Tweeters: Not Just For Your Stereo Anymore

Twitter is one of those cultural phenomenons. I use the social networking site on a daily basis whether it be sports related or just random brain droppings. Essentially, Twitter is the Facebook status update broken down to 140 or less words. I find it’s a quick way to fire off a thought into the blogosphere without having to put much thought into it. Sometimes it can be humorous, sometimes it can stir a little trouble, as is the recent case with Celtic Kevin Garnett calling Charlie Villanueva a "cancer patient". Regardless, Twitter is a powerful tool that can be used to stream of conscious to the masses.

A few of our Houston Astros have Twitter accounts. Hunter Pence (@hunterpence9) uses his Twitter account to connect to his fanbase, often giving out coupons for Buffalo Grille or giving away signed bobbleheads (awesome by the way) and even giving his followers some insight into his Fantasy Football team. Former (sigh) Astro Chris Sampson (@csampson43) uses his to a lesser extent, to help advertise his baseball academy, or occasionally sell a used car. I would like to imagine that someday all of the Astros would have a Twitter account. I wonder what would happen if they could tweet while in the midst of a game…

@elbufalo45 I wonder what kind of grass is out here in left field, would look good on my ranch. Maybe ill work on some cardio #yeahright

@whatstheHAPPs hey @dclark5 charlie manuel is calling for squeeze play, give @CJalltheway a heads up #notstealingsignsiswear

@BournToRun @elbufalo45 its left field, not stand around field. #greasedlightning

@castrotheastro hey @budchucknorris, lets try to keep it under 100 pitches before the 4^th inning today, ok?

@BtotheWallace Ruh Roh RT @alysonfooter Astros’ GM Ed Wade says not afraid to use JMike as everyday LF

@CJalltheway hey @hunterpence9 it’s a shame we both can’t bat every inning #cantdothisbymyself

@allswellthatbagwells if my shoulder wasn’t so iffy, I’d be playing first #letsgetsomeoffense

@toycannon @allswellthatbagwells LOL and @dirtyhelmet7 for the #dreamteam!

@budchucknorris has anyone seen my car? #fml

I kid, I kid! Seriously thought, I feel like professional athletes having Twitter accounts is a good thing. I think Hunter Pence makes the best of his social networking abilities, whether contests or random pictures of him hanging out. What we fail to realize as fans is that these guys are humans just like the rest of us who happen to have a pretty excellent job. It’s kinda cool to get an inside glimpse into their daily lives. I mean, I remember how excited I was when Chris Sampson retweeted my "I WANNA TALK TO SAMPSON!" after a game he got called in to relieve. Of course I’m a super fan boy.

I have to thank Twitter. I was just some random smart aleck with a little writer’s flair who loves baseball and thanks to Twitter, I got hooked up with The Crawfish Boxes. Imagine what wonders it can do for charities or fan relations on the part of professional baseball players?

If you, The Crawfish Boxes faithful, have a twitter account, may I highly recommend you follow the following:

@mdavidcoleman, @stephenhigdon, @subber10, @_ymmit, @allphilla, @alysonfooter, @brianmctaggart, and for humor’s sake, @firedrayton and @draytonsbrain