Baseball fans everywhere will be tuning in tonight to witness the culmination of one of the most exciting – and emotional – championships in sports history.
The Chicago Cubs. The Cleveland Indians. Game 7 of the World Series.
As Grant Brisbee described it on SB Nation, the Cubs and Indians are playing the cruelest Game 7 ever. And with a combined championship drought of 174 years, this battle of the underdogs is difficult to wrap our heads around. Brisbee goes on to write:
It’s as if I’ve been preparing for a decade to use words to explain what a World Series Game 7 between the Cubs and Indians will be like, and realizing that I’m completely outclassed. Are there words for this? It’s a whale song of supreme glory, of supreme defeat, sung across the planes of time.
Without a doubt, baseball is still America’s pastime, and it shows in the conversations happening on social media.
In Cision’s latest research report, we’ve analyzed the social media mentions of 8,386,000 baseball team Twitter followers, examining their interests, demographics and regions — right down to what sort of food they most often discuss.
For instance, the analysis uncovered baseball team followers are certified news junkies, with a greater likelihood than the average Twitter user to follow local, international and national news. You can read more about this analysis by downloading the free report Major League Insights into Baseball’s Social Media Fans.
To complement this research (much like a ballpark hot dog and beer), Cision’s Media Research team has identified the top 50 baseball influencers (including the afore-quoted Brisbee). They compiled the list below using our media database, with members of the media ranked by number of mentions of “Baseball” as a keyword. All numbers were pulled October 14, 2016.
- Jesse Spector, Sporting News – @jessespector
- Ray Flowers, Baseball Guys – @BaseballGuys
- Ted Schwerzler, Off the Baggy – @tlschwerz
- Brad Robinson, Illinois Radio Network – @bradrobinson8
- Mark Viviano, WJZ-TV – @markwjz
- Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – @dgoold
- Jared Diamond, The Wall Street Journal – @jareddiamond
- Jonah Keri, The Jonah Keri Podcast – @jonahkeri
- Grant Brisbee, McCovey Chronicles – @mccoveychron
- Aaron Gleeman, Baseball Prospectus – @aarongleeman
- Buster Olney, ESPN The Magazine – @buster_espn
- Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times – @latsondheimer
- Matt Ehalt, The Record – @mattehalt
- Paul Swydan, Hardball Times – @Swydan
- Ted Berg, USA Today – @OGTedBerg
- Jose de Jesus Ortiz, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – @ortizkicks
- Andy McCullough, Los Angeles Times – @mcculloughtimes
- John Stolnis, WestwoodOne – @FelskeFiles
- Kari Van Horn, KNXV-TV Online – @karivanhorn
- Evan Drellich, Boston Herald – @EvanDrellich
- Julie DiCaro, WSCR-AM Online – @juliedicaro
- Josh Kraushaar, National Journal – @HotlineJosh
- Anthony DiComo, MLB.com – @AnthonyDiComo
- Kurt Mensching, SB Nation – @bybkurt
- Chris De Luca, Chicago Sun-Times – @ChrisDeLuca
- Howard Megdal, POLITICO New York – @howardmegdal
- Sal Maiorana, Democrat and Chronicle – @salmaiorana
- Kevin Kernan, New York Post – @whereskernan
- Lynn Henning, The Detroit News – @lynn_henning
- Marc Normandin, Over the Monster – @marc_normandin
- John Walters, Newsweek – @jdubs88
- Adam Rubin, ESPN New York – @adamrubinespn
- Tom Hoffarth, Daily News – @tomhoffarth
- Peter Abraham, The Boston Globe – @PeteAbe
- Chad Finn, The Boston Globe – @GlobeChadFinn
- Chris Cwik, Yahoo Sports – @chris_cwik
- Adam Gerstenhaber, WKRK-FM – @AdamtheBullFAN
- Chris Dachille, WBAL-TV – @WBALDash
- Jayson Stark, ESPN – @jaysonst
- Matt Michaels, The Big Show – KTGR-AM – @ktgrmatt
- Richard Justice, MLB.com – @richardjustice
- J.P. Hoornstra, Inside the Dodgers – @jphoornstra
- Bob Fescoe, KCSP-AM – @bobfescoe
- Morgan Lee, Christianity Today – @mepaynl
- Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star – @bruce_arthur
- Ben Cafardo, ESPN – @Ben_ESPN
- Mike Lindsley, WSKO-AM – @mikelsports
- Sammy Roth, The Desert Sun – @Sammy_Roth
- Dan Cook, Chad Hartman – WCCO-AM – @DanCookWCCO
- Jesse Rogers, Chicago Cubs Report – ESPN Chicago – @ESPNChiCubs
Download Major League Insights Into Baseball’s Social Media Fans to learn more about who’s talking about baseball and what they’re saying. In it, we share insights into the social media personas of baseball fans and offer tips on how you can use data generated from social media to manage your marketing more effectively.
Cision Senior Marketing Manager Amanda Hicken and the Cision Media Research team contributed to this article.