Posted by Eric Polsky on Monday, September 21, 2009 at 8:13 pm

Please allow me to interrupt the frantic pennant chases to lighten the mood by shedding some light on the new phenomenon that is “Twitter” and its impact on Major League Baseball.  Twitter can be defined as a “social networking” website where athletes, musicians, actors, entertainers, and anyone with computer access post as many status updates as they wish, 140 characters or less at a time.

Buzz and controversy over the use of Twitter began to swirl in the world of sports when Charlie Villanueva of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks got into trouble over posting messages on Twitter during halftime of a game this past March.  The hoopla then spread into the NFL as outspoken players such as Chad Ochocinco learned that Twitter was a platform on which they could be heard as often as they wish.  News recently broke that the NFL decided to ban the use of Twitter on game days. Even the International Tennis Federation has taken notice, and banned participants at the U.S. Open from Tweeting “sensitive information,” due to concerns that it would affect play.

The popularity of Twitter has grown to the point where some question whether it may have an impact on journalism in the future.  Through Twitter, athletes can speak directly to fans, about anything they want and anytime they want.  By doing so they have the ability to bypass traditional media and interviews. And as the more athletes use Twitter, the more likely they are to post news that would normally be printed in a typical sports column. For example, this past summer, a major story in the NBA was whether free agent Lamar Odom would re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers or jump coasts and sign with the Miami Heat. Odom and other players such as the Heat’s Dwyane Wade would post messages over Twitter that would indicate the status of the negotiation process and provide some insight on where Odom might end up.  Newspapers and other media outlets used these Twitter messages in their articles on the saga, which ended when Odom finally re-signed with L.A.

Twitter hasn’t made as much of an impact upon MLB just yet, as there aren’t many players using it and there hasn’t been the need for any type of ban. Perhaps during the offseason, more players will learn how to set up their accounts and learn the twitter lingo. But there are several MLB players currently using Twitter, and so that you can get an idea of what the craze is all about, I’ve listed them below along with some of their recent “tweets”. Before I get to those, here’s a few quick tips on how to read these things. If a tweeter posts the @ sign before a username, it means he’s tweeting at or about that person. A user can also tweet links to webpages or their own pictures. The only rule is that the message has to be less than 140 characters:

Here is what should be a comprehensive list of the active MLB players that use Twitter:

Matt Kemp tweets as “Mattkemp27”. He hasn’t posted since July 11, when he tweeted “Bout to get ready and head to the stadium. U guy’s wish me luck 2nite and lets get another win!!!”
Kemp also tweeted to try to get fans to vote him into the All-Star game as part of the final 33rd man vote:  “I want to thank everybody who voted for me. Didn’t make it this year but, next year will be a different story.”

Orlando Hudson tweets as “Orlandohudson”  – O-Dog wants fans to vote for him for the 2009 Roberto Clemente Award, which recognizes the the league’s humanitarian. He posted this on Sep. 3: “VOTE FOR ORLANDO! http://bit.ly/3hF1Zg”

Matt LaPorta tweets as “Gator4God”: On August 19 he tweeted: “Heading up to Cleveland” when news broke of his promotion to the majors. He also appears to be very religious and posts religious messages.

Joakim Soria tweets as “Joakimsoria” – On August 19 he tweeted: “ankle is god (sic) thanks” in reference to a twisted ankle he suffered during a game. News broke the next day that he could have pitched if needed.
When Soria went on the 15 day DL with a strained rotator cuff, Soria tweeted on May 10: “I be back” and the next day: “i´ll recover soon … shoulder inflammation”

Coco Crisp tweets as “Coco_Crisp” – Another KC Royal tweeting about injuries, Crisp had surgery on his right shoulder in June that put him out for the season. He posted this on June 24: “I had my surgery today and all went well. I would like to thank all the fans that stood by me through my rough times that I had this season.”

