Angels backup catcher Bobby Wilson announced on Twitter Thursday that he was done with the social media service because he couldn’t stand the negativity:
I’m done with twitter. Try to be fan friendly and all I get is criticism. I wasn’t blessed with 5 tools. I worked hard to get here.
— Bobby Wilson (@BW46) August 9, 2012
Nothing like a self-deprecating announcement to elicit some sympathy.
Wilson is a career .215 hitter and batting .228 with two home runs for the Angels this year. He saw daily action after Chris Ianetta got hurt, but he’s been playing sporadically since Ianetta returned. He’s caught C.J. Wilson the last two times he started, and the southpaw was hit hard both times. Perhaps that’s the root of the criticism he’s faced.
LBS went back to look at the tweets Wilson was sent over the past week, and it really wasn’t too bad. He had about as many supportive tweets as critical ones, and it’s not like he was bombarded with very many at all. But we do have a feeling it was tweets like the ones below that got him down:
@bw46 you are completely garbo you cant throw you cant hit you make bad plays if Ianetta was there CJ would be winning#TripleA crap— Sergy GZ (@Obey_The_Jelly) August 8, 2012
@str8edgeracer Be more aggresive and throw strikes. Dont listen to@bw46 hes a retard no good . switch catchers better improvement— Sergy GZ (@Obey_The_Jelly) August 8, 2012
Even though Wilson’s quitting tweet makes me feel badly, the criticism he’s receiving is light and something he needs to be able to handle as a professional ballplayer. A lot of fans are jerks and act boldly when writing anonymously on a computer. I know how it goes — I receive hate mail pretty often and it’s not fun.
It’s Wilson’s choice to be on Twitter, and if he doesn’t want fans to have easy access to criticizing him, then he shouldn’t be on there. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way things go. There are actually worse reasons for quitting Twitter, so Wilson should keep that in mind.
H/T Daily Pitch
