(PHOTO: Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)
Matt Harvey confirmed on Tuesday that the Mets asked him to delete a photo he shared Monday on Twitter, showing himself extending his middle finger before Tommy John surgery in October. But he said the decision to delete his entire Twitter account was his alone.
From ESPN New York:
“I’m not going to apologize for being myself and having a good laugh at a funny little picture. I’ve kind of had enough with Twitter and, I guess, not being able to show your personal side. I’ll keep those pictures to myself.”…
“I thought the whole reason to have a Twitter was to put out there a little bit of fun and show your personal side a little bit,” Harvey said. “But I guess when that gets questioned from a picture or so many wrongdoings, there comes a time where you have to get rid of it.”
Harvey’s correct on every count here. He shouldn’t have to apologize for showing some personality. How many people were legitimately offended by the photo? His own mother snapped it. And given the circumstances, it depicts exactly the defiant, enthusiastic mentality fans have come to appreciate from the rehabbing young ace.
Sure, you can defend Harvey’s bosses and point out that many workplaces would prefer their employees not tweet photos of themselves making obscene — if harmless — gestures. But Major League Baseball is hardly a typical workplace. It breeds and rewards brash competitiveness, seemingly the same type Harvey demonstrated by flipping the bird before surgery.
And the way the whole institution — the league and its teams, and some players, media and fans — seems dedicated to stifling expression just can’t be good for the game in the long haul. Despite an incredible influx of young talent into the league in recent seasons, MLB still lacks the type of transcendent superstars we see (and revere, and Google) in other sports.
There’s more to that than sheer glamour, of course. And there exist, in guys like Andrew McCutchen and David Ortiz, great ballplayers who manage to walk the tightrope between being interesting and maintaining the perception of their much-ballyhooed (if largely undefinable) “respect for the game.”
But you’ll never convince me that Major League Baseball, the Mets, or Mets fans are better off for knowing less about Matt Harvey. Harvey’s talented, handsome, driven, funny, and, occasionally, naked. This is a guy baseball should want everyone to know better.
(PHOTO: Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)
He is, like all ballplayers, an entertainer. And Harvey’s innocuous Twitter shenanigans — even if they somehow upset people — are entertaining. Baseball is for fun, and forcing Harvey and all his colleagues to carry on in constant fear of repercussions for expressing themselves is pretty much the opposite of fun.
Let’s not punish or chastise Harvey for Tweeting things that Derek Jeter would never Tweet, or any other act that might offend only a vocal minority while thrilling the rest of us.
Which is all to say, admire those home run balls, Jose Fernandez. Dance away, Yasiel Puig. Write books, R.A. Dickey. Rock that facepaint, Bryce Harper. Be Brian Wilson, Brian Wilson.
Will envious teammates grumble anonymously to reporters when stars steal headlines for stepping ever-so-slightly beyond baseball’s boring balderdash? Sure. But who really cares?
As long as players maintain their dedication to being the best they can be on the field — helping their clubs win ballgames in the process — they’ll maintain the respect of any teammates worth worrying about.
And as long as that’s the case, we gain nothing from ripping them for having harmless fun in public settings, electronic and otherwise. Harvey’s extended middle finger came at no one’s expense, but the overblown reaction to it came at our own.
