Twitter and athletes - a good idea?
We here at BCB have been entertained and informed by Seth McClung’s Twitter account, but his sometimes blunt complaints and lack of faith in his return to Milwaukee next season make me wonder if he’s digging his own grave.
Though most of his tweets have been the sort of mundane things you’d read about your friends, and his occasional glimpses into the clubhouse are cool – it’s the tweets expressing disappointment in his lack of appearances after coming off the DL and his lack of confidence that have to make you wonder how they plays with his bosses.
Seth holds the only MLB verified Twitter account on the Brewers.
Another Twitterer asked Seth if the Brewers had rules regarding players’ use of Twitter, to which he responded:
@Poonix idk, i am going to try to not say much that would upset them though.
Though they don’t seem to have a specific code of conduct for handling social media, one has to wonder if it’s something they’ll draw up over the off-season. Both Ryan Braun and Fielder blogged via MLB.com and now Seth’s Twitter account seem to mean that the Brewers can’t ignore social media and how it will affect their players and fans.
Here’s a small sample of some of Seth’s tweets over the past few weeks:
@Petersauce thanks it was a long road back, worked real hard and training staff was great!! Now, to get machA to put me in a game!! lol!!
I wish I could have pitched @ home 1 more time, I feel robbed of pitching infront of the best fans in the world. I hope I am back next year
Day game, hope2 get some sleep, I have to always be ready@ all times! Set up to fail? MayB but if your prepaired Ur N control of your fate!
U know that saying, the writing is on the wall? I think I can make out more than just letters concerning me.
Do these sorts of remarks hurt his chances? Are they appropriate?
When asked about it, McClung told Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy and other members of the media, "It can be interpreted any way you want. I'm not complaining, I'm not trying to make trouble. I'm just frustrated. I don't mean to talk about it in the media, but I'm honest with myself and it's hard to watch situations come up in which I've performed exceedingly well in the past, and get passed over. Now we're going on nine days since I've pitched last. I'm not saying I'm better than anybody else, I just think it's my turn. Beyond that, I really don't want to talk about it in the media."
When players like Ryan Braun have been crucial of management to members of the media, it’s caused a stir among fans and the reactions have varied.
With his Tweets, Seth is also criticizing, though in a more passive-aggressive, though somewhat less publicized way.
Why have they not caused the same sort of stir? Should they?
May I also take this a step further? In my opinion, past player complaints to the media have not gone over well with management.
Take Doug Melvin’s "deputy" reaction to Braun’s mid-season pitching complaints.
Once Bill Hall went public with his grumblings about playing time, he seemed to paint himself into a corner. The impression I got was that management told him that he was complaining about playing time but had refused being sent down to the minors in order to get at-bats and improve and they asked him to answer for that. When he was stuck, he accepted the designation.
Maybe that’s not how it went – but I sure get the sense that Doug Melvin doesn’t take kindly to that sort of thing and players have to be careful about the sort of hole they dig.
What do you think? Am I reading too much into it, or do you, like me, cringe a little every time you read another of Seth’s Tweets, feeling like he’s just putting more of himself in the grave?
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12 comments
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I'm leaning toward agreeing
I agree. On Twitter, I’m stoutguy04. You guys posted a response he directed at me, on his lack of confidence in returning. I think it sucks, because Seth was a vital part of the team in 2008, and helped the Brewers return to the playoffs.
I like Seth. He is one of my favorites on the team, and I truly hope he returns. However, I can see his frustration. After his return from the DL, he pitched well. He was put into a bases loaded jam, and performed. Those should be things that garner confidence with the manager. In Seth’s case, that didn’t seem to occur.
Maybe everyone is just looking for something that isn’t there. Until it’s proven otherwise, I agree with you.
Finally, someone asked Witrado which players aren’t in favor of Macha. Witrado responded that those comments made to him were off the record and he wouldn’t be throwing anyone under the bus(one of the few times i’ve respected him). With Seth’s tweets about Macha, I tend to feel he is one of those.
by abdgrfan on Oct 17, 2009 7:06 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Yeah
I too wonder if his candor is a good idea. But hey, if he already feels like the FO wants him gone…
I wonder how things will change if and when more players tweet (or whatever). If more players say those kinds of things, eventually teams won’t be able to come down as hard on them.
Sign Corky Miller
by TheJay on Oct 17, 2009 9:00 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I don't follow twitters of people except for what is posted on here.
