Stories on bloggers’ expanding influence are starting to appear just about every day. In the sports realm, it’s not rare to hear players or coaches complain about bloggers the way they used to complain about sports talk radio. However, it is rare for an athlete or coach to actually listen to what bloggers have to say and give heed to their advice.
The first I’ve heard of such a case is Seattle Mariners pitching coach Rafael Chaves taking an open letter from the blog USS Mariner and showing it to struggling ace Felix Hernandez.
“Chaves gave me a report,” Hernandez said. “On the internet, they say when I throw a lot of fastballs in the first inning, they score a lot of runs. I tried to mix all my pitches in the first inning.”
King Felix responded with eight innings of two hit, shutout ball in a win over the Oakland Athletics. Deadspin points out that this gives all sports bloggers just a bit of hope that all our nagging may have an impact.
What this means for Hernandez is that he can now learn to pitch, rather than just try to throw right by opposing batters. What this means for the rest of us, however, is that through the majesty of the Internet, we have rejuvenated hope in getting our advice through to our favorite athletes, in the hope that they will no longer suck.
Yes it’s a sports story, but it’s also a blogger story. If a legitimate Major League ace can be influenced by bloggers, who can’t be?