I knew Logan Morrison’s Twitter name (@LoMoMarlins), well before I knew what position he played (left field). And maybe that’s the problem.
This past weekend, Florida Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison was demoted to Triple-A New Orleans. Yes, his performance has taken a downturn recently. After hitting .283 in his rookie season last year, Morrison has been hitting just .200 since the All-Star break. Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said Sunday, "I never thought we'd see Logan hitting in the .240s. He's a much better hitter than he has showed."
This is not all of the story, however. Morrison still ranks second on the team with 17 home runs. He is tied for the most RBIs in the month of July in the MLB with 26. It’s hard to believe that his on the field performance alone, on a team with a 56-65 record and virtually no chance of making the playoffs, is enough to warrant being sent down to the minors.
This is where Twitter comes in.
This past weekend, Florida Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison was demoted to Triple-A New Orleans. Yes, his performance has taken a downturn recently. After hitting .283 in his rookie season last year, Morrison has been hitting just .200 since the All-Star break. Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said Sunday, "I never thought we'd see Logan hitting in the .240s. He's a much better hitter than he has showed."
This is not all of the story, however. Morrison still ranks second on the team with 17 home runs. He is tied for the most RBIs in the month of July in the MLB with 26. It’s hard to believe that his on the field performance alone, on a team with a 56-65 record and virtually no chance of making the playoffs, is enough to warrant being sent down to the minors.
This is where Twitter comes in.
The Marlins brass, including the coaching staff and veteran players, have been fairly vocal about their disapproval of Morrison’s use of Twitter. Manager Jack McKeon has said, “You've got to leave your distractions at the door. Too many young guys come into the game today and think they've got it made. They're the darlings of the media and they want to run their mouth instead of tending to business. The record books are full of one- and two-year phenoms." John Buck, Mariners’ catcher, has gone on the record advising Morrison, “He just needs to be LoMo and play the game, and not let the other stuff get in the way.”
So who’s in the right here? Sure, Morrison tweets a lot. But so does Lady Gaga. And no one has suggested that has gotten in the way of her music. Oprah Winfrey has 7,067,048 followers. More than SEVEN MILLION followers. Despite all that, the Oprah empire appears to be flourishing under her watchful eye. Why is it that in sports, unlike in many other similarly public professions, social media holds such a stigma?
So who’s in the right here? Sure, Morrison tweets a lot. But so does Lady Gaga. And no one has suggested that has gotten in the way of her music. Oprah Winfrey has 7,067,048 followers. More than SEVEN MILLION followers. Despite all that, the Oprah empire appears to be flourishing under her watchful eye. Why is it that in sports, unlike in many other similarly public professions, social media holds such a stigma?
Players are confronted with a great many distractions off the field/court/rink that can impact their play--parties, women, money, etc. Players often place a high premium on being in peak mental condition in order to before to their peak physically. Undoubtedly, these distractions can have a very negative impact on performance. Just look at affair-era Tiger. Earlier this summer, many blamed LeBron’s poor playoff performance on rumors about his girlfriend’s infidelities. No question, players need to be extremely focused in the high stress, all-or-nothing world of professional sports. But what is the true danger of Twitter? How much time do you think it took Morrison to tweet out a quote from the movie Dodgeball? Or say thanks to a fan who complimented him on a good season and said he had LoMo on his fantasy team? 45 seconds? If that? Could that really have been the cause of a drop in hit production significant enough to drive someone out of the majors?
The MLB is notoriously bad at social media. They tear down YouTube videos of baseball games as soon as they're posted. Their Facebook page doesn't link to their Twitter account (and vice versa). They fail to highlight individual players as well as other leagues, most notably the NBA, do. Social media is here to stay. Private citizens are tweeting the most mundane details of their lives out to the Twitter-verse for public consumption. Why should we expect any less of professional sports figures? There may very well be more to the Logan Morrison story that we know about right now. He did skip a team event for season ticket holders on Sunday. Earlier in the season he wrote a tweet disagreeing with the firing of Marlins hitting coach John Mallee. Nevertheless, the use of Twitter in and of itself should no longer be considered a danger to professional sports players. If done properly, it is a means for fans to connect with big leaguers in a way that was never possible before. Fans can have actual, albeit digital, conversations with players who are willing to respond. They can be kept up to date and provided a behind the scenes look at their favorite clubs and players. Teams, and leagues, can use the medium to manage their brand in constant, incremental ways, day in and day out. When used properly, social media can change the very position of sports in our culture.
Not until LoMo is standing out in left field, iPhone in hand, tapping out a 140-character update of the game, will I believe that it truly has had a negative impact on his performance.
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