The bottom half of the Top 10. Let’s get to it!
Number 10: QuinnSTLCards
Advocate for Baseball Reference to add framing to WAR
On Twitter since: March 2009
Number of Tweets: 80.4K
Following: 2,642
Followers: 8,477
Total points: 914
Average: 8.309
Number of ballots: 110
Maximum: 10
Minimum: 3
% that were 10: 37.27%
% that were 1: 0.00%
Ranking history: 128 (2018), 37 (2019), 35 (2020), 9 (2021), 8 (2022), 11 (2023)
Quinn knows everyone, if his photo reel is to be believed, and everyone knows Quinn. Look at that follower count and realize that everyone above him has at least 3,000 more and he’s ranked higher than a lot of folks that have a ton of followers. Quinn interacts with the community perhaps more than anyone else and that is reflected in how many people voted for him. Plus you have to appreciate someone that actually puts “Hammonds Field” as their regular location.
Number 9: kyler416
Fancy Printed Words, 280 Letters Long. General Waywardness. Dweller On The Threshold. Odd head. MiLB for @birdsontheblack. Loves animal Twitter. Don’t follow me.
On Twitter since: December 2012
Number of Tweets: 109.4K
Following: 1,209
Followers: 11,528
Total points: 972
Average: 8.308
Number of ballots: 117
Maximum: 10
Minimum: 1
% that were 10: 52.99%
% that were 1: 1.71%
Ranking history: 65 (2016), 33 (2017), 5 (2018), 8 (2019), 4 (2020), 4 (2021), 4 (2022), 6 (2023)
Kyle hates this whole project. HATES IT. He would likely pay me a significant amount of money to leave him off the list. That would be like leaving Tink Hence off of a Cardinals prospect list, though. Even if you do it, everyone’s going to scream at you about why you did. Kyle’s created an incredible legacy of prospect following. I imagine people like Blake and Kareem and Adam would have come along anyway but Kyle paved the road and did it with a style that was all his own, which we can all be thankful for because more than one of these would be way too much. He doesn’t want to talk about it, but he’s a legend in the community and as such must be honored.
Number 8: Cardinals
11-time World Series Champions | #STLCards Contest Rules: http://atmlb.com/2zyo9ce
On Twitter since: July 2009
Number of Tweets: 76.6K
Following: 867
Followers: 1,448,887
Total points: 992
Average: 8.267
Number of ballots: 120
Maximum: 10
Minimum: 1
% that were 10: 49.17%
% that were 1: 1.67%
Ranking history: 8 (2015), 6 (2016), 25 (2017), 12 (2018), 11 (2019), 14 (2020), 6 (2021), 7 (2022), 7 (2023)
We’ve often said in this series how weak the Cardinals were at Twitter in the past and how they’ve improved regularly over the past decade. Now I think they are on par with most of the other official accounts. You aren’t going to get any negative news here, of course, but you wouldn’t expect it. But you get highlights with a little bit of flavor text, celebrations after wins, and of course plenty of promotions. It’s an official account but it’s definitely not a bottom dweller anymore.
Number 7: RegionalTVCat
FanDuel Sports Network.
On Twitter since: February 2014
Number of Tweets: 24.3K
Following: 348
Followers: 106,424
Total points: 1,003
Average: 8.876
Number of ballots: 113
Maximum: 10
Minimum: 1
% that were 10: 57.52%
% that were 1: 1.77%
Ranking history: 61 (2015), 13 (2018), 12 (2019), 21 (2020), 17 (2021), 11 (2022), 8 (2023)
You might not recognize him with the red arm–um, I mean updated handle. Jim Hayes recently decided to future-proof things by playing to his regional TV journalism roots rather than tying his handle to the changing names of his employer. No matter what it’s titled on the site, though, the feed is a constant delight. The spirit wins on off days, the pictures of his dog Stella when the team loses (or anytime, really), and his light, self-deprecating sense of humor makes him a great follow. The Cardinal news and interviews are just gravy.
Number 6: Ben_Fred
Sports Columnist at St. Louis Post-Dispatch and @stltoday. Radio talker at @KTRS550. Instagram: benfredpd. Living one word to the next, one line at a time.
On Twitter since: January 2009
Number of Tweets: 67.7K
Following: 2,143
Followers: 39,064
Total points: 1,012
Average: 7.609
Number of ballots: 133
Maximum: 10
Minimum: 1
% that were 10: 18.80%
% that were 1: 1.50%
Ranking history: 50 (2016), 17 (2017), 15 (2018), 9 (2019), 9 (2020), 7 (2021), 10 (2022), 9 (2023)
This is going to be an interesting case to follow should we continue this series past this year. Ben Fred has stayed in the upper echelon for a while now, with this year being his highest finish yet. He could have been on his way to challenging for the top spot, but that’s less likely now that the bio line is out of date. Mr. Frederickson is leaving the paper for private, non-baseball industry. We’ve seen former MLB beat writers hang around on this list. Ben Fred might do the same. Best wishes to him as he changes careers!
All right, one final post this afternoon. The top 5–plus a couple of bonuses. Stay tuned!
