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MLB would like you to know about a baseball player named Derek Jeter

BYU v Michigan

ANN ARBOR, MI - SEPTEMBER 26: Baseball great Derek Jeter (L) of the New York Yankees and alumni of the University of Michigan attends the Michigan Wolverines game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Michigan Stadium on September 26, 2015 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Wolverines defeated the Cougars 31-0. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Getty Images

A lot of people say that Major League Baseball is bad at promoting its players. Bah. Take one look at MLB’s social media feed over the past several days and you’ll see that the league goes all-out to promote its stars. Indeed, they have built an entire campaign around one of its brightest stars this week.

They’ve created a bracket-style “competition” of his finest moments, complete with video highlights in case fans are unaware of his historic exploits. Fans can vote for the best moment, but the vote is just a red herring. This is all about the appreciation of a fantastic talent and the league’s efforts to bring him into the hearts and minds of baseball fans everywhere.

For example:

And on and on it goes. Indeed, I’ve counted no less than 19 video-laden tweets promoting Derek Jeter in the past three days. There may be many more, actually, as these are just the ones with the custom “Jeet16" hashtag.

It’s quite impressive. And actually sort of sobering. I mean, if the league is going THIS crazy to promote a player who retired three years ago, IMAGINE how amazingly intense it’s marketing guys who are actually playing right now! Guys whose actual games, if people see their highlights, will become appointment viewing which will, in turn, help grow the game now and in the future!

Really, if they’re selling a 40-something year-old former player no one can watch play live ever again, I bet MLB has a team of hundreds of social media gurus helping spread the appreciation of today’s biggest talents.

Follow @craigcalcaterra