s. His nickname is Gingerbread.
For Carrot Top, it was akin to facing May’s 95 mph heater. “Late to the party, but the Dodgers signed Carrot Top?” “If I knew Carrot Top was pitching for the Dodgers, I wouldn’t have bet on them.” “Good to see Carrot Top back at work, pitching for the Dodgers.”
May was a late fill-in for Clayton Kershaw, who sat out with a stiff back. May allowed seven hits and one run in 4⅓ innings for the win in the Dodgers’ 15-1 victory.
Thompson said during a FaceTime video chat that he first heard about May last season, when the right-handed prospect arrived in the big leagues. “He looks so angry and mad, doesn’t he?” Carrot Top said Thursday. “This is like when I looked like (Olympic snowboard champ) Shaun White.”
White finally cut his hair. Thompson is a fair measure shorter than the 6-foot-6 inch May, but he has some ideas for a possible ESPN commercial, playing off the resemblance.
Carrot Top wasn’t thrilled with many of the biting Twitter comments.
“There are a bunch of mean tweets,” he said. “I saw I was trending. Some (expletive) thought I’d OD’d from my third face-lift. I’d look a lot better if I was getting face-lifts. In fact, right now would have been a great time to get a face-lift because I’ve been off for four months.”
At 55, Carrot Top is still a gym rat and is routinely defending his physical appearance. Fans have asked if his hair is real, or actually a wig. “If I were wearing a wig, wouldn’t I pick out a better wig?” In his own Instagram post, answering the “OD’d” post, he wrote, “Sorry I take care of myself and work hard.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats! podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.