Todd Wellemeyer tweets as “Todalion” – If you’ve ever wondered how players spend rain delays, check out Wellemeyer’s post during a rain delay on May 3rd game between the Cardinals and Nationals:  “Still raining…. Just watched 3:10 to Yuma. Might go eat lunch again”.  And then 30 minutes later he tweeted “Cancelled” after the game was postponed.

CC Sabathia tweets as “CC_Sabathia” – He hasn’t tweeted in a while, but one post of note came on April 17th after his Yankee stadium debut in which he pitched well but the bullpen gave up nine runs and the Yankees lost to the Indians 10-2: “Tough loss yesterday but great to finally pitch in front of the NY fans. Great to see all the legends yesterday.”

Nick Swisher tweets as “NickSwisher” – Swisher always seems like he’s having fun during games, and it looks like he has fun tweeting about them as well. He’s basically a cheerleader, posting such tweets as these:
Sep. 20: “Do it CC. Great win. Let’s get this one today.”
Sep. 19: “Congrats to Mo. 1000th career strikeout. Wow.”
Aug. 31: “do it mr. Pettitte!!! Still doing it!!! Great team win. Let’s keep the ride going”
Aug. 29: “coolest name in baseball. Do it Sergio”
Aug. 15: “Texsual Healing baby. Do it Tex. Huge bomb.2 more to go”
Aug. 12: “Don’t ya know. Robbie Cano. Do it kid. Big time win. The comeback kids strike again”
Aug. 11: “Godzilla is the man. Furthest ball I’ve seen hit all year. Could not have come at a better time. One more to go.”
June 29: “Unreal series.Taking 3 from Mets at their place and Mo getting his 500th. Couldn’t be scripted any better. Big homestand coming up…”

Ryan Rowland-Smith tweets as “hyphen18” – RRS threw a gem Wednesday night in a 4-1 win over the White Sox, pitching eight innings. Here were his tweets prior to and after the game:
Sep. 15: “Pitching tomorrow!!!!!!!! Carb loading as we speak just like micheal scott before the fun run! (The office)”
Sep. 16 “pre game Carbo load worked out! Best thing about outing was Wak letting me go back out 4 the 8th.so stoked about that.guess he trusts me!”

Matt Garza tweets as “Mgarza 22” - On September 18 he tweeted “game tonight were back Home In Tampa Home Sweet Home”

Jarrod Parker tweets as “JarrodBParker” – The Arizona rookie was shut down for the season with elbow soreness. He tweeted about his doctor visit on September 14: “Big day today… Hoping for best but prepared for worst”

Jeremy Affeldt tweets as “JeremyAffeldt” – Affeldt apparently only posts inspirational or meaningful quotes on his page, such as this yesterday: “’Finding ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.’ Emily Dickinson”

Chad Durbin tweets as either “Chaddurbin” or under what appears to be a group page “showcaseU” – Durbin tweeted on August 11 about his return from the disabled list: “Off the DL – Into to fire. Save against the Cubs tonight in 12 innings”

C.J. Wilson tweets as “str8edgeracer” – Wilson pitched the eighth inning in a win over the Angels Saturday night and earned a hold. He then tweeted: “If that’s what playoff baseball feels like, I’m in”

Justin Morneau tweets as “JustinMorneau” – Morneau’s been dealing with some injuries and illnesses of late, and he posted on August 20: “Van Goghed! For the latest ear-infection updates (as well as other Minnesota Twins news) follow @kellythesier”.
Morneau also wanted to let fans know this on August 10: “Stand up and Shout! – Joe Nathan is on Twitter. Check him out @JoeNathan36”

Joe Nathan tweets as “JoeNathan36” – On September 19, Nathan tweeted: “15 games left in regular season. 1st game with detroit had a lot of energy from the fans. makes for fun atmosphere. keep it up yall!”

Blake Hawksworth tweets as “BlakeHawksworth” – Hawksworth tweets very frequently and after Houston beat the Cubs on August 31, he gave them a shout out: “Do it Astro’s!”

