Giants pitcher, Brian Wilson (above) was amongst the millions worldwide who’d fallen for the Twitter craze, but learned the hard way this weekend such free expression is under considerable scrutiny. From the San Jose Mercury News’ Andrew Baggerly :
Wilson posted some twitterings late Saturday night in which he said (paraphrasing from memory) œScottsdale is fun but overaggressive males are not, leaving the impression he was out on the town potentially getting into fights past 1 a.m. The Giants played a day game Sunday and Wilson blew a three-run lead in a 5-4 loss. A reporter blogged about it Sunday night, but didn™t accuse Wilson of anything. Wilson tweeted back, saying he was eating room service hamburgers. Later today, Wilson deleted all of his tweets prior to Sunday morning.
I went up to Wilson this afternoon and asked him one simple question: Is there anything you want to clarify to the fans?
œI just can™t believe anyone would question my character. What about all the positive media and things we™ve done? Sure, things happen in the offseason, everybody celebrates or whatever, but I™m not one to take my job and throw it down the drain. Especially based on how hard I work out, and the meal plan I try to stay consistent with.
œThis Twitter crap, I™ve obviously got to stop because people are taking it too serious. My aspect of that is I write a bunch of stuff that™s not true. It™s made up. Obviously I™m not doing things like going toe-to-toe with a ninja. Find me a ninja, for one.
œObviously, it™s my fault for making up a bunch of stuff but I know for a fact most of those followers know I™m not being serious. They just like hearing funny stuff. Some people don™t understand, but I™m not an idiot, so obviously, I™ve got to stop.
Just to clarify, I asked if Wilson was out late Saturday night.
œNo, I wasn™t out at all Saturday night. I was playing video games. But you know what, people will believe what they want to believe. That™s fine, I guess. The last thing I want to do is have people think I don™t take my job seriously.
True to his word, Wilson’s Twitter account, twitter.com/brianwilson38, has been deleted.
It’s easy to be misquoted.
What or who is Wilson talking about when he refers to “The Machine”?
The Machine (or Machine) is a character from the Nick Cage movie, 8mm. It’s also a reference to an interview on The Cheap Seats where someone dressed like Machine walked on and off camera.