ST. LOUIS – Tony La Russa, the winningest manager in St. Louis Cardinals history, left an imprint not only on baseball but also, quite possibly, on how one of the world’s biggest social media platforms operates today.
On June 4, 2009, 16 years ago from Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that La Russa had formally filed a lawsuit against Twitter, the social media giant now known as X, over an unauthorized account impersonating him.
At the time, Twitter had no formal verification process and impersonation was a growing problem on the platform.
The lawsuit alleged that someone created a fake account using La Russa’s name and likeness, posting tweets that falsely suggested that the account’s remarks came directly from him.
According to the Associated Press, one tweet at the center of the case read: “Lost 2 out of 3, but we made it out of Chicago without one drunk driving incident or dead pitcher.” The tweet appeared to reference La Russa’s 2007 DUI arrest and the tragic in-season deaths of Cardinals pitchers Darryl Kile and Josh Hancock.
In legal filings, La Russa claimed the tweet and the account caused him emotional distress while also constituting trademark infringement, misappropriation of name and likeness, cybersquatting, and dilution of his personal brand.
According to the Digital Media Law Project, the lawsuit was filed in May 5, 2009, transferred to a federal court on June 5 and eventually dropped June 26. Court filings indicate that La Russa voluntarily dismissed the case and that “no payment was made by Twitter to La Russa in exchange for this dismissal.”
But even without a court victory, La Russa may achieved something even bigger and unexpected.
As the lawsuit gained traction, the impersonator account was deleted. And not long after, Twitter rolled out its first verification program in June 2009, complete with a blue check mark to help users distinguish real profiles from fakes.
Although Twitter has never formally credited La Russa with sparking the change, the timing and context of his lawsuit are hard to ignore.
According to a 2013 report from the Huffington Post, citing a 2009 blog post that alluded to La Russa’s lawsuit, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said in a statement upon launch, “We do recognize an opportunity to improve Twitter user experience and clear up confusion beyond simply removing impersonation accounts once alerted.”
At the very least, the move recognizes the issue raised in La Russa’s lawsuit, concerns also shared by various other celebrities at the time, including Kanye West.
Twitter officials later claimed that the verification system was already in the works before La Russa’s lawsuit, but according to the Huffington Post, many believe his legal action may have accelerated the rollout.
Since then, verification through Twitter (now X) has gone through several evolutions. The platform introduced paid verification subscriptions in November 2022. By April 2023, it removed legacy check marks from accounts not enrolled in the verification system via subscription.
All told, while La Russa didn’t legally win in court, his lawsuit marked one of the earliest high-profile clashes over online verification and possibly helped some social media platforms rethink how they handle impersonation and authenticity.