St. Louis Cardinals: Dexter Fowler is Already Making an Impact

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Dexter Fowler to help the team make the playoffs. However, the season hasn’t started and he’s already making an impact.

The St. Louis Cardinals were happy to announce that Dexter Fowler will be joining them as their starting center fielder and lead-off man. Many fans were excited and the Chicago-St. Louis rivalry intensified even more after the breaking news.

Fowler brings a number of qualities to the team that fans should be excited for. His incredible approach at the plate helped the Chicago Cubs win their first World Series in what seemed like forever and it also has allowed him to bat .268/.366/.422 over his 9-year career. He’s also coming off a career year where he was an All Star and batted .276/.393/.447 with 13 home runs and 48 RBI.

He also saw drastic improvements defensively after re-positioning himself deeper in the outfield. Fowler went from a below average center fielder in 2015 to above average in 2016. Now, with Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty by his side, the Cardinals should expect similar success.

The team and fans already know everything that Fowler brings to the field. However, if you haven’t noticed already, Fowler has made an impact off the field. The personable ex-Cubbie has made St. Louis his new home and has made sure that every fan across the nation knows it. Fowler has expressed his and his daughter’s excitement to be a part of the Cardinals across all social media platforms.

Fowler has consistently maintained a huge social media presence throughout his career, something that the Cardinals haven’t had ever. His loveable personality is palpable and contagious and it makes the signing that much better. This social media interaction is something the Cardinals and the athletes of St. Louis in general has lacked.

He interacts and replies to Cards fans consistently and adds in comments about how hard he is working for the team. Couple all this with his consistent SnapChat stories and Instagram posts and St. Louis has the perfect guy for any marketing department to use.

We’ve already seen consistent tweets from Fowler about giving away tickets to games if they buy his jersey or “shirsey”. We’ve even seen his wife suggest that he gives away jerseys and “shirseys” for those that can’t splurge on the new guy’s apparel.

One of the biggest keys here with Fowler, is that no other St. Louis professional athlete has been this interactive. Social media is a tool used for celebrities/athletes citizens to interact with and relate to fans and that is exactly what Fowler has done. The next closest thing may have been Johnny Hekker the punter from the team formerly known as the St. Louis Rams.

Another important note about Dexter Fowler is that he is the first African-American “star” that the St. Louis Cardinals have had in quite some time. Jason Heyward filled that role for one season but the last consistent African-American star presence for the Redbirds was Ray Lankford in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. A lack of African-American players is prevalent across the entire MLB, but it has been especially prevalent in St. Louis.

Now, why does any of this matter? Well, immediately he becomes a loveable, heavily marketable character for the Cardinals and for St. Louis City. His social media prowess, charming personality, and contagious smile have already captivated many baseball fans and may bring in many more.

And while he may not be the face of the this franchise, he very well could be for non-baseball fans. He, unlike many of the other Cardinals players, is unafraid to be consistently in the spotlight and active with media and fans. For those people that don’t watch the games or follow the team closely, he could be a difference maker in attracting new fans or just bringing more attention to the team.

A population in St. Louis may not watch the game but they may follow him on Twitter and SnapChat and find that he is already supporting the Cardinals. Add in his other adventures with his daughter and wife and he will have his own fan base in St. Louis before you know it. For being someone that has only worn a Cardinals jersey in a press conference, he sure has made it feel like he’s been here his whole career.

Plus, if it isn’t clear enough…you really should follow him on twitter:

Want your voice heard? Join the team!

While the St. Louis Cardinals did sign Fowler for his on field attributes, his signing already feels like a success given his personality and attitude. Even in his press conference he was consistently smiling, laughing, and having a good time. John Mozeliak and Mike Matheny discussed how Fowler changes the clubhouse for the better and he has shown that through social media. That personality has made Fowler into a local star and he hasn’t even played a game for the Cards.

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