Jason Robinson: Answer Man: Marlins’ Morrison talks Ken Burns, Twitter and Philly

Just 62 games into his major league career, Florida Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison already has made a name for himself.

More than his numbers, the deeper narrative of Morrison's rookie season came from his relationship with his father, Tom Morrison. He made it his mission to follow his son around the major leagues despite being stricken by Stage IV lung cancer.

Folks also got to know Morrison because of his engagement of others through social media ? particularly Twitter, where @LoMoMarlins is creeping up on 13,000 followers (many of whom, curiously, seem to be Phillies fans).

Open, honest, funny and humble, LoMo seemed like a natural for an Answer Man session. He got his turn on my recent visit to Marlins camp in Jupiter, Fla.

David Brown: You had the chance to interview Ken Burns last year; and yet, as we sit here today, you haven't copied his hairdo. What are you waiting for?

LoMo: You know, he's got a style that cannot be matched. And I'm not going to try.

DB: Is it kind of mullet-like?

LoMo: Oh, gosh, you know it's like ... it's not really a mullet. It's like a hybrid mullet/side part? It's a step above a mullet, with a little salt and pepper to make it be known that he's smart and distinguished.

DB: Seriously, how hard was it to come up with questions for Mr. Burns and not ask him about his hair?

LoMo: I was just staring at his hair like this (gives blank zombie stare) the whole time. No. I've seen it before, so it wasn't a shock to me. But I'm sure for someone else to see him in person, they'd be, like, "Wow!"

DB: You did pretty good with your questions.

LoMo: I knew it was coming, so I got some research done on him and watched the first part of the documentary. It was due to good planning on my agent's part.

DB: In your Burns conversation you mentioned Jose Bautista going from 13 to 54 homers. Have you added some muscle to try and do likewise?

LoMo: [Laughs]. Exactly! Two to 50. I'm not going to put it out of my realm of capabilities, because I don't feel like you should limit anything or put a minimum on anything, either. My personal goals are to just grind out at-bats and help the team win.

David Brown: You're from Kansas City originally and the next time I'm in town I'd like to go get some barbecue. Where are we heading and what are you getting?

Logan Morrison: Arthur Bryant's, for sure. Not the one at the casino, but the one that's on [Brooklyn], down where old Municipal Stadium used to be.

DB: Why not Gates or Jack Stack or somewhere else?

LoMo: It's a personal choice; but if you want to go to Jack Stack, you've got to get the ribs. I'm a big pulled pork guy, turkey guy, sandwich. And those sandwiches at Arthur Bryant's are huge and awesome and sloppy. The bread is filled with butter.

DB: One of the first times I went to K.C., I was riding a shuttle bus to my hotel and I asked the driver ? a nice old man ? where to go for good BBQ in K.C. He smiled and looked at me and said earnestly, "Well, Applebee's is good." I about jumped off the bus and walked back to Chicago.

LoMo: You should have kicked him out, is what you should have done. I'm hoping he was being sarcastic with you.

DB: He was serious. Out of spite for that moment in my life, I've vowed never to enter an Applebee's. You don't go there, do you?

LoMo: Oh, no.

DB: You learned from [Royals hitting coach] Kevin Seitzer, who has a baseball school in K.C. he shares with Mike MacFarlane called Mac-N-Seitz. It sounds not only like a great environment, but also delicious.

LoMo: Yeah [laughs]. It's actually right by Jack Stack [BBQ] in Martin City. It is delicious if you want to stop and get some lunch afterward, but Mac-N-Seitz is an amazing facility. Indoor infield with AstroTurf. Four or five bullpens down in the lower level. A track to run around upstairs and a weight room four or five tunnels you can throw batting practice in. And seven or eight pitching machines with the rubber balls. In the outdoor, it has three or four outfields for kids to play on.

DB: And he wasn't a coach with the Royals yet so you got Seitzer, right?

LoMo: Yes, and I was pretty lucky to have him. He taught me a lot about what I know now and it's my job to go and execute the plan.

DB: What happened the first time you met George Brett?

LoMo: I didn't. I have not met George Brett yet. I really want to, though. Have not gotten a chance to. I've seen him coach and yell at Bob Hamelin when I was, like, 10 years old. In Baseball City. "You don't get paid to hit singles! You better start hitting the ball out of the park, boy!" And little expletives and stuff.

DB: Have you seen the video of Brett telling a story during spring training, where ... ?

LoMo: Yes. Talking about when they're in Vegas and he [poops] his pants? Yep. It's hilarious. That's why I love him so much, too, because I feel like I'm that same guy. I just hope the cameras aren't around when I'm talking about it.

DB: I've never met him, either, but I'd like to ask him about that story if I did.

LoMo: I would ask him about it, for sure. He'd tell me the story.

DB: Yeah, he'd tell YOU. ... Do you identify with Wolverine because your first name is also Logan?

LoMo: Absolutely and we have the same healing powers. So, that's pretty cool.

DB: Do you have metal coming out of your skin?

LoMo: Only if you make me angry. But not until then. I also have a green tint to me, a green hue, I don't know, it's weird.

DB: Do you listen to the Doors because your last name is Morrison?

LoMo: I like to listen to doors slamming. No, I don't listen to the Doors. That was a bad joke. The Doors are a little before my time. My mom loves the Doors. If you give me a song by them, I'd go, "Yeah, I know that song. I like it."

DB: The timing of your big league call-up correlates with Chris Coghlan injuring himself while trying to avoid getting hit in the face with a shaving cream pie. Are you guys sensitive to pies?