But everytime that something that Seth tweeted about is posted here, I always think that he is probably hurting himself, as well as perhaps isolating himself from the rest of his teammates.
by NoahJ on Oct 17, 2009 11:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I think it's just this site
Over the Monster is loading normally for me, w/o messed up styles, so….
by morineko on Oct 17, 2009 12:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's been a rough week for the tech team.
I sent them a support notice re: this issue. Hope to have it resolved soon.
That's all I've got for you today, unless you're interested in some Chris Capuano/Tom Haudricourt Fan Fiction.
by KLSnow on Oct 17, 2009 1:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
And fixed!
Thanks for bearing with us.
That's all I've got for you today, unless you're interested in some Chris Capuano/Tom Haudricourt Fan Fiction.
by KLSnow on Oct 17, 2009 10:56 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
social media
I assume that most players blogging on MLB.com (except, maybe, for some of the non-prospect minor leaguer blogs) are more or less done with the full knowledge and cooperation of the team; in other words, they’re primarily for team promotional use.
There aren’t that many players with independent blogs, and most of them have been so generic they’re not worth looking at or the players quit maintaining them or changed them into boring tools of self-promotion later. I’m not sure if MLB or specific teams really need a “social media policy” that ends independent use of social media. It just creates more bad “press.” The no-blogging-during-games policy that other leagues have, on the other hand, makes more sense.
I don’t consider McClung’s tweets as “talking to the media.” If they pick them up, that’s one thing, but it’s his unfiltered words out there in the first place. (and if they take it, it’s lazy journalism; much like all those articles picking up stuff of of Curt Schilling’s old blog, where anyone with an Internet connection could read his posts for themselves.)
by morineko on Oct 17, 2009 12:49 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
as for the player-specific issue....
If what a lot of posters here at BCB and at other Brewers sites say is true, McClung does a lot of venting to the fan base in non-electronic environments as well. He’s always been very fan-accessible (WWW and newspaper archive evidence to this effect dates from at least 2000.) This isn’t even his first endeavor into a journal—he kept one for a local website in 2003. (Nor is it his first attempt at a webpage; he’s had some sort of Internet presence since high school.)
They may hurt his chances, but I’m getting to realize that McClung is one of those guys where what you see is what you get, 100% of the time, so everyone involved probably already knew what was what before he started tweeting.
/no, not stalking, was just trying to get the stories behind what went wrong in TB…for a lot of guys, not just him
by morineko on Oct 17, 2009 12:59 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
He's gotta be careful
He needs to be aware that these comments are accessible to management. It’s going to be difficult for them to accurately assess his situation and respect his opinions when he’s not bringing it up directly with them and instead making it public first. I think that’s a universal reaction – if a co-worker of mine goes on Facebook and updates his status saying he’s pissed at me for something I did and I caught wind of it, I’m gonna be angry that he went out and complained to everybody instead of having a talk with me about it.
It can be a very shady method of communication and I think within a couple of years, professional teams may not have a policy for social networking, but there will be guidelines. I also think Twitter is on the beginning of its decline and will become more exclusive to usage by celebrities and businesses.
by Tick on Oct 17, 2009 1:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Hmmm...
I am not the biggest fan of twitter — However, I have occasionally read Seth’s twitter page… I think things like this
nothing to crazy to talk about the pen,there is this terrible smell N the bathroom about the 5th after coffey exits it….
are pretty interesting. Seth tweeted this to some Milwaukee ghost guy, that is apparently interested in the bathroom bullpen’s paranormal activity.
I also have concluded that if Milwaukee were invaded by Canada, Big Seth would defend our turf, as if he was born on it — which is pretty cool.
I don’t really see the need for FO types to get their undies in a bunch — It is not as if I needed Seth (or any other player) to realize that Macha is not a good manager, and DM is a tool for hiring him (and extending Yost before that).
My biggest concern though, is how the fanbase tends to get big boners, if some player tweets with them. I like Seth, I am not quite sure he should be brought back though — what I do notice though is he has gotten a lot of support to bring him back — largely because of his tweeting (I think).
If Jason Kendall gets a twitter account, and people start getting boners, and setting up facebook pages, demanding that he be brought back, — be warned I will be forced to go into stealth ninja mode.
Taking shallowness to new depths -- FtJ's blog
by Fatter than Joey on Oct 19, 2009 3:52 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

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