Giants of Twitter...

Both Barry Zito and Brian Wilson of the San Francisco Giants are addicted to Twitter and I'm loving it. They each tweet regularly and enthusiastically but I'm afraid that is where the similarity ends. Barry Zito's tweets tend to be simple and subdued with a philosophical or existential slant. He quotes Carl Jung, or expresses some zen or introspective ideas, whereas Brian Wilson is straight up zany. Wilson tweeted yesterday on the Giants day off that he was at pier 23 if anyone wanted to meet up with him (for drinks I assumed). I missed the tweet by two hours or I might have joined him for a brew myself!* The Giants' closer tweets from the top of the dome. From strange thoughts and non sequiturs to outright bluffs, taunts, and the oddest one liners. Like the one when he challenged all the other MLB teams' closers to a UFC style cage-match fight. He really keeps it interesting.

That's the magic of Twitter. I feel that I have some special insight into the lives of these two athletes, and it is especially novel because they both pitch for my beloved Giants. They answer responses, ask questions of their followers, and generally allow an interactive experience that is impossible to replicate, all in real time. I have also noticed that several Yankees (Nick Swisher & CC Sabathia) are pretty high on the list of Pro Athlete Twitter users on WeFollow.com, which is a great site for finding Twitter content. I don't personally care for the Yanks or their new overpriced empty seated stadium. The Giants sold out at least 2 straight seasons when they opened their new yard. How embarrassing for the Yankees, arguably the flagship club in all of baseball. But I digress.....

I wish more ballplayers used Twitter. It has the potential to change everything. Cutting the middleman (Sports Press) out of the equasion and bringing the players' thoughts and feelings directly to the fans throughout the season, or the whole year round. The net effects of these small social networking advancements are yet to be felt, but the ripples are spreading, and producing outcomes that few would have predicted....

Ps. We need to pay the Padres back for the sweep they dropped on us in SD. Well guess what? You're in out house now! Let's get em'! Go Giants!

*(Can't wait for Twitter Push Notifications on iPhone 3.0!)