Face of MLB is Over…Finally

The fun came to a stunning end this morning when Pretty Pretty Posey beat Sean Doolittle in the semi-final round of the Face of MLB competition. I, for one, am happy it’s over but bummed that Doolittle didn’t take home the big, I don’t know what to call it. Prize isn’t the right word because he would receive no trophy or a pick up truck. I guess we’ll just call it a title. He didn’t take home the big title of being the Face of MLB.

Since its inception I have thought this competition was a stupid distraction during the off season but have praised the community that it build within the Oakland Athletics’ fan base. As Sean said in our podcast last week, which you can listen to HERE, it is cool to see all of the creativity that comes out of one of the best fan bases of any sport and it was that creative spirit that brought a second A’s player deep into the bracket.

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The solace that many devoted A’s fans are taking from this whole thing is how far Doolittle got with no support from the A’s PR machine. Short of a few tweets reminding people to vote, the A’s organization did virtually nothing to encourage their fan base to stuff the ballot box but every team along the way, including the Giants yesterday, resorted to jersey giveaways, game tickets and even airline flights. It’s all a bit much for a competition that doesn’t even really have bragging rights associated with it.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the A’s were being cheap or slighting their fans by not getting involved but I do think they saw this as a tongue in cheek game that the fans could win on their own and, for a second straight year, we did…in a way.

In life you have to take the approach of “I may not like it but if I’m going to do it I’m going to be the best” and A’s fans proved that over the past few weeks with a hilarious display of memes and designs that I can guarantee no other team enjoyed. My favorite of all the designs came yesterday and featured Sean Doolittle’s face on the bodies of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road and a caption so obvious that it’s shocking nobody thought of it earlier.

If you don’t follow A’s Fan by Design on Twitter, you should. Their graphic work is all of this caliber and worthy of your follow. Well done! Of course, the disappointment of today’s loss would not be complete without the reaction from family and friends and Eireann Dolan, close personal friend of the site and advocate for next year’s #TonyFryeAppreciationDay, won the internet today with her short video expressing her disappointment. Watch it. It’s so good!

Until next year everyone! Until the next time we begrudgingly devote hours upon hours to prove to every other fan base that we’re better than they are because we don’t need bribes to get us to vote for our guys. Now it’s time to focus on important things like, I don’t know, BASEBALL BEING BACK, BABY!!!

Next: 5 A's who will not reach expectations