mister_terrific
2009-06-05 01:54 pm UTC (link)

Tony doesn't need to bring lawyers; he is a lawyer.

Two things in his defense:

1) Twitter does have a provision in its terms of service agreement to prohibit "non-parody impersonation". Having read the tweets in question, they might be parody, but they weren't very funny.

2) LaRussa did try to have the account removed but got nowhere until he filed suit.

Read more here.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	tofuknight 2009-06-05 02:54 pm UTC (link)
	Are you a Cardinals' fan? I root for them when I'm not hopelessly rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates (and swearing at their dumb as fuck management...grumble) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	mister_terrific 2009-06-05 03:35 pm UTC (link)
	Oh hells yes. I figured I didn't have enough stress in my life; they're good enough to make you dream but damn they make some stupid decisions. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	tofuknight 2009-06-05 03:50 pm UTC (link)
	high fives Yay for hopeless sports teams! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	frequentmouse 2009-06-06 06:19 pm UTC (link)
	Tell me about it. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	cleolinda 2009-06-05 04:41 pm UTC (link)
	LaRussa did try to have the account removed but got nowhere until he filed suit. Huh, really? I know of at least two imposter (impostor? God, I never know which one it should be) accounts that were handed over to the real person. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	mister_terrific 2009-06-05 04:44 pm UTC (link)
	This is an interesting situation in that while Tony doesn't Twitter himself, at least two beat writers and one Cardinal do. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch/STLTODAY.com seem to be a bit ahead of the technology toy curve. I'd imagine someone discovered the imposter, asked him about it, and that got the ball rolling. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ari_o 2009-06-05 05:56 pm UTC (link)
	Even if he is a lawyer he has lawyers handling this for him. The parody tweets were not funny, sure. But when you're a public figure people say mean things about you. Tabloids make up crazy stories. I still find OMG!SUING TWITTER! kind of funny. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vitalitat 2009-06-05 06:01 pm UTC (link)
	That's because OMG!SUING TWITTER! is funny. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mister_terrific 2009-06-05 07:12 pm UTC (link)
	Well, you have to understand that LaRussa does not have much of a sense of humor to begin with.... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ari_o 2009-06-05 07:37 pm UTC (link)
	That's why it's funny! :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

vitalitat
2009-06-05 06:06 pm UTC (link)

It's like he's never heard of the internet before, holy cow. I kind of just LOL'd when I heard the story on the news. Why doesn't he make an official one and just move on with it? I think if he rolled with the punches it would have been better for him. Suing just makes him look like a big baby that we all get to laugh at-- OH WAIT.

But yeah, I get that it wasn't funny and damaging to his rep, but OMG HIS REP. SOMEONE THINK OF HIS GOLD STAR ADORNED REP!

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	ari_o 2009-06-05 06:10 pm UTC (link)
	If you search his name on Twitter it's basically either OMG! He'll ruin Twitter or LOL LaRussa! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	meril 2009-06-06 06:39 pm UTC (link)
	The problem is that LaRussa has dangerously little rep to damage. I think I've seen his DUI arrest video on TV about 3 or 4 times already. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vitalitat 2009-06-06 06:41 pm UTC (link)
	Haha, oh I know that. I was being sarcastic. :P (Reply to this)(Parent)

	jkefka 2009-06-05 08:32 pm UTC (link)
	I'm trying to imagine other managers' reactions to this kind of thing. Terry Francona would probably be very polite about it, but he's kind of the zen master of PR from dealing with Manny Ramirez for so long. Joe Torre would probably have it dealt with quickly and ruthlessly but never say anything about it himself. Jim Leland would rage epically. Others? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	miss_padfoot 2009-06-05 08:36 pm UTC (link)
	Charlie Manuel would bluster about it ineffectually, but never actually do anything. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ari_o 2009-06-05 08:40 pm UTC (link)
	For some reason I can only think of Phil Rizzuto and Howard Cosell and wow totally not coaches! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	eris 2009-06-05 10:17 pm UTC (link)
	AJ Hinch would have no idea what to do. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	altoidsaddict 2009-06-05 10:44 pm UTC (link)
	Don Zimmer would launch a DDOS attack, then stand outside Starbucks waiting to throw rocks at anyone he suspected of Tweeting. And I would still love him for it. (Reply to this)(Parent)

witty
2009-06-05 11:12 pm UTC (link)

Are you kidding? Twitter is the perfect avenue for Francona to exposit his devastating attacks upon Dustin Pedroia in their deadly-serious games of cribbage! I am a little surprised there is no such Twitter parody already.

(Francona to the media: "Well, you guys told me there's something going on. I'll have my daughters look right into that, as soon as I figure out where their numbers are in my cell phone.")

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	jkefka 2009-06-06 03:23 am UTC (link)
	He's such a doofus. I love him. It helps that he's a good manager too. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	frequentmouse 2009-06-06 06:21 pm UTC (link)
	Mike Sciosa 's lips would disappear and he would turn magenta. Lou Pinella would throw his keyboard. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	meril 2009-06-06 06:40 pm UTC (link)
	Ned Yost would be all "wtf is this Tweeter?" (Yes, I know, he's unemployed, but it still stands.) (Reply to this)(Parent)

freezer
2009-06-06 08:02 am UTC (link)

I'll just let The Big Lead speak for me.

It takes a certain type of person to be the victim of a cruel joke, yet come off looking worse than the person who told it. Congratulations, Tony.

(Reply to this)

	karmyn75 2009-06-06 09:58 am UTC (link)
	Wait, when did he ever have a good reputation? I always got the impression that he was up there with Steinbrenner for baseball people you love to hate. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	ari_o 2009-06-06 08:08 pm UTC (link)
	I was being sarcastic about his "good reputation." (Reply to this)(Parent)

	meril 2009-06-07 03:50 am UTC (link)
	Twitter officially updates!, says LaRussa's claim of a settlement is full of crap. Also, they're launching Verified Accounts for public figures later this year. (Reply to this)