KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Royals left-hander Danny Duffy has become the Brett Favre of the Twitter world – one minute he’s Tweeting, the next minute he’s retiring. Then he’s Tweeting again, then he’s retiring again.
Duffy seemingly can’t make up his mind about Twitter.
After Tweeting for nearly a year, Duffy, still considered the Royals’ top pitching prospect, abruptly folded up his Twitter account last May.
"There was just too much negative stuff going on," Duffy said at the time. "It just wears on you, all the people saying stupid things. People get pretty brave behind a keyboard."
But a few months later, Duffy was right back at it, opening a new Twitter account. And immediately, thousands of followers hopped aboard.
Duffy again seemed to be having fun, Tweeting about his beloved Los Angeles Lakers, and then Tweeting about the Royals’ blockbuster trade that brought James Shields and Wade Davis to Kansas City.
Just hours after the trade, Duffy enthusiastically Tweeted, "Met two solid dudes today in James and Wade! Its gonna be a heck of a year. Glad to call them teammates!"
Then Duffy Tweeted one of the funniest lines of his Twitter career: "It just dawned on me that my last tweet sounded like ive been traded to the Heat!"
But again, the good times didn’t last long. Duffy again shut down his Twitter account in mid-December, shortly after the trade.
"I'm too prideful when it comes to guys on my team," Duffy said at the time. "Somebody says something bad about them, about my teammates, I want to stand up for them. Then it just gets ugly.
"There are some fake (Danny Duffy) accounts out there, too. It's too bad because there are just a bunch of keyboard warriors out there who kind of ruin it for everyone. It sucks because there are some great fans out there. I liked getting to know the great fans.
"But then there are those people in their parent's basement who ruin it for everyone. It's just not fun anymore. I'm done and I think it's a good thing I am."
Well, once more, that hiatus didn’t last long. Duffy is back again on Twitter (@DannyDuffy805), and apparently is having fun again.
"I just think it’s a great way to connect with fans," Duffy told FOXSportsKasnsasCity.com on Thursday. "I’m trying to have fun with it. There really are a lot of great fans out there and I love getting to know them.
"I admit, I do like it (Twitter). But it’s not like I think about it all the time. I think about it about two percent of the time."
Exposing himself again to the hate that often rears itself on social media, however, might again change Duffy’s mind. For now, it’s so-far-so-good.
"I think it’s just about growing up a little more," Duffy said. "You have to handle things. It’s like my mom says ‘There are just some mentally bankrupt people out there.’ So, you deal with it.
"It’s just that I’m always going to stand up for my team and my teammates. When I see something bad being said about them, it’s hard for me to just stand by and do nothing. You just hate to see a few keyboard warriors ruin everything. Twitter is supposed to be fun. That’s all it is."
And Duffy does seem to genuinely enjoy Tweeting again.
Duffy, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, is progressing rapidly in his rehab, and next week he expects to start throwing curveballs again for the first time since the surgery last May. He is expected to be back with the Royals perhaps by June or July.
As he endures the slow process of recovering, Duffy has chronicled his progress through his Twitter account, as evidenced by a recent Tweet:
"The wing is feelin sexy today. Just another stepping stone on the way to returning. Little by little. Thanks for all the support! It helps!"
It would be a shame to lose Duffy’s humor and honesty from the Twitter world again. He vows to stick with it this time.
"Like I said, I don’t think about Twitter other than about two percent of the time," he said. "But it’s just a fun thing to do and I really like staying connected to the fans. We’ve got some great fans. There’s a few out there who maybe aren’t really fans, and they’re trying to spoil it. But you just have to ignore them.
"I’m going to try and do that now."
