Welcome to another edition of the BBA Linkfest, where I scour the earth for links from my fellow members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance general chapter. "General," here means that the sites that make up our chapter do not focus on one particular team, but all of baseball and in some cases, all of life. The title of this post comes from staring out my window at another gray, wintry day where the wind is howling and it seems like I live in the frozen tundra. Reading these writers at the very least makes me think of spring and better times when baseball again will be here.
Before I start linking to our sites, special mention has to be given to Michael Clair and his Old Time Family Baseball. Clair, a hilarious individual who gives me great pleasure from his writing and his Twitter persona, completed his third annual blogathon last weekend to benefit Doctors Without Borders. Not only did Clair exceed his goal by a landslide, but he also brought together hundreds of the best baseball writers in the land who submitted work for him for the weekend. I salute Michael Clair and all those writers that made the goal just a stopping point on the final total. Great work, everyone. And trust me, you could spend an entire day reading all those excellent posts. So do it! I also love his recent post on one of his favorite players of the past.
And here we go with the links!
Justin Miller is a good baseball guy and I like his articles and his prospect scouting reports. This post talks about the recent signing of Grady Sizemore, a guy who most of us are rooting for in his comeback. InsideTheMLB is the site's heading.
Over at the Baseball Hot Corner, Jason Leary has a great post titled, 5 Tattoo Ideas for Tortured A's Fans. You have to check that out, right?
I am so pleased that High Heat Stats has joined the general chapter. This is a world class site that started on baseball-reference.com as that site's blogging crew. They have only gotten better as they left B-R and have gained new writers (many from our crew here in the general chapter!). Their post I am featuring today is written by Doug and is so packed with information, you need to set aside some good quality time. But read it!
David, over at Baseballroundtable.com has a great post about prospects to watch in 2014. Great stuff.
Over at Know Hitter (I love that title), there is a suggestion for what the Mariners' new acquisition, Corey Hart, should play.
Kenneth Matinale of Radical Baseball has an interesting post in which he takes issue with the Yankees' off season strategy. I'm not sure I agree, but that's what makes baseball so great!
The Playoff Pitch site has had a series going with breaking down 2014 teams, which is always a fun exercise. The latest one is on the 2014 Red Sox.
Off the Bench is an interesting and fairly new site not afraid to make bold stances. Take, for example, this post and then the response gotten from that post. Makes for fun reading.
I enjoyed the post over at Baseblog94 on the Cubs' new manager, Rick Renteria.
Even though it is not a recent post, I am constantly moved by Stevo-sama's post about his father over at The Baseball Enthusiast. It was reposted from Baseblog94 with additional pictures. Very moving.
One of the great things about my affiliation with the BBA is watching all these folks who become friends who go on to better things. Chris Carelli is a great guy and a great writer whose The Baseball Stance featured his stuff. The site now provides summaries and links to his work for Yahoo Sports along with the occasional full piece. Very cool and I am happy for him.
Matt Whitener of Cheap.Seats.Please takes a stab and listing the top ten shortstops in the Major Leagues today. How many do you agree with? Matt and I definitely agree on the number one name.
In his latest post, Grubby Glove talks about where he has been. I'm just glad he's back!
Theo of Hot Corner Harbor has another of his usually thoughtful posts on predicting the Hall of Fame. Interesting stuff.
Speaking of the Hall of Fame, For Baseball Junkies compiled a list of the most questionable votes by the writers.
Chuck Booth of the always reliable MLB Reports talks about the the first week of the season and Australia. BTW, I always appreciate the site's #FF support each week.
My buddy, Bryan O'Conner, of Replacement Level Baseball also talks about the Hall of Fame and the Hall of Stats. Did you know that he is better looking than Ben Affleck?
Through the Fence Baseball has really continued to expand and get better each year I have done this. They have become a don't miss site! For example, here is one-of-a-kind content on the best freshmen college baseball players of 2014.
Dan at The Ball Caps Blog had an interesting take on Richard Sherman's bombastic interview. But if we stick to baseball, his amusing take on Phillies fans is a fun read.
Call to the Pen is another site that has grown tremendously since I have been doing this. They are now part of the Fansided network. Cool on them. Dan Zinski's report on Tony La Russa's HOF logo is a case in point of why they are where they are.
Italy's Che Palle! by Mario Salvini shares an amazing picture he found on Twitter. It is amazing too.
Another site that has come a long way is MLB Dirt, which is now part of the Field Rush network. Alas, I used to write there semi-regularly and have great guilt that I no longer have the time to do so. Jonathan Mitchell is one of the greatest guys on the planet and his feature recently covered Grant Balfour returning to the Rays and that C-word.
Another great bud is Dan from the Left Field site who also writes for High Heat Stats. Dan is a real interesting guy with a great family and what I like about his site is that it features baseball, his favorite music and his love of craft beer. Check out his recent playlist.
The Sisco Kid of Baseball Sisco Kid Style hit the nail on the head with his HOF picks, which is pretty amazing. Whether I agree that it should have only been three or not is neither here nor there.
The always interesting Sully of Sully Baseball has probably the best solution I've heard to the problem of which hat to wear to the Hall of Fame for those chosen. Good solution! Interesting post!
Ben's Baseball Bias salutes the three HOF inductees.
If you've ever wondered how a baseball is made, Dugout 24 has just the video for you!
The Sports Banter posted some interesting, sometimes hilarious and random thoughts in a recent post.
Clint of Diamond Hoggers is part of one of my favorite baseball podcast teams. And I don't just say that because they invited me to join them once. The latest installment is linked here.
Mike Hilywa has a real fun post over at Off Base Percentage on Australian baseball. I love the pic and the heading too.
Apparently, Jack Morris is tired of getting scrutinized by baseball writers. Shawn Anderson of The Hall of Very Good gives us all the details.
There are the links, but before I go, I figured I would leave you with one toot of my own horn. Your favorite Fan recently garnered his first ESPN byline. Very cool for me!
See you next time and stay warm! Baseball season will get here eventually.
No comments:
Post a Comment