LoMo: I actually love pies and applaud Chris Coghlan for taking one for the team. He's a great team player.

DB: What have fans at the ballpark in Philly done to make you laugh?

LoMo: Carlos Ruiz hit one foul down the line foul and I was after it to go get it. And then I hear, "Morrison! You went to Maple Woods Community College? You're stupid AND you suck!" So, I thought that was pretty good. And then the next play, I proceeded to throw out Ryan Howard at home plate so I turned around and let them know to hush. But it's all in good fun.

DB: Do you sense any jealousy or disapproval from teammates or Marlins fans at how well you get along with Phillies fans on Twitter?

LoMo: Sometimes, yeah, sometimes the Marlins fans get a little perturbed about it. I don't know why. When we're on there, some of them go, "What's up with these Phillies fans?" And I say, "I don't know. They tweet me more." I mean, what do you want me to say? I'm not going to push them off because they're not fans of the Marlins. They seem to like me and get along with me, so ...

DB: They also seem to be openly recruiting you for the time when you're a free agent.

LoMo: Exactly. Again, I would be wrong to tell them to screw off because it would only be hurting my chances to get more money [laughs].

DB: What did you do before Twitter?

LoMo: I can't ... tell you that.

DB: Because you don't remember?

LoMo: Because it's private [laughs].

DB: Are you an addict?

LoMo: Twitter addict? Yes, I'm addicted. It's not bad for you. You just get yelled at by your girlfriend a little more. "Get off Twitter!" But it keeps her guessing. You don't want to get her too comfortable.

DB: Kirk Gibson has banned mobile phones, games, twitter, whatever, 30 minutes before every D-backs game. Conversely, will you pull off the world's first tweet during an at-bat?

LoMo: If I had a voice-recording app on my iPhone to tweet, I'd put it in my back pocket and then tweet out: "Roy Halladay is the best pitcher ever." Or, "Anibal Sanchez is the best pitcher ever." That's on the record.

DB: You moved around so much as a kid, with your dad in the Coast Guard, that it had to be hard to meet and keep friends. How rough was it?

LoMo: It was tough, but it helps me now. I'm outgoing and I don't have any problems going up to people and saying, "Hey." Things like that. It was tough then, but now I absolutely love it and wouldn't change it for the world.

DB: How has going overseas to visit with troops the past two years changed your world view?

LoMo: It's put a lot of things in perspective, as far as what we have over here, what we take for granted in our day-to-day lives. I'm very happy to be playing baseball and very happy that I'm not in the Marine Corps.

DB: Is that the alternative for you? The Marines?

LoMo: If baseball didn't exist, I would probably be ... like a curler. Or a hairstylist.

DB: You know about curling?

LoMo: I know that you have to push a broom really fast to make it [the stone] go. And then to slow it down, you've got to do it in the opposite direction. I don't know much. Or badminton. Me and my buddy, when the Summer Olympics were going on four years ago, we said that we were going practice badminton in the offseason. We haven't done that yet, but we're going to get on it. I hear it's a good workout and it's not like basketball where you can turn an ankle, right?

DB: Or break a rib.

LoMo: Yeah.... Or break a rib. But I have to face him and I don't want to get hit by a 95 mph fastball, so ...

DB: Is there a statue of Albert Pujols at your community college?

LoMo: There is not, but there is a mural painting on the outfield fence of him at Maple Woods. A silhouette of his face. It has all of his stats up. And I was just informed that I went up right next to him. They have my logo and everything up there. It's pretty cool.

DB: Why are the Marlins building a new stadium when you have such a nice and popular one?

LoMo: [Sarcastic voice] I've kind of questioned that too. It's kind of a waste of money. We have a spacious outfield where balls go to die. It's real easy to get up and play because we have, like, three... hundred fans every night. And it rains every day. So it's pretty cool. I think we're comfortable where we're at right now.

DB: Can there be peace between the Marlins and Nyjer Morgan?

LoMo: Yeah, absolutely there can be. You want me to expound on that?

DB: Please.

LoMo: Just don't steal second base and third down by 10 runs.

DB: He was just fighting for that run. Trying to get back into the game.

LoMo: You could call it that.

DB: Nobody overreacted?

LoMo: I'm going to say everybody overreacted. ... But ... there's baseball etiquette and baseball rules that need to be followed and they weren't followed.

DB: Josh Johnson's socks: Can they be seen from space?

LoMo: No, but the flames off his fastball can be?

DB: Does Billy Marlin ever come to the ballpark with chicken kabobs on his snout?

LoMo: No, but I really want his glove to play the outfield. It's probably about 20 inches big.

DB: How can you make your kids' baseball camp better next year?

LoMo: Well, we can bring in guys like John Kruk. He's coming.

DB: Is he behind me right now?

LoMo: No [laughs]. He's coming to the camp for real. He's coming to help us out. And we're going to have Mike Stanton come out next year and J.J. [Josh Johnson] will probably be down. Probably all of those guys combined, and we're going to pick up some auction items from throughout the league this year and sell them at the camp. More kids, more popularity. More people will come in and see what's going on and what we're doing.

DB: Tell me everything you can about Mike Stanton.

LoMo: Everything I can ... He has the potential to be one of the best players, if not the best player, ever to play the game. He is wise beyond his years, 21 years old. He takes care of his body like no one I've ever seen. And he can absolutely tear the cover off a baseball.

DB: What made your dad laugh?