Newspaper Sports Editor Who Started Shane Victorino Temper-Tantrum Reports Backtracks

Photo: Philliedelphia/Steve Trapani

Shane Victorino was scratched from the Phillies lineup today and first launched speculation that Victorino had been traded.  

Then, the word was that Victorino's absence from the Phillies lineup was not due to a trade and not due to an injury, but simply the "manager's decision," reported Todd Zolecki.

Here's the tweet that shook the Phillies baseball world and caused plenty of Phillies fans to sour on centerfielder Shane Victorino:

The tweet was retweeted 220 times as of the time I am writing this, with many unofficial retweets and others spreading the story.

Rob Parent, to those of you who don't know (and neither did I until this afternoon) is the sports editor for the Delaware County Daily Times.   Those of us who saw the tweet and mention by Delaware County Daily Times sportswriter Ryan Lawrence suggesting we follow Parent figured that he was a reputable source.  

In fact, it was considered so reliable that national blog NBC's Hardball Talk picked up the temper tantrum story, citing Parent as its sole source.

Manuel's comments denied such an idea, outright denying it.  In fact, Phillies.com's Phillies Beat Reporter Todd Zolecki describes what he personally witnessed, corroborating that story.

So, after an entire game with fans bashing Shane Victorino all the time and calling for his ouster, this sports editor backtracked his story:

So now it was simply "dumb speculation".  Do a quick search of "Shane Victorino" in Twitter and see all the things people said about him.  Then search "@ShaneVictorino" and see all of the things said TO him that were all the result of this tweet.  

They were not very nice.  Many involved calling him a bum and other names not fit for publication on this family-friendly blog.

Shane Victorino may soon be traded.  Shane Victorino may have been a little upset that his season had spun out of control to the point where he is a 7-hole hitter by his own doing.  But I know this: if you are an actual journalist and not some part-time blogger who vents onto a website for a hobby, people are going to take what you say seriously.