Phillies fans, Marlins outfielder connect via Twitter

[Nicole]

Phillies fans, Marlins outfielder connect via Twitter

Florida's Morrison befriends Bethlehem man, bringing him to June game in Philadelphia



Logan Morrison is into Twitter.

I mean, really into Twitter. Even in his Twitter bio he proclaims to be "a Twittaholic."

During a 24-hour period ending around 6:30 p.m. Friday, the Florida Marlins outfielder tweeted 57 times, and at that point, he had 19,152 followers , an increase of almost 3,000 from just six days earlier.

"Some people in my position don't do it because they don't want to be made a fool of," the 23-year-old said. "But I think if you make a fool of yourself, nobody else can. And if somebody wants to turn something around on me and make me look like an idiot, that's fine because I am an idiot, so whatever. I'm a regular person, just like anybody else is."

What makes Morrison, whose Twitter name is @LoMoMarlins, so unique is how much he interacts with his followers, many of whom are Phillies fans, something you wouldn't expect considering how unusual it is for Philadelphia fans to embrace players on other teams, especially ones within their own division.

"There might be even more Phillies fans that follow me than Marlins fans," he admitted. "They can relate to the type of person I am, the way I play, and the way I act off the field. They understand that baseball players are also human beings, and they like the way I go about my business."

It's hard to argue with that. Mark Marinelli can attest to that first-hand.

Marinelli, 38, lives in Bethlehem and started interacting on Twitter with Morrison, who was called up to the big leagues last summer. By October, Marinelli, a 1991 Allen grad, became one of just 103 people Morrison follows. The two started busting on each other, and soon, a friendship developed.

Last week, Morrison landed on the disabled list with a sprained tendon in his foot that required a cast and crutches. Marinelli made sure to let him have it.

"He was joking with me after his injury and I said [on Twitter], 'At this rate, you're gonna need a wheelchair by the time you're 30,'" Marinelli said.

Morrison responded with, "We'll race."

"It's all in good fun," Marinelli said. "We just have a good time. We're never mean to each other."

Marinelli gave Morrison support when his dad died of lung cancer in the offseason (the same disease took Marinelli's mom when he was 25). And in June, Morrison is giving Marinelli, who has suffered from muscular dystrophy and is wheelchair-bound, two tickets to a game when the Phillies host the Marlins on June 14.

"I didn't think he actually wanted to say hi and meet me," Marinelli said.

But that's exactly why Morrison is on Twitter, to interact and build a relationship with baseball fans, no matter which team they cheer for.

"I know I have flaws just like everybody else does, and I might go over the line sometimes, but I feel that if you just put yourself out there and be who you are and if you're a good person, then that will show through, and for the most part, that's what's happened and that's kind of why I have so many Phillies followers and so many followers in general," Morrison said.

Morrison is one of several Marlins on Twitter, including Gaby Sanchez, Hanley Ramirez, Donnie Murphy and John Buck.

But Morrison has Tweeted five times more than his teammates combined. By Friday night, Morrison had tweeted more than 6,600 times total. Sanchez, Ramirez, Murphy and Buck had tweeted a combined 1,258 times (Sanchez was the highest amongst those four with 821 tweets).

Those totals, though, blow the Phillies away.

Jimmy Rollins is the only one on the 25-man roster even on Twitter. Although he had almost 18,000 followers as of Friday night, he has tweeted only 19 times since signing on March 17. And he has never responded to his tweeps on Twitter the way Morrison does.

This is the way things will likely continue in the Phillies' clubhouse, at least for a while.

They just don't like it.

Northampton graduate Brian Schneider, the team's backup catcher, said he won't consider signing up.

"I hate it. I just don't feel a need to update my life on a regular basis," he said.

Left fielder Raul Ibanez wants no part of it either.

"I like to keep my thoughts to myself, really," he said. "I have my family, a job, other responsibilities. I'm private. I don't have the desire. I don't see the point really. But it works for some people. That's why Baskin Robbins has 32 different flavors."

I thought for sure center fielder Shane Victorino, with his outgoing personality, would find Twitter somewhat enticing.

Not so. His PR firm is encouraging him to join, but he's been putting it off.

"If it's used the right way, then so be it," Victorino . "I think it's a great avenue. But I think sometimes people express themselves through that and it comes across wrong. I understand the social network world and I understand where it's going, but my whole thing is do I want everyone to know what I'm doing? …. hey, I'm going to the movies with my kids tonight. With my foundation, I'll probably do it to raise awareness for what my foundation is doing.

"I just want to separate that from my personal life."

Phillies assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said the organization isn't trying to push players either toward or away from Twitter, but if it were up to him, he'd rather they not take part.

"I'd prefer they be working on their game as opposed to tweeting or twittering or whatever you call it," he said. "Those are just the thoughts of my 51-year-old self. I would have other ways to use my time."