Joe DiMaggio's Glove, attribution to Glenda Bautista link to http://glenda.be/
Baseball is a game of numbers. We might talk about A-Rod’s game winning home run like we talk about that hilarious television advert we saw during the Super Bowl, but in this business we know that good advertising and marketing requires more than a big hit. The front office achieves results by analyzing reams of data and getting the right folks to assess needs, fill the right positions, and make the right changes at the right time. Having money to spend doesn’t hurt either.
And so, I started to dig into the tools we use to analyze social buzz around this fantastic east coast World Series matchup. Would the buzz trends end up being an accurate reflection of the outcome?
Then I thought, “That’s no fun. Besides, everybody hates the Yankees. And everyone in LA? Well, I can imagine they’re tweeting about the Lakers these days, and just pretending they didn’t get their butts handed to them this October.” Using the Vitrue SMI, The Yanks win for overall buzz, as phrases like “Yankees win the World Series” are more prevalent, but they also win in the “sucks” category. No surprise there. Let’s face it: position by position, it’s a tossup. Cold hard baseball data doesn’t tell us much more for this matchup. It’s going to be a close series, folks.
What might be more interesting is to dig into their personalities a little more. After all, every baseball aficionado knows that personalities are what make a team – not bloated salaries (OK…so the Yankees have both).
So I did a little digging into which Yanks and which Phils are engaging the most with their fans. Apologies for missing anyone, but here are the most active Twitterers I came across who are playing in the series, along with their followers:
Nick Swisher: @NickSwisher – over 1 million followers
CC Sabathia: @CC_Sabathia – over 34,000 followers
Chad Durbin: @chaddurbin – over 5,100 followers (he points to @ShowcaseU now)
Jorge Posada: @newjorgeposada – 4,000 followers
Brad Lidge: @bradlidge -192followers
Chien-Ming Wang (on the DL): @ChienMingWang - 970 followers
Jamie Moyer may not be playing for the Phils in the series, but he is also using Twitter to promote philanthropy with The Moyer Foundation – a non-profit he runs to benefit children in extreme stress, including bereavement camps. You can find him at @moyerfoundation. Nice work Jamie!
Jamie Moyer isn’t the only one using Twitter to promote a cause or a business. Chad Durbin is promoting his sports recruiting business, Showcase U, while Jorge Posada is promoting a book and a community around keeping fit. Nick Swisher is selling T-Shirts and other gear for a number of charities via Swish’s Wishes, dedicated to “enriching lives and lifting the spirits of children who are facing vital health issues”.
I think I’m going to follow these guys and keep an eye on their tweets. I don’t expect anything earth shattering, nor controversial, though. It’s also great to know that some of these guys are doing some great charity and community work.
