Major League Baseball can’t figure out what to do about steroids, the way their division are aligned, the way their playoffs are structured or declining attendance, but they can fix what’s important: according to MLB.com, league has announced that they will set up computer stations next to team clubhouses that will allow players to use Twitter and Facebook during the 2012 All-Star Game. So if you were wondering how you’d get through 4-7 hours of Josh Hamilton not immediately telling you what he thinks of the Wreck-It Ralph teaser trailer or throwing in on the latest #thingsblackpeoplesay trend, your concerns have been addressed.
The pitch, from NESN:
After the success of last year’s “Social Media Derby,” where players were allowed to tweet during the Home Run Derby, the league decided to expand its social media offerings to the actual All-Star Game as well.
“At its core, baseball is a social activity, so it’s natural that social media has become such a huge part of how fans enjoy the game today,” said Tim Brosnan, a MLB executive. “This initiative will bring fans closer than ever to their favorite players, resulting in what will no doubt be the most ‘social’ events in baseball history.”
Shorter version: Now ESPN won’t show you clips of players sitting on the field with their kids, they’ll show them standing at a computer kiosk and you can go to @therealmiketrout or whatever and read “having fun with my kids!”. Solid improvement, guys.
I’m more interested in the running tweet commentary for the players who didn’t make the All-Star Game. Can we get Tim Brosnan to set up an Internet cafe in Nyjer Morgan’s living room?
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Yeah but will Justin Timberlake be given another chance to troll Joe Buck?
Forgot all about that… Buck had no idea what was happening to him.
Great opportunity to invite Jose Canseco to the All Star game.
His incessant tweeting about having his ‘fans’ write him into the All Star game this year is pretty much the most depressing thing on the internet right now.
Well, next to Brandon’s new Instagram account.
Saddest tweet was when he said he wanted to play for the Red Sox so baaaaaaad.
Next year MLB will just come out and say “Baseball is super boring. We’re letting the guys we are forcing to go to the All-Star game get on Youtube and look at cat videos for six hours.”
So glad I stopped following Logan Morrison. And Jose Canseco for that matter.
/Brandon McCarthy, on the otherhand, is a delight.
It’s @Trouty20 I’ll have you know, sir.
So they have the most aggressive steroids policy in the major North American sports leagues; they’re moving Houston to the AL to address the league alignment issue; they’ve added two more playoff spots without extending the overall postseason into an insufferably long ordeal like basketball and hockey.
What, exactly, haven’t they figured out?
Also, attendance is up for the league. The Yankees are down, but most other teams are at or higher than they were at this point last year.