By Sam Laird2013-05-06 21:02:09 UTC
Comedian Rob Delaney — who is among Twitter's most popular, funny and ribald comedic tweeters — will take over the official Major League Baseball account for several hours Tuesday afternoon.
Delaney's incisive wit and bon mots have gained him more than 838,00 Twitter followers as well as press coverage across the web. But the Massachusetts native is also a lifelong baseball fan who grew up rooting for the Boston Red Sox, so the MLB takeover makes sense. It'll happen from 12 to 7 p.m. EDT.
So what will Delaney tweet from the MLB account? We'll have to wait and see.
"He’s the kind of guy who will take over the account and run with it," says Arturo Pardavila III, MLB's director of social media content. "Plenty of fastballs — with some curveballs mixed in. Also, the man can sing. He nailed the national anthem at Dodger Stadium a few weeks ago. Maybe he’ll even do a singing Vine. Who knows? The floor is his."
Back in August 2011, comedian Stephen Colbert tweeted from the MLB account in what was then the first Twitter takeover of an official sports profile. Many other leagues, teams and brands have done it since, but none for @MLB since Colbert started the trend. But Delaney, according to MLB reps, is a natural follow-up.
"We just want to have some fun here. Delaney is hilarious and hopefully won't get me fired," says Dave Feldman, MLB's social media director. "We thought our followers would enjoy whatever comes out of this. We really want to use the @MLB account as a way for celebs and other public figures to interact and have fun with baseball fans. Baseball is America’s Pastime for so many people and we thought it’d be fun for some notables to have the keys to the account when it makes sense."
Are Twitter takeovers cool promotions or do they fall flat? Give us your take in the comments.
Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
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By Todd Wasserman2013-05-06 18:09:10 UTC