Trolling Across Fandoms: The MLB and Controlling the Narrative

 

You know, it's kind of funny how you can find yourself in a discussion that turns into much more than it should have ever been.  Not only that, but you begin to recognize some familiar territory, if you participate in fandoms which can bring about the existence of gas lighting, planted accounts, compromised media, etc. 

In this case, we are in the sport and fandom of Major League Baseball and a particular team of the Kansas City Royals. ⚾

 

Two days ago, on X (formerly Twitter), the following NY news writer and editor tweeted this:

 

A controversial claim to be sure when talking about trading any MLB veterans, which would make it look like the ball club has waved the white flag on a dismal (to this point) season and might be more interested in rebuilding.  That would be a negative message to the players presently in the clubhouse and also to the fans, many of whom may still have hope for a Wild Card spot in the playoffs.

It should be noted though, the tweet states that the writer was 1) "hearing" the news bit and 2) that Royals' General Manager. J.J. Picollo should start thinking, which wouldn't have necessarily been a gavel throwing order. 

It certainly had made this author hit a panic button, fearing that some of the Royals' veterans could be leaving. But when looking at the tweet again, I should have paid closer attention to those two loopholes.  

The tweet caused instant reactions from the Royals' GM as well as their Vice President of Communications, Sam Mellinger.   

Picollo was asked about the tweet on the mid-day sports talk 96.5 FM radio show merely hours later, to which J.J. adamantly denied the report and said, "the accountability of that writer should be in question".  

[It should be noted that 96.5 FM is the official radio station for the ball club, airing all of their regular season games.  Picollo is a semi-regular guest on the mid-day show.]

Picollo's reaction was followed by the team's VP of Communications Mellinger , who replied directly to Mark Healey on Twitter.

 

Wow, okay.  Getting interesting now, isn't it (if you're a Royals fan, anyway!  😉)  

So then, one of the hosts of the mid-day show, Alex Gold retweeted Mark Healey's tweet to inform fans that J.J. had been on his show and disputed it.

 

 

And then the MLB beat writer for the Royals, Anne Rogers, also chimed in, telling all that it is rare for a rep for the Royals to react to a story:

 

 

On the same day, the other sports talk radio station in town, 810 AM Sports Talk, promptly lined up the tweet originator, Mark Healey, for their afternoon show with its host Soren Petro so that he could share the other side of the story.  

Later that morning, Healey thanked them for the opportunity, along with a link to the segment.

 

 

Phew!  Lots of hullabulloo!  Who would've thought so much activity could come from one tweet?  

I know that this author just hoped it wasn't true because Seth Lugo is a personal favorite pitcher on the Royals' staff and while I know he can opt out after this season, that doesn't mean he couldn't return.  He's proven that he brings so much value to the team due to his extensive tutelage (along with teammate and right-handed pitcher, Michael Wacha), of the other pitchers.  Hard to put a price tag on that kind of knowledge and experience!

HOWever, on the other hand, what is with all of the heavy-handed reaction?  

"accountability of the writer should be in question"?

"That's as false as can be."

"Please kindly stop making things up."

"lol.  Zero truth to it, and you know it." 

 

Fast forward to the next day, where Healey's tweet was brought up on Sports Talk 96.5 FM's morning show, "Bob and Dusty", where a strongly worded lambasting of Healey took place.

 

 

 This is the actual video clip:

I'm not sure what led to name-calling Healey a "jackass", but there it is.  And don't get me wrong.  I very much enjoy this morning show, along with the mid-day show.  Doesn't mean I have to agree with everything said, just like I don't expect everything I say to be agreed with.

Yes, majority owner John Sherman did all of the wonderful things.  Led a large business group to purchase the team in 2019 and has followed up with committing money to sign great players like Bobby Witt, Jr, Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo.

But Healey's tweet never named Sherman as his source.  It merely says "Royals ownership" and there are at least 23 different owners!  So, maybe it was one(s) of the other owners who knows Mark Healey and mentioned to him this news bit? 

Or how about this possibility?  What if this "drop" was a test balloon?   What if it was the team's front office's idea to float this, hoping it would light a fire under the players?  After all, no other moves had worked thus far in this challenging and under performing season.

