Back in September 2011, when he was a member of the Florida Marlins, Logan Morrison arrived at Citizens Bank Park riding in a fire truck, complete with sirens blaring. The ride was compliments of one of Philadelphia’s bravest, an old friend of his dad.
Morrison’s arrival on Wednesday was more understated. The veteran slugger was called up from Triple A. He is expected to be here for a few days to add some pop off the bench until the Phillies need a roster spot for newly acquired reliever Jared Hughes over the weekend. Morrison will likely end up back at Lehigh Valley for a couple of weeks and return when rosters expand in September.
Morrison, 31, is only two seasons removed from a 38-homer campaign with Tampa Bay. He struggled with the Twins last season, became a free agent and signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees in April. He split this season between the Yankees’ and Phillies’ Triple A clubs and hit .308 with 18 homers, 49 RBIs and a 1.009 OPS.
“It’s been a long road for sure,” the first baseman/outfielder said of his return to the majors. “Just getting out to the dugout was pretty cool. Seeing the third deck, the lights, the daytime in the night. Triple A lights aren’t as great, you know? The atmosphere, the energy, I definitely missed it.”
Morrison was a frequent visitor to Philadelphia early in his career with the Marlins. He bonded with Philadelphia fans on Twitter.
“I just interacted with them,” he said. “I’m not quite sure how that actually started. Being a Marlins player, we didn’t really have a big market. I didn’t even do appearances in Miami, but I did an appearance here in Philly (at a collectibles shop in Delaware County). It’s crazy.”
Despite his interaction with Philadelphia fans, Morrison still heard it from them when he took the field. He loves how Philadelphia fans get on opposing players.
MLB
“I still got heckled,” he said. “I’ll never forget this until the day I die. I heard the best one from a fan in left field. It was here in Philly. He was like, ‘Morrison, you went to junior college. So you’re dumb and you suck?’ That was pretty good. They can bring it.”
Morrison is happy to be on this side now. He’s happy to interact with fans in the stadium, but he’s not as active as he once was on Twitter.
“Just Instagram now,” he said. “The Twitter thing became a hassle. Back in the day, it was how can you work hard and be on Twitter. Now it’s like you have to show people you work hard on Twitter. There’s a different dynamic there. A lot of negative stuff there. People get behind keyboards and say whatever they want to say. I try to stay away from that stuff. Instagram is more of a barrier to that. It doesn't come out as often. I don’t know why."
There's one drawback to Morrison's switch in social media platforms.
"I have way less followers," he said.
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