We’re in the top 10% of accounts now, at least compared to how many were on the list. I think you’d agree that, no matter how long the list was, these would be close to the top.
Number 20: KareemSSN
23 | Cuse ’24 | Host @BirdsOnTheFarm | Contributor @FSRedbirdRants | @CardinalsProspects on IG
On Twitter since: September 2020
Number of Tweets: 11.7K
Following: 996
Followers: 4,685
Total points: 767
Average: 9.131
Number of ballots: 84
Maximum: 10
Minimum: 1
% that were 10: 64.29%
% that were 1: 1.19%
Ranking history: 211 (2022), 43 (2023)
It’s simplistic to say that Kyle Reis’s minor league work spawned a whole next generation of prospect hounds, but I’m a simplistic guy and that’s kind how I think of it. Kareem is one of the new guard and, as you can tell, is quite well-respected in the field. He’s joined the Dealin’ the Cards podcast crew that we’ve talked about regularly through this series, which only elevates his profile. Kareem does some very good work and it was a pleasure to get to meet him this year as well as including him on the Prospect Universe podcast episode of Musial. This guy has made a meteoric rise on this list and he still may have more rungs to climb. Note that he’s the first to have an average score above 9.
Number 19: JohnDenton555
MLB.com beat writer covering the St. Louis Cardinals. Formerly: @OrlandoMagic, @UCFAthletics, @FLORIDATODAY & @JSunNews
On Twitter since: March 2009
Number of Tweets: 40.2K
Following: 2,599
Followers: 30,161
Total points: 777
Average: 6.698
Number of ballots: 116
Maximum: 10
Minimum: 1
% that were 10: 16.38%
% that were 1: 7.76%
Ranking history: 27 (2022), 21 (2023)
It was an interesting choice when MLB picked a writer with no particular baseball background for the beat of one of their legendary teams, but Denton seems to be settling in to the job. A beat writer is always going to have a strong showing in this survey given their reach, but it has to be said that John seems to having a pretty good winter, right on top of the Ryan Helsley saga. He’s also I feel eased up from having to give background information that 99% of his audience already knows. The St. Louis writer crew seems to be a group that enjoys each other and Denton appears to have been accepted by the group, so that’s a strong endorsement as well.
Number 18: AlexaDatt
Sports TV host/reporter ⚾️ @cardinals @StLouisBlues SRD for life 🙏 IG: alexadatt
On Twitter since: November 2008
Number of Tweets: 7,432
Following: 2,191
Followers: 49,068
Total points: 783
Average: 7.318
Number of ballots: 107
Maximum: 10
Minimum: 1
% that were 10: 22.43%
% that were 1: 2.80%
Ranking history: 222 (2022), 25 (2023)
One of the many downsides of not being able to watch Cardinals games over the past two seasons has been not getting a real chance to see Alexa on the pre and post game shows. From all indications and the clips that I’ve seen, she’s been a very welcome and professional presence on those. Plus she may have taken some tips from Jim Hayes because her interviews of players are solid as well. I have no doubt that all these skills are present on the Blues broadcasts as well.
Number 17: hochman
Sports columnist for hometown paper, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (@stltoday). Author of 4 books, including 11 IN ‘11 (about 2011 #STLCards). Host of “Ten Hochman.”
On Twitter since: October 2008
Number of Tweets: 86.5K
Following: 10,199
Followers: 45,961
Total points: 785
Average: 7.406
Number of ballots: 106
Maximum: 10
Minimum: 1
% that were 10: 21.70%
% that were 1: 4.72%
Ranking history: 11 (2015), 19 (2016), 12 (2017), 17 (2018), 16 (2019), 15 (2020), 18 (2021), 14 (2022), 20 (2023)
There’s a consistency to Mr. Hochman. As you can see, he has never finished out of the top 20, usually comfortably in this post between 16-20. He’s good at covering all the various sports that St. Louis folks are interested in, which is kind of important for a general sports columnist. “Energy” is one of the defining traits of Benjamin and it can be quite endearing. It’s pretty cool how he’s added regular video work into his content production as well.
Number 16: DannyMacTV
On Twitter since: February 2023
Number of Tweets: 623
Following: 183
Followers: 10,864
Total points: 812
Average: 7.250
Number of ballots: 112
Maximum: 10
Minimum: 1
% that were 10: 26.79%
% that were 1: 4.46%
Ranking history: 127 (2018), 3 (2019), 2 (2020), 3 (2021), 3 (2022), 16 (2023)
Of course, those first two red stats are for this account, redone after his troubles in 2022. Since his return to Twitter, Dan’s been much less engaging, continuing to share things posted on his site and some of his other activities but not really flashing the personality the account had when he was the Cards’ play by play man. Still, it’s good that he is staying active in the St. Louis sports scene and better that he’s staying out of the news otherwise.
All right, 15 more to go! One more post this afternoon then the top 10 tomorrow!