Jason Grilli tweets as “GrillCheese49” – It seems that relief pitchers are the most frequent tweeters, perhaps because there’s a lot of time to kill in life in the bullpen. Grilli tweeted yesterday: “Good morning! Off to the yard. Waking up to positive thoughts, emotions, and focus. Lets take the series. One day at a time! Enjoy yr Sunday”  Unfortuntately, the Rangers lost the game and the series to the Angels.

Rich Thompson tweets as “chopper63” – Thompson is another reliever for the Angels and tweeted this gem on September 18: “Just watched a guy smash his head on the lift gate, his wife just looked at him with a blank stare like what are you crying for” and then five minutes later tweeted: “Ha ha maybe they were rangers fans, if they were they got me good”

Carlos Delgado tweets as “carlosdelgado21” – Delgado hasn’t tweeted about baseball in a while as he’s been hurt, and gave an update on June 3:  “Nothing really exciting about being hurt, most days are pretty slow and boring but therapy is going well. Good spirits all the time!!”

Mark Teahen tweets as “ESPY_TEAHEN” – Teahen actually posts as if his dog was doing the posting and does so every time. Here’s an example from yesterday: “Mark’s taking your requests for walk up songs for the last homestand. Make ‘em good.”

There are also a handful of retired players tweeting:

Steve Finley tweets as “Stevefinley” – Finley gave his two cents on the trade deadline moves on July 31: “ I do believe the cardinals did the biggest impact in trades with the red sox right behind. And Pittsburgh gets to start all over and have this new round of players ready for the trading blocks in a few years!”

Rob Dibble tweets as “Rdibs49” – Dibble mostly promotes his radio show on Twitter, but apparently has an affinity for the Nationals, given tweets like these on August 30 – “Looking forward to catching up with my Nats in San Diego, let’s sweep this one!”

Jose Canseco tweets as “JoseCanseco” – Canseco posted on August 30 that he’s: “Working on a few different reality show offers right now. Follow @BernieGernay for news on me faster than I can get it out there myself….”
He also, of course,  threw his two cents on May 8th after Manny Ramirez was suspended for using PEDs: “Steroids in baseball has become overkill, the scrutiny should now be placed on MLB and the player’s association, it’s a complete conspiracy.”

Curt Schilling tweets as “gehrig38” – But he doesn’t really tweet about baseball. The last baseball related tweet was on July 15 when he wrote “@Coco_Crisp hey send me an email!”

Brent Mayne tweets as “BrentMayne” – Mayne has been promoting some of his TV appearances, like this on September 5: “Feature about the European Academy in Italy on “This Week in Baseball” (Fox 12:00 PST) today. I should get some face time.”

Jim Rice tweets as “Ask14” – Rice tweeted on July 29 about his Hall of Fame Induction: “Great night. An honor to have my family on the field with me and see old friends. But what made it so special was the support of the fans!”

Joe Carter tweets as “JoeCarter_29” – Carter visited the Rogers Centre on August 7 and took some batting practice before the game: “http://twitpic.com/d2auq – Hanging out at Rogers Centre taking some pre-game BP. Aiming for that 328′ left field wall.” The link he included is to a picture he posted with his message.

C.J. Nitkowski tweets as “CJNitkowski” – C.J. is currently playing in Japan and tweets often about his experience. Yesterday he tweeted: “Not a fun loss today, I guess they really never are. The little things. My error in the 4th and a 2 out nobody on walk in the 2nd did me in.”

Jerry Remy tweets as “Jerry Remy” – The Red Sox announcer tweets as well. Yesteday he posted: “You just know #Yankees & #RedSox are on a collision course-Sox look as good as they have all year-pitching peaking at right time-Jerry”

Also, a few players such as David Ortiz, Joe Mauer and Cody Ross were apparently tweeting but their accounts appear to have been cancelled.

Lastly, here’s one more twitter account that could be worth keeping an eye on: “Alyssa_Milano”. You know, in case she dates another pitcher and casts her spell on him.

Don’t forget to follow Baseball Daily Digest on Twitter! You can do so by clicking on the link on the BDD home page.