Jay Horwitz gains 10,000 Twitter followers, Hope Shines for Shannon gains $10,000

Jay Horwitz, a 35-year Mets' front office veteran and senior vice president of media relations, finally joined Twitter last Friday. And because of his legendary status and fun-loving personality, his foray into the social network caught the attention of just about every baseball writer in the country. 

Jay's bosses took advantage of Horwitz's attention-grabbing move, vowing that if Jay gained 10,000 followers by midnight, they'd make a $10,000 donation to a charity of his choice. Word spread quickly, and Horwitz easily surpassed the threshold in plenty of time on Friday.

We did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!twitpic.com/byacpv

— Jay Horwitz (@Jay_HorwitzPR) January 26, 2013

Horwitz chose to donate the money to Hope Shines for Shannon, a foundation established for Shannon Forde. Shannon is a beloved figure in baseball and a longtime member of the Mets' media relations department. In August, the 41-year-old mother of two was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer, and the foundation helps her with medical expenses.

Swift, far-reaching and meaningful: Social media is pretty awesome.

-- Alyson Footer / MLB.com