Social media has changed the world in a million different ways, many of which, have been positive. Star athletes, however, are one group of people that have definitely found themselves on the wrong side of the deal when it comes to social media.
The new technology has further diminished their already challenged sense of privacy and placed their personal lives under unprecedented scrutiny, which would likely have presented some challenges to previous generations’ stars.
How about we look back at 10 MLB players, who for one reason or another, would’ve never survived in this era?
Babe Ruth
While people like to reflect back on the legendary life and career of Babe Ruth with rose-tinted lens, the reality is that the behavior he got away with back in the 1920s would never fly nowadays.
Between all the boozing, womanizing, and smoking—his indulgent social life would have drawn an insane amount of attention and likely landed in him in a boatload of trouble.
Dwight "Doc" Gooden
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Anyone whose read ‘The Bad Guys Won!’ or watched one of the countless documentaries on the ’86 Mets knows exactly why it could’ve gotten even uglier—faster—for Doc Gooden.
Gooden, along with the rest of those legendary Mets teams, was one of the hardest partiers the league has ever seen—to the point that it impacted his career then. Imagine how many times he would’ve gotten suspended nowadays with camera phones capturing his out-of-control degeneracy?!
Lenny Dykstra
Lenny Dykstra, the man formerly known as Nails, is a perfect example. He managed to get himself in quite a bit of trouble even before social media.
Safe to say that the man known for his insane partying that was literally put in jail post-career would’ve floundered under the increased scrutiny.
Ricky Henderson
Ricky Henderson carried himself more like a prize fighter than a baseball player. He was confident, loud, and to his credit, could back it up.
Sometimes—less is more. And I fear that if MLB’s all-time stolen bases and runs leader had played in this era, his ego wouldn’t have been able to handle the infinite amount of attention he could attract via social media.
Pete Rose
Pete Rose couldn’t even make it out of his era of ball without catching a lifetime suspension. Imagine he roaming free in today’s world that has gambling apps at the tip of his fingers in every city and millions of Instagram models to DM.
There’s serious reason to doubt that Rose even makes it through his playing days in one piece.
Curt Schilling
Well… This is a bit of an obvious one, particularly to anyone who has kept up with Curt Schilling’s life since his playing days came to an end. Let’s just say that the three-time World Series champion has found a way to keep himself busy.
With the way he’s managed to get his aggressive opinions out there, it is hard to imagine him existing in the public spotlight as an active player during the social media era. Especially considering all of the semi-public feuds he had with management and teammates over the years.8
And it hasn’t just been his mercurial public persona and, shall we say, controversial opinions, either. There was also the downfall of his video game business venture, 38 Studios, which not only went bankrupt but also nearly brought the entire state of Rhode Island down with it. He would’ve been eaten alive in social media was in full force at the time that was going down.
Johnny Damon
Johnny Damon’s career unofficially ended in 2012, so technically social media had already arrived, but it was still very much in its infancy compared to what we’ve seen it become today.
Between Damon’s two wives, eight kids, and penitent for alcohol, it seems like a safe bet that he really would’ve struggled to keep it between the lines during his playing days with all of the extra eyes on him.
George Brett
When today’s fans think about George Brett, one of the first images that comes to mind is probably the legendary pine tar incident—when Brett was called out after believing himself to have hit a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning against the Yankees.
Not only would that even have caused a massive backlash, but that kind of fiery behavior was also really just the tip of the iceberg for Brett. That was who he was in every facet of his life.
George was also one of the most eligible MLB bachelors for nearly his entire career, before settling down in ’92, a year prior to his retirement. It is a safe bet that lifestyle mixed with social media could’ve landed him in hot water.
