March 9, 2012

MLB Fan Cave Over/Under Game! (Part One)

Today, Major League Baseball announced the eagerly anticipated starting lineup for the 2012 MLB Fan Cave. After the original thinking of six cave dwellers for this season, MLB wisely made the decision to increase the number to nine, cleverly portraying it as the Fan Cave starting lineup. The winners that are moving to the Big Apple to live out their baseball dream are Lindsay Guentzel, Ricardo Marquez, Ricky Mast, Benjamin Christensen, Shaun Kippins, Eddie Mata, Kyle Thompson, Gordon Mack, and Ashley Chavez. First off, we here at 3U3D want to congratulate the top 30 on an amazing run. They’re great baseball fans that will continue to strive to do great things building America’s pastime. Now that the suspense is over, it’s time to have some fun with the Fan Cave Nine. So let’s play some over/under!

Twitter Followers for the Fan Cave Nine by the end of the regular season:

Mike O’ Hara and Ryan Wagner the 2011 Fan Cave dwellers, picked up a great following on Twitter. This became the main interaction that took fans into the Fan Cave on any given night. @MikeyOh21 currently is at 6,568 followers and @rwags614 is up to 6,607 followers on Twitter. So what heights can this years dwellers achieve on the social media site?

In order of current Twitter followers at 1:18 AM on 3/9/12:

@LindsayGuentzel

Currently 2,529

Over/Under 8,499.5

Lindsay already had a solid fan base with her media connections in Minnesota before the contest even started. The announcement today pushed LG over 2,500. So how does she get an over/under of almost 2,000 more than last year cave dwellers? She’ll gain followers from EVERYONE, men will fall in love with a lovely, female baseball fan. While female fans will follow a woman that they can see as a role model. It really is the perfect storm.

@iBlogBetter

Currently 1,104

Over/Under 6,999.5

I’m not sure how many followers O’ Hara and Wagner started with, but it’s definitely less than the base that Ricardo Marquez is bringing to NYC. Marquez will do well picking up followers from the Los Angeles market that is one of the biggest in America. I also expect Marquez to be around towards the end, giving him more time to pick up followers.

@EddieMata

Currently 653

Over/Under 5,999.5

Mata follows the most people out of the top out of 1,800. That could be Mata’s plan to follow back with everyone that shoots a follow his way. Being a Yankee fan will also play in Mata’s favor. What might work against him is if he can’t make it deep into the contest he’ll lose the bump quicker than the others.

@RickyMast

Currently 576

Over/Under 5,999.5

Mast is about 75 followers behind Mata so why the same over/under? I think the two Ricky’s will team up and people will eat it up. Plus, when southern fans get word he’s the son of a former NASCAR driver, they’ll flock to Ricky in a heartbeat. Didn’t you see what they did to Brad Keselowski in the Daytona 500?

@Kyle_D_Thompson

Currently 298

Over/Under 5,299.5

Thompson is the wild card in this contest. The man who came up with A-Booning will go all out to stay in the cave, as evidenced by getting over 1,800 likes on his photo in the Fan Cave 30 photo contest. Will he be there long enough to gain 5,000 followers? Time will tell.

@GordonMack

Currently 264

Over/Under 5,299.5

Mack has these things working for him. His name is really easy to remember and cool sounding, he’s a Phillies fan, and he’s already living in New York City. Fans will be interested in seeing what he might balance on his chin in the Big Apple.

@SKippinsYNN

Currently 251

Over/Under 5,299.5

I think Kippins is in the same boat with Mack. New Yorker will get plenty of support, but will he split Braves followers with Ricky Mast? Being punked by Troy Tulowitzki already helped put him name out there. I’m sure Hudson Valley, NY TV Station YNN will appreciate the longer Kippins keeps their station in his Twitter handle.

@Shakabrodie

Currently 233

Over/Under 5,999.5

This is where I’m going out on a limb. Benjamin Christensen will be the breakout star of the Fan Cave, at least increasing his Twitter following wise. I think that Ben will make a deep run in the contest. The more time, the more followers will come and his handle is just fun to say and memorable. He’s always willing to talk baseball with ANYONE.

@SmashleyChavez

Currently 226

Over/Under 5,499.5

A little bit of the Guentzel theory, but not to the same extent. She’ll get followers left and right from both men and women. She’s been the underdog throughout this whole contest and the role seems to fit her well as she’s going to the Big Apple. She won’t have the fewest followers in the group for long.

There’s part one of the Over/Under game all about Twitter followers. In the coming days is part two with some fun and random over/unders, like how many pizzas do you think Ricardo can hammer down in the land of delicious thin crust.

-Bryan Mapes