Hustle, Heart, and Twitter

If you aren’t following the players of the Toronto Blue Jays on Twitter, you’re an idiot! Okay, you’re probably not an idiot, you just haven’t figured out that several of the Jays’ talented, young players are expressing their opinions and revealing parts of their lives in the Twitter-verse. Twitter is an exceptionally useful tool for all to capitalize on. It allows businesses to market themselves and pre-teens to stalking Justin Bieber. For athletes, however, twitter has become a forum for free speech and truth.  A prime example of this is Phoenix Coyotes enforcer Paul Bissonnette (aka @BizNasty2point0) who enlightens his followers with hilarious tweets that typically chirp himself or sarcastically poke fun of fellow NHLers. Biz Nasty not only has his followers laughing, but he provides a unique perspective into the inner workings of the NHL and what it is like the be a professional hockey player. With over 66,000 followers, its clear hockey fans appreciate the candidness of Bissonnette and, more importantly, his openness about living the dream as a NHL fourth liner—I know I do.

But back to the reason I started writing the article, the Blue Jays. A number of Jays players—including 4 of the 6 starting pitchers—have twitter accounts. These guys didn’t make accounts because the team wants to market the team more, rather they did it out of boredom and what has resulted is a look into the day-to-day lives of some of the most talented young baseball players in the major leagues. They have provided a healthy mix of laidback fun and serious competitiveness in their tweeting—and it has been nothing short of enjoyable.

Opening day starter Ricky Romero (@RickyRo24) tweeted about him and some of his teammates having a cookout with his father during spring training.

Lefty pitcher Brett Cecil (@CEC0208) spends most of his off nights watching—and tweeting about—his hometown Washington Capitals and chirping every move of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

While, outfielder Travis Snider (@Lunchboshero45) splits his tweets into two topics—baseball and food—as the slugger is a big fan of a hearty meal, as his Twitter handle implies.

Not only is it cool for fans to have a bit of a look inside the lives of their heroes, but also these Jays players have formed a brotherhood within that clubhouse that may be unmatched in the major leagues. Of course, bonds are created on professional sports teams because everyone wants to win, but there is something different about these Blue Jays. Most of them are all in the same situation as one another—they’re young, unproven, and talented—and are looking to show the rest of Major League Baseball that they have what it takes to contend for a division title.

The mantra of the Toronto Blue Jays this year is “Hustle and Heart”. I’ll be honest, when I first saw these words flash across the screen during spring training I thought it was pretty lame, but the Jays players clearly don’t and it has shown up on the field so far in this young season. Tagging their tweets with #hustleandheart, it is clear guys like Romero, Snider, Cecil, J.P. Arencibia (j@parencibia9), Jesse Litsch (@JesseLitsch), and the latest addition to the world of Twitter Jose Bautista (@JoeyBats19), all know that to be successful they need to put everything they have into each and every work session, practice, and game. Even Brandon Morrow (@2Morrow23), who is currently on the disabled list, sees the hustle and heart of his teammates and is letting the world of Twitter know what he thinks of their efforts in his absence.

Seeing tweets like that of Morrow’s and following the Blue Jays’ players on Twitter this season has given this Jays fan a great deal of optimism for the rest of the season and beyond. This is clearly a team of men committed to winning in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform, which is something that you could not say of many Jays teams in the past ten or fifteen years. Their hard work and dedication to the organization has rubbed off on the fans to the point where people are excited to cheer for the birds and wear Jays gear with pride once again.

Be sure to follow the Blue Jays both on Twitter and on the field, you won’t be disappointed. #LetsGoBlueJays