Three springs ago or so, pre-World Fucking Champions, all of team Philebs went to spring training. As luck would have it, on the way to Clearwater, we scored a media contact with the Phils. After telling him we’d love an interview with ANYONE on the team, we were told that the Phils/MLB only deals with two websites: MLB.com and ESPN.com. On the one hand, they have a point: There are just too many websites on the Internet. One the other hand, if you don’t own your own identity online, someone else will. And as far as Twitter goes, it’s pretty easy to impersonate someone. All you need to do is be the one to get there first.
With updates like “Do you like fishsticks?,” spotting the first fake Chase Utley account on Twitter was easy. But last week, golf pro John Raser announced he was going to run a Twitterview (ahem) with The Real Chase Utley. The official Phillies Twitter, the one they promote on-air, was quick to call bullshit, stating, “A note to our fans – Chase Utley does not Twitter and is not doing any ‘Twitterview’ chat that you may have heard of.”
So is he or isn’t he? Raser offered up meager proof, saying, “Well, if he wasn’t the real Chase Utley would he be able to send me THIS photo of the outside of a stadium?” While the evidence is paltry, Chase’s personality comes through as genuine. And he appears to be stumbling through this new-fangled social media with all the prowess of Larry Mendte. Point being, maybe it’s time for the Phils to unlock their self-imposed Net Nanny and wise up to the power of the web. As this die-hard Phils fan said, some people just have no respect for the internet.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 11:44 am.