McAdam: Like it or not, social media trolling by players keep baseball front and center

HOUSTON -- This being 2018 and all, social media has quite naturally played a role in MLB's postseason.

And why not? If it can influence elections, why wouldn't it also infiltrate baseball?

Earlier this month, a video of New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge carrying a boombox and blasting out "New York, New York'' as he walked past the home clubhouse at Fenway following the Yankees' Game 2 win over the Red Sox went viral and became the backdrop to the rest of the American League Division Series.

Initially, the Red Sox dismissed the display by Judge as little more than harmless fun. But when the Sox clinched a series win in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium, they made sure to have the song part of their clubhouse celebration playlist, giving credence to the fact that the Sox successfully used it as a motivational tool when they won two straight in the Bronx.

Now, with a pause in the action between Games 2 and 3 of the American League Championship Series, social media hijinks are front-and-center again.

On Monday, Astros third baseman Alex Bregman posted video of Houston hitting three consecutive homers earlier this season off Nathan Eovaldi, then with the Tampa Bay Rays, with a caption reading: "Lil pre-game video work.'' Eovaldi, of course, is the Game 3 starter Tuesday night as the Red Sox and Astros resume their business.

https://twitter.com/TheRyanBlevins/status/1051911186982289415

Bregman's post was soon deleted, but not before it got a lot of attention in both clubhouses.

Eovaldi, who is as even-tempered as any player on the Sox, said he was made aware of Bregman's trolling in his own clubhouse, but insisted he didn't take it personally.

"You know, I don't have any social media or anything like that,'' said Eovaldi. "The guys told me about it. I think home run clips, right? Something like that? Yeah, I'm aware of it. I still have a job to do. I've got to go out there and pitch my game tomorrow and I can't have any distractions.''

Eovaldi is so low-keyed and unassuming, you can actually take him at his word.  He's not one to get rattled about much of anything. And, as his manager Alex Cora noted: "Like I said a few days ago, if you need motivation in Game 3 of the ALCS, you better check yourself.''

It wasn't long ago that managers actively discouraged their players from providing bulletin board material to the opposition during the postseason. It was deemed to be in poor taste, and ultimately, counterproductive to the goal at hand. Why needlessly fire up the team you're trying to beat?

But Judge's antics, and now Bregman's trolling, at the very least, have people talking. And that, Cora noted, isn't a bad thing.

"People are paying attention, you know,'' shrugged Cora. "Like, the Judge thing was on every sports show, which is cool, I think. We need more people to talk about the game. We're in a great time to be a baseball fan. I've been saying that the whole season. You look at these two teams and it's like, 'Wow.'

"I've been talking about the talent (on display in the ALCS). Alex Bregman is one of the best players in the big leagues. And now, well, they're talking -- maybe not for the right reasons -- but they're talking about it. And I think it's cool.''

Cora was thought of as something of a throwback during his career, who might have taken offense as such measures. It's not hard to imagine a 30-year-old Cora firing up his teammates with perceived slights from the other dugout.

But Cora's older, and the game's culture has changed. So instead of reacting with indignation, Cora smiles, shrugs and essentially says to himself: "Kids these days...''

"Probably, when I was playing, I would be like 'OK, here we go,'" acknowledged Cora. "But I don't throw a ball, I don't have to hit. I just manage a team and I don't get caught up in that. But it's always good (when) people talk about the game. And if this is the reason they're about it, so be it.''

Goodness knows, baseball can use the talk and the attention. It can use whatever it takes to reach the young fans, many of whom regard the game as too slow and without enough personality.

So the antics by Judge and Bregman should be seen for what they are: harmless fun that puts the game on the radar of a segment of the audience that would otherwise be happy to ignore it.

Even today, the old adage still applies: there's no such thing as bad publicity.