Former Braves slugger Dale Murphy, 55, played in an era before the Internet. Now he has 15,000 followers on Twitter at twitter.com/DaleMurphy3.
When I was a player, I was known as a pretty boring interview. I think I was trying to protect my privacy. And I just never wanted to rock any boats. But as I’ve gotten older, that’s all changed.
I’ve always been pretty comfortable with the Internet. But I’d never caught on to the social-networking side of things until my son, Chad, urged me to start a blog. A couple of my other sons, Taylor and Jake, taught me about Twitter. Now I’ve got a website about to launch — www.dalemurphy.com — and I’m spending a couple of hours a day between my blog and Twitter. All of these things have helped me share my interests — like the band Wilco and documentary films — express my opinions — should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame? — and reconnect with longtime Braves fans. It’s been a blast!
I’ve actually become somewhat of a Twitter fanatic. I got a little mixed up at first. I occasionally tweeted personal messages to my wife — “stopping at the store to pick up bread.” Luckily, I have my kids to steer me through it and help me not embarrass myself too much.
My favorite tweet was from a guy who managed the Blockbuster store in Roswell when we lived there years ago. He did remember my career, but the thing he remembered most was that we always returned movies a month late. That made me laugh!
I also got a tweet the other day from Bob Horner’s son, Tyler. I don’t think I’ve seen him since he was a little guy running around Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. It was great.
I love the connection Twitter gives me to fans. I saw that Kevin Durant tweeted out that the shoes he wore in the playoffs were designed by one of his followers. That’s awesome. You couldn’t do that back when I played.
I’m also an iPhone addict. I love taking pictures with my phone apps and sending them out to people. Photography has always been one of my interests, and my iPhone makes it pretty simple to take some great photos.
I’ve heard it said that you reinvent yourself every decade or so. It’s hard to believe I’ve been retired for almost two decades, so I guess it’s about time to do a little reinventing. It’s been fun to show people another side of me other than just the job I had for so many years with the Braves. It’s an ongoing conversation with people that is fun to be a part of. It’s made me wish I had opened up a little more when I played.
Reported by Michelle Hiskey
