Steven Goldman wrote something in his preface to Baseball Prospectus 2011 that has stuck with me since. I quoted it in my own preface to the Best Of Baseball Prospectus books, and I’m about to quote it again. Someday, I’ll feel inspired and find another line to use in my introductions. For now, though, Steven’s sentiments will suffice, since they explain how we’ve managed to remain true to our roots even as many of our founding members and longtime contributors have moved on to other challenges.
True institutions do not survive due to the efforts of any one or two people, but because a collective of believers holds true to their animating principle, thus forming an unbroken chain from founders to inheritors. In our case, we continue to focus on cutting through baseball’s homilies—stomping the dead, whenever possible, along the way—in favor of realism and hard truths.
Steven’s words assume added significance in light of his own recent departure from BP’s pages. While his work at BP will be missed, you’ve no doubt noticed that our content has continued to flow unabated. If anything, as Opening Day approaches, we’ve followed Moff Jerjerrod’s example and doubled our efforts. (Unlike the Moff, we’re definitely going to get around to installing that cover on the exhaust port.) Since Steven’s final State of the Prospectus, we’ve wrangled additional writing from some authors you already know, and we’ve also brought a number of new faces and bylines to BP. As BP’s Managing Editor (inmates, asylum, etc.), I’m pleased to have the privilege of introducing them.
- As we already announced on Twitter—where you should follow us so you can hear the things we say sooner—Sam Miller is expanding his role at BP to include editing and more writing. Sam has made himself a crucial part of our efforts since joining us in a regular role not long after his ProGuestus piece, and we’re thrilled to have him all to ourselves. He’ll be starting officially next Monday, March 26, so you’ll soon see his work on the site a few times a week.
- As Joe Hamrahi noted a couple weeks ago, John Erhardt has returned for a second stint at Baseball Prospectus. The former author of The Week in Quotes and other features will be helping out on the editorial side of the site.
- We’ll also be bringing you twice as many articles from Bradford Doolittle and Adam Sobsey after Opening Day, as well as more regular contributions by Bradley Ankrom. In addition to writing a weekly column, Bradford will be blogging regularly from the ballpark in the new “Inside the Park” blog.
Some of the following “new” authors have already begun to make their presence felt over the past month or two; others will debut at BP or take on more prominent roles in the next couple of weeks.
Cee Angi
Cee Angi is the founder of Baseball-Prose.com, a site that offers an uncommon narrative on life in the context of baseball. Overeducated and underemployed, Cee spends her free time writing for sites like Over the Monster, a Red Sox blog at SB Nation, and The Platoon Advantage. Cee is an avid reader and traveler who spent her formative drinking years traveling the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Cee lives in Washington, DC with her best friend, a cavalier spaniel named Lola.
Michael Bates
Mike has been writing about the game, its history, and the hilarity therein here and there since 2008. His work has appeared on ESPN's Sweetspot blog, Getting Blanked, It's About the Money, Stupid, and other fine purveyors of baseball lore around these Interwebs. He hates young people, a fact which makes living in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife and two children very uncomfortable. Until last August, Delmon Young was the bane of his existence, but now he is free. FREE!
Matthew Kory
Matthew Kory is a former Urban Planner turned stay-at-home dad who has been writing about baseball online since 2005, most recently at Over the Monster and Splice Today. He exists in a whirling vortex of crying, poopy diapers, and sports. He thrives on ego, so feel free to tell him what a genius he is. In his spare time, he does not enjoy jogging, sleeping, more crying, or being scratched by his cat. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and two three-year-old boys.
Max Marchi
BP’s Italian correspondent, Max Marchi, is a data analyst by trade who applies his skills to PITCHf/x and Retrosheet data. He introduced himself at length before his first article. Since then, he's helped expand our understanding of catcher defense.
Bill Parker
Bill has been writing about baseball since early 2009 and tends to focus on the game's history and underappreciated minutiae (but approaches those topics with a very sabermetrics-heavy bent). He's one of the co-founders of The Platoon Advantage, and also contributes a weekly column for The Score's Getting Blanked blog. He's an attorney by day and has recently moved from Chicago to southwest Minnesota, happy to be back home in Twins Territory.
Jason Wojciechowski
Jason Wojciechowski has been writing about the A's at Beaneball since 2003. These days, he does so from Los Angeles, where he is also a labor lawyer. He contributes to The Platoon Advantage on general baseball topics, including Ryan Braun's "PE"D appeal, the effectiveness of trading players signed to one-year deals, and totally valid methods of determining an MVP vote that would anger most right-thinking statheads. Jose Canseco once asked Jason if he was Bill James's son.
In addition to integrating all of our fresh content, we’re working on an overhauled look and some exciting new features, which we’ll unveil at the appropriate time. Until then, we hope that you’ll subscribe if you haven’t done so. If you’ve already enlisted, we thank you for swelling our ranks and hope that you’ll be reading our articles, consulting our stats, and contributing to our community for years to come. I look forward to making that as rewarding an experience as possible.
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