Thursday, August 21, 2008

Major League Baseball HOF Needs Web 2.0

I'll admit, I'm a huge baseball fan. I love the game and love the history. Sure there was a time (mid '90s) where I didn't watch or didn't follow it. I lost interest and lost faith in the sport following the strike.

Since then, I can't stop watching, following, and learning more about the game and the history.

This is why I want the Baseball Hall of Fame to get introduced to Web 2.0.

I subscribe to the Baseball HOF email distribution and received one yesterday about the 34th anniversary of Nolan Ryan's 19 strikeout, 11 inning performance with the California Angles. I really like this kind of baseball history, but the email from the Baseball HOF doesn't offer me anything more than what I could find on wikipedia.

Instead of just an email, the baseball HOF should take it a step further.

  • Give me a link to Nolan Ryan's induction speech.
  • Link me to a Baseball HOF blog posting about Ryan's 19K performance where I can discuss it, if I think this will happen again and which pitcher is mostly likely to do it.
  • Provide some videos of his uniform number being retired with California, Texas, and Houston.
  • Give the reader excerpts, podcast, or video links to an interview with Nolan about his career or this particular game.
  • Provide some memorabilia pictures, Nolan Ryan's cards, the newspapers that recorded his accomplishment, and the box score of the game.
If I dive into all of this, I'm much more likely to visit, buy a jersey, and get a membership to the HOF.

So much more can be done. Again, I'm a big baseball fan, I'm pretty sure that I'm the not the only one, and I want the best hall of fame (IMO) to provide the best communication.

So who could do this today? I'm not sure it will ever happen again, but if I had to choose someone, I'd say CC Sabathia.

2 comments:

chessiakelley said...

I don't have the answer to your question/comment but it is pertinent for all great fans. I'm typically less concerned about staying up on every stat and like to get to the games. If thats not an option, you should spend your extra cash on a Sharp TV set if you want the best quality. I am a rep for the company which is now the official sponsor of MLB. Check out its super features fine tuned just for baseball at Sharp

LaLoosh said...

Is this an advertisement for Sharp???
I will make you a deal chessiakelley; I live in area that has orioles games blacked out. I live an hour and half away from Baltimore in a different state(PA). My son and I are huge baseball and Oriole fans. We go to about 7-10 games a year. I however cannot get any Oriole games on TV or on the computer. MLB.tv blacks them out, Direct TV will only show them if there is a sellout(last time that happened the was some old bald guy named Junior playing 3B or SS). My parents who live in Maryland and 30 minutes from Baltimore can get every game on TV. All I am asking is the option of buying a package that that does not black them out. HERE IS MY OFFER: If you can get MLB to change there idiotic blackout zones so I can order a baseball package to watch the Orioles I will buy a freakin' Sharp TV. Until then leave blogging for blogging and advertise somewhere else.