Remember back when Twitter was just starting to catch on and sports teams didn’t quite know what to make of it, so their solution was to try to limit or outright ban journalists from tweeting during practices or games? Well, it looks like that dumb idea is making a comeback with the Philadelphia Phillies. (Update: They’ve since altered course, as detailed below.)

Reminiscent of the time in 2012 when the NCAA put a limit on in-game tweeting, or when Ohio State banned reporters from tweeting during Urban Meyer’s press conferences, or the time the Dallas Cowboys told reporters they weren’t allowed to tweet from practices in 2015, or as recently as 2018 when the NCAA limited journalists to one tweet per inning during a college baseball game, the Phillies are here to remind you that archaic thinking about the way fans consume information in the modern age never goes out of style.

Per 6ABC reporter Dan Patrick, the Phillies announced Tuesday that they were enacting a new policy in which they would revoke the credentials of any journalist who tweeted during an interview or press conference involving their coaches or players. Initially, Patrick said that the new rule involved texting but quickly clarified.

Update: Or, apparently not. After a whole lot of backlash, the Phillies reversed course Wednesday morning:

The rest of our original post follows:

The first question to ask is, “why now?” There doesn’t seem to be a specific answer or a related incident that’s sparked the decision. About the only thing that probably makes sense is that some baseball person decided it was “disrespectful to the game” or some bullshit that baseball people love. That or someone in the Phillies organization is a big fan of the President’s “fake news” mantra.

The second question to ask is, “wait, so just tweeting?” Can a reporter Periscope an interview? Can they post something real quick to Instagram? Or update their Facebook page with a player quote? What if they’re looking at their phone during a presser for longer than three seconds, is that too much?

The third question to ask is, “so why bother?” There may yet be a reason revealed but it’s probably not going to be a good one. Chances are, the Phillies feel emboldened by the arrival of Bryce Harper and the hype surrounding the upcoming Major League Baseball season and want to flex their muscles a bit to keep reporters in line. They probably think this will goose broadcast numbers of wherever they’re broadcasting post-game press conferences, though it’s hard to imagine the difference will be much. All it would really do is delay the transmission of information by a few minutes, which doesn’t really accomplish all that much, other than annoying the people charged with reporting about them and the fans who want to follow the team in real-time.

As you might imagine, the feedback on the new plan has been less than stellar.

If we had to guess, we’ll see this policy either get reversed or not enforced at all. There are only so many major newspaper and media outlets you can revoke credentials for before you start wondering where all your coverage just went.

[Dan Patrick]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.