And guess what happened? That same evening, two of the team's leaders, Bobby Witt, Jr and Salvador Perez, both had impactful offensive performances, along with an outstanding pitching performance by Lugo, leading to a 6-1 victory.  

I am not saying it would be a nice idea at all to worry players with such a misleading story.  Just wondering if that's possible.

And finally.

Last thought on this.   The high degree of reaction by all those mentioned above was nearly matched by a one-on-one discussion with a fellow online chat participant yesterday about the tweet and Healey.  

My main point was about how the Royals' general manager had made a similar definitive comment last fall/winter about pitcher Brady Singer (who they would trade to the Cincinnati Reds a couple of weeks later).  From MLB.com, writer Anne Rogers:

 

GM J.J. Picollo at the general manager meetings early November 2024

Even though nothing is ever set in concrete and circumstances can always change, when you see "And he'll continue to do that.  So Brady's a lock in our rotation.  When you look at our top four, Brady is in it.  We'd like to have him because you can never have enough depth."

Well, seems pretty darn encouraging.  But then, on November 22, Brady was traded.  

After having it pointed out on the morning show that members of the Royals organization had denied Healey's report and there were others associated with the team who were incensed about it due to how false they said it was, I mentioned the Brady Singer situation and how does that prove that a denial should be always believed? 

I was met with, "bro even I knew Brady was a possibility to be traded as soon as the playoffs were done"    

Well, what about what JJ said, though?

And, "there's a difference when it's the off-season to say something like that if you're going to reach"  Huh?  How is what I said a reach?  And what's the difference in "when" you say such a pretty solid statement?

This particular blogger and I went back and forth, back and forth.  They proceeded to badmouth Mark Healey (like the Royals had done, and like the morning show host, Fescoe had done).

When it was pointed out that the writer stood by his story and his source, the blogger made this unfounded statement:  "well that's the problem with these days you never have to name a source anymore so you can just make something up" 

Yes, that can apply to Deux Moi?  People.com?  Rolling Stone?  But, in the case of Healey's story, I could understand why he would want to shield his source.  Whoever it was, would likely never give him any more information. 

The final straw came with this reply after I pointed out that I was trying to be open-minded about the story:

"I'm not trying to make fun of you(r) man but like are you open-minded about Flat Earth too cuz a lot of dumb people say that's true as well"  

So the discussion had disintegrated into an insult, which was totally unnecessary.  

For those of us who have engaged with planted accounts and trolls, this has long been a common trait.  Not saying this particular account is a plant, but I found it quite interesting that I was compared to a dumb person who believed in a Flat Earth.  In other words, I was no longer just someone he disagreed with, but a Conspiracy Theorist. Sound familiar?

Finally, with the morning show host Fescoe, J.J. Picollo and this fellow commenter all digging at the writer's credibility and telling everyone not to believe him, I'll just add that he's not just some "random", small newspaper type reporter.

He's an editor-in-chief of The Wave, a newspaper that's existed for over 100 years.  He's a past Assoc. Press writer and he also is an online editor for The Baseball Digest, which is the longest running magazine about baseball.  So that is a respectable career in progress and nothing to be insulted the way it was.

 

credit:  Gotham Nation

 

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If the story is unfounded, "made up", created for clicks, then yes, shame on the writer.

If the story was purposely "leaked" or given to the writer for dropping, by the organization in order to try and light a fire under the players, then it seems an unkind thing to do to them.  If it sets the team out on a win streak, well, at least the purpose provides the desired result.

If the tweet proves to be true, and one or more veterans are traded, it would be surprising but also disappointing.

Is this a huge story?  No.  But it was amazing to watch all of the reactions.  

And finally, the "Flat Earth" comment was an OTT last straw. An indication that perhaps I was not just speaking with another baseball "fan" but someone tasked with a job. Sports, after all, is just another tenacle of the entertainment industry.

 

pic sources:  MLB/Anne Rogers, tenor, 96.5FM The Fan, Wikipedia, Gotham Nation, You 

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