At the beginning of the 2023 Major League Baseball season, San Diego Padres radio broadcaster Sam Levitt shared the feelings of many Padres fans who were expecting success in the regular season followed by victories in the playoffs and maybe even a World Series appearance.
“We all had high hopes,” said Levitt, who has worked the past two seasons as the pre-game and post-game show host on the Padres Radio Network, which includes San Diego’s KWFN 97.3-FM The Fan, along with several other stations in California and Arizona.
“It was a really talented group and there were some great individual storylines for a number of players, but unfortunately it didn’t result in the win-loss record that many in San Diego expected at the start of the season,” Levitt told Times of San Diego.
Among the unexpected: The so-called “Big Four,” including Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr., did not carry the team in the manner that was expected. Fans wondered why a team with so much talent (third-highest payroll among 26 MLB ballclubs this season) could not get its act together at crucial times in many games. After all, missing the playoffs was unfathomable when spring training began in February 2023.
Also, the Padres suffered too many losses in close games, said Levitt, citing the team’s win-loss record of 9-23 in one-run games.
Also, in extra-inning games, the team posted a 2-12 record. “It was ironic,” Levitt said, “that the final game of the season (Sunday, Oct. 1) went into extra innings and the Padres beat the Chicago White Sox 2 to 1 in 11 innings.”
The Padres finished the regular season with a record of 82-80, a third-place finish in the National League West division and missed the playoffs.
Levitt agrees the Padres played their best baseball in the month of September, the final month of the season. The overall win-loss record in September was 20-7, which included an eight-game winning streak in the middle of the month and winning 15 of the last 18 games.
“September was great and it was a nice finish,” Levitt said. “Hopefully, it’s a sign of things to come in 2024 and indicative of the type of baseball this team can play from the very beginning of next season.”
During on-air, call-in conversations with fans, Levitt would sympathize with the callers.
“The fans were terrific this season,” Levitt said. “Despite some of the team’s struggles, the fans kept showing up in record numbers and supported this team in such an amazing way. In a sense, Padres fans were this season’s MVP.”
During the next few months of the offseason, Levitt will host “Inside San Diego Baseball Podcast” a baseball-related podcast and is expected to fill-in on KWFN sports talk shows.
“I’ll be busy creating content and talking baseball on social media, including covering the winter meetings (Dec. 4-7 in Nashville),” said Levitt. “Spring training is only a few months away, and to seeing what this team can do next season.”
Levitt says he has more than 500,000 followers on TikTok and 50,000 Instagram followers with more than 70 million video views.
The 2023 World Series is scheduled to begin Friday, Oct. 27.
In related news, in contrast to the ballclub’s season of underachievement, summer ratings for KWFN 97.3-FM The Fan were impressive, as reported by Barrett Sports Media, a radio industry trade media outlet.
Nielsen said the ballclub’s English-speaking flagship station was No. 1 in the market for men ages 25 to 54 for the mid-June to mid-September time period.
In addition, the “Ben & Woods” morning show with Ben Higgins and Steven Woods garnered an 11.0 share, a jump from an 8.3 share for the spring book. Also, the midday “John Kentera Show” jumped from a 5.8 share in the spring to an 8.2 share and the No. 1 show in the market during its time slot.
Overall, KWFN-FM scored a 9.2 share for weekdays, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., which was an increase from 8.0 in the spring.
Alternative Strategies Representing Karl Strauss Brewing
Alternative Strategies, a San Diego marketing and public relations agency specializing in restaurant and hospitality clients, has announced it is now representing Karl Strauss Brewing Co.
“We are honored and privileged to be partners with such an iconic brand not just in the craft beer industry, but in all of San Diego and Southern California,” said William Lopez, founder and CEO, Alternative Strategies.
Karl Strauss, founded in 1989, operates five San Diego locations in 4S Ranch, Carlsbad, Downtown San Diego, Sorrento Mesa and San Marcos. The brewery operates nine total locations with brewpubs in Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Downtown Los Angles and Temecula. It is considered San Diego’s longest continuously operating, post-Prohibition craft beer company.
Alternative Strategies, based in North Park, serves a portfolio of more than 40 clients in the food-and-beverage industry.
Katalyst Expands Destination and Travel Client Roster
Katalyst, a San Diego-based public relations and social media agency, has announced it has been named the social media agency of record for San Diego Tourism Authority and the public relations agency of record for Visit Oceanside and San Diego Botanic Garden.
“We have spent the last 15 years sharing San Diego’s story regionally and nationally from restaurants, hotels, events and the people that have shaped it,” said Katherine Randall, Katalyst founder and president. “Adding clients like San Diego Tourism Authority, Visit Oceanside and San Diego Botanic Garden is a natural extension of what Katalyst is as a company and who we are as individuals.”
Katalyst, with a team of 20 employees, specializes in hospitality, travel, lifestyle, consumer-packaged goods and real estate clients. Additional offices are in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Other clients include Belmont Park, LaFayette Hotel, One Paseo and Seaport Village.
Social Media is Battlefield in Mideast Public Relations War
As Israel defends itself on the battlefield in response to Hamas terrorist attacks, another battle is underway worldwide on social media platforms in the public relations arena.
As reported by the Washington Times, military analysts have noted Hamas and its Iranian backers have been effectively executing a PR propaganda campaign that had been planned for years.
Talking points portraying Israel as the aggressor were drafted months or years ago. Strategies have been precisely followed according to pre-arranged schedules following the Oct. 7 surprise attacks. Plans already were in place to turn public opinion against Israel’s anticipated counterattack.
“Hamas is winning the YouTube war,” Michael Doran, senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at the Hudson Institute, told the Times. “Hamas is backed by Iran, which has a very effective propaganda operation. Their propaganda makes a compelling argument that Hamas fighters are noble, don’t kill civilians, don’t kill babies, don’t rape girls, unlike the Zionists, who kill families and babies in their homes.”
Indeed, the war in Israel is testing the global digital media landscape, according to Ad Age, an advertising industry media outlet. In fact, Hamas has been using social media to send messages to family members of deceased Israelis and hostages.
Officials with Meta, YouTube, TikTok and X (formerly known as Twitter) have been updating filters and safeguards following renewed concerns over monetizing extremist content and spreading violent videos and misinformation.
A TikTok statement to Ad Age said, “TikTok has increased dedicated resources to help prevent violent, hateful or misleading content on our platform, including increased moderation resources in Arabic and Hebrew.”
Meanwhile, images from social media posts by Hamas have been sources for news coverage on many U.S. and European networks. As a result, some headlines have focused on scenes of rapidly deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza, including tens of thousands of Palestinians desperately trying to flee, hospitals running out of food and medicine and children without access to shelter or clean water.
As reported by PR Daily, a public relations industry media outlet, the recent explosion destroying a hospital in Gaza City and killing hundreds set off a dangerous blame game. The Israelis said a misfired rocket from a jihadist military group caused the devastation, while Palestinians blame the Israel Defense Forces.
PR Daily’s advice to brands who are considering social media posts related to the war: “Expect that any word you choose will be examined under a microscope. Be thoughtful. Be measured. Choose your moments to speak. You will feel pressure to respond to every twist and terror of the war but consider your audience and values before doing so.”
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.
