Which Grantland Writer Does Dave Chappelle Follow On Twitter?

Dave Chappelle joined Twitter recently, and although he hasn't yet mastered the medium, he has a bunch of followers. (Several reputable comedians tweeted out that @chappelledavidk was the man's real handle, and the masses naturally flocked—he was not so long ago among the world's most prolific funnymen.) But he doesn't follow a lot of people.

While inspecting the account yesterday, we noticed a familiar name among the elite few Chappelle does follow: Rany Jazayerli, the longtime saber-inclined Royals blogger who co-founded Baseball Prospectus and now writes at Grantland.

Peculiar, we thought, since Dave Chappelle's only known connection to baseball is this old Chappelle's Show bit where he does And1 Mixtapes for sports And1 had yet to conquer.

So we emailed Jazayerli to ask whether Chappelle was a closet Royals fan.

His reply:

While it might look like Dave Chappelle and I have nothing in common, we are both part of that rare group known as "American Muslims in the entertainment industry." Sort of like the Illuminati, only we don't use wine in our rituals. While we've never met, he is a friend of a friend. My close buddy Azhar Usman, one of the most famous Muslim stand-up comedians in America, has opened for Chappelle several times (and Dave is following him on Twitter as well). I was tipped off to Dave's Twitter account last night (Tuesday) and started following him; at the time I was his 11th follower, which I guess makes me the last of "the magnificent 11." He returned the favor this morning.

Also, he's a MASSIVE Royals fan.*

*: Not verified. But come on, isn't everyone?

We do wish we could now know that malaise arising from the Carlos Beltran trade—remember, the Royals only got John Buck, Mike Wood, and Mark Teahen out of it—was the reason Chappelle's Show halted production in 2004, but alas, that mystery remains unsolved. Maybe Jazayerli will soon learn the answer.

Dave Chappelle [Twitter] Rany Jazayerli [Twitter]

Image via AP.