Twitter scavengers race for All-Star rewards
Fans hustle to five different Manhattan locations for clues to earn their prizes
NEW YORK -- Fans all over New York City competed to be the fastest in a social media scavenger hunt that rewarded winners with All-Star Sunday and Fan Fest tickets.
With five different winning locations scattered around Manhattan, baseball fans took to Twitter starting at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday to search for the secret password to help them discover where to head and win the prizes. The password was "All-Star Game" and from there, the first clue was announced.
Within 10 minutes, Joe Palmeri from Middle Village, N.Y. came running down Broadway and met the Major League Baseball representatives at the MLB Fan Cave, where he was the first winner of the day.
"I was at Union Square hoping whatever train I needed would be there and then I did a Google search, it was here [Fan Cave] and just ran 10 blocks," Palmeri said.
Some fans showed up at the Cave just a little too late, but were in luck as the next clue was about to be delivered.
The Mets Clubhouse on 42nd Street was the next location, where Joe Catarcio was the next quickest fan to claim his prize. Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Times Square was third secret location, where Philip Thomas won the next set of tickets almost within minutes of the Twitter clue being sent out.
"I'm pretty excited, I'm pretty stoked." Thomas said. The seasoned veteran of Twitter scavenger hunts went on to say, "I always wanted to go to All-Star Weekend."
Fittingly enough, the wax figure of Mets third baseman David Wright was on display in the main window.
For the fourth clue, fans had to figure out an MLB rep was waiting by the SNY TV studio, television home of the New York Mets. It was there that multiple fans arrived at the same time, where a tie-breaker took place, with Scott Underberg correctly guessing when the Mets last hosted the All-Star Game to take home the prize.
The final clue was then sent out as to where the fifth ticket package could be found.
Brandon Plumey from the Bronx finally claimed his prize. He was just a step too late in previous stops before running across traffic screaming, "All-Star Game," as he got to the T-Mobile store by 14th street. After catching his breath, Plumey said: "This is awesome." As a big Mets fan, Plumey said it "will definitely be an experience [to go to All-Star Weekend] to cherish for the rest of my life."