After a few decades of apartment dwelling in Manhattan together with my great family, we decided to move to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and, remarkably, turn our good fortune of owning a NYC pad into a "real" home in the suburbs of Boston. All along, I had one thing in mind -- to build a little "Man Cave," complete with a fireplace, comfortable couches and lounge chairs, an all-season porch and a place to work, write and call my very own.
If you're a baseball fan and have a similar dream, the folks at MLB have taken the concept and multiplied it a thousand times over with their MLB Fan Cave, a place in time and space that welcomes baseball fans of all demographics, men or women, young or old, avid fan or new fan. The concept is so simple, it's perfect.
Today's official Major League Baseball news release reads like this:
"Major League Baseball announced today that the MLB Fan Cave will return for a third season in 2013, following a year of tremendous growth in social media activity, fan engagement and video content, as well as a highly successful concert series featuring top musical acts."
It's a great idea and it couldn't have come at a better time as the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals will play Game 7 of the NLCS tonight with the winner hosting Game 1 of the World Series this Wednesday, October 24 against the Detroit Tigers.
Fans can apply at MLBFanCave.com with hopes of obtaining "Cave Dweller" status and vie to watch all 2,430 games inside the MLB Fan Cave next year, while meeting current and retired baseball greats, popular recording artists and entertainers.
To celebrate their new fall classic season, Grammy nominated music legends Counting Crows will perform at the MLB Fan Cave on October 22 to celebrate the the upcoming start of the 2012 World Series. Beginning at 5:30pm at the MLB Fan Cave, the group will perform tracks off of their new album. During the past two years and looking ahead to more, some 400 celebrity visitors including 200 current MLB players along with popular musicians, actors, former MLB players and Hall of Famers visited the MLB Fan Cave in NYC's Village since its launch and opening in 2011.
For fans online and those interested in the social media world we live in, the MLB Fan Cave has built an audience of more than one million followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as many of the biggest stars in baseball, including Jose Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano, R.A. Dickey, Ryan Howard, Derek Jeter, Adam Jones, Matt Kemp, Joe Mauer, Andrew McCutchen, David Ortiz, David Price, CC Sabathia, Chase Utley, Justin Upton, Justin Verlander and David Wright have visited and participated in activities at the Cave.
In 2012, over 22,000 fans applied to be a "Cave Dweller" and the MLB Fan Cave began the season with a group of nine winners who each chronicled their experience at the MLB Fan Cave through videos, blogs and social media. Along the way, six were eliminated based on a combination fan voting and a overall judgement by panel of MLB experts. As of today, the three remaining Cave Dwellers - Ashley Chavez, Ricardo Marquez and Kyle Thompson -- all won a trip to the 2012 World Series, where one of them will be crowned the ultimate winner for 2012.
In 2013, the MLB Fan Cave will return to the 15,000 square foot location at 4th Street and Broadway in the heart of New York City's Greenwich Village, the former home of Tower Records for you Village-dwellers.