Baseball Bloggers Alliance

At the end of the award voting, I decided that since the Baseball Bloggers Alliance had come along so quickly, it might be nice to get an idea of who was actually in the group. To that end, I’m working through the roster and asking ten questions of each member. The first five are standard, while the last five are a little more personalized. Hopefully this will help us get a feel for our fellow members. So, here’s entry four in what hopefully will be a recurring series.

Bill Baer
Website: Crashburn Alley (also writes at Baseball Daily Digest)
BBA #10

Personal: An eligible bachelor currently getting accredited to teach math to high school students.

Question 1: How and why did you get into blogging?

I had been writing a while just for the thrill of it, and figured I might as well try to entertain an audience while I’m at it. At the time (August 2007), I saw a lack of serious Sabermetric analysis specifically for the Phillies, so I did my best to fill that niche.

One of my biggest blogging influences is the late, great John Brattain. He was one of my first loyal readers and always had great advice for me, even if it wasn’t related to baseball or writing. He used to say, “Pay it forward” whenever I thanked for doing me a favor. I still owe him a favor.

Question 2: Do you have any blogging projects planned for the off-season?

Nothing big, I usually play things by ear. I just hope there’s at least a few interesting events by the time pitchers and catchers report. Expect analysis of signings and trades, and of the more juicy rumors.

I’m currently working on a study of Davey Lopes’ effect on the Phillies, but I’m not sure if I’m going to go forward with it.

Question 3: What’s been your most enjoyable experience as a blogger (particularly well-received post, a high-profile link, a connection you wouldn’t have had otherwise, etc.)?

Rob Neyer sent me a particularly nice e-mail praising the work I do at Crashburn Alley, then asked if I’d like to be a part of ESPN’s SweetSpot blog network. I have also very much enjoyed appearing on podcasts for Pro Baseball Central and Drunk Jays Fans. Shout out to Steve Keane of PBC and Stoeten and Dustin Parkes of DJF.

And, as I mentioned above, blogging wouldn’t have been nearly as rewarding had it not been for my interactions with John Brattain.

Question 4: How did you find out about the BBA and what attracted you to the group?

You sent me an e-mail telling me about it, and I figured, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”. I didn’t want to be an outsider.

Question 5: What do you want to see out of the BBA in the coming year?

I honestly don’t know. It’s doing a lot better in a much shorter period of time than I had expected. But a hostile takeover of a small nation would be all right.

Question 6: Did winning the Series last year cushion the pain of losing it this year?

Absolutely. Not too many fans can say they’ve seen their team appear in back-to-back World Series, winning one of them and coming within two wins of another one. Philadelphia would have been a much more depressing place if we were going into 2010 still looking for our first championship since 1983 and 1980 for the Phillies.

Question 7: How much of the “Philly fan” reputation is deserved?

None. You can’t make rash generalizations about groups of people. There are bad apples in every bushel. For instance, several years ago, a couple fans in Oakland threw cherry bombs and injured a young boy. The Royals’ first base coach, Tom Gamboa, was stabbed during a baseball game in Chicago against the White Sox. There is nothing inherent to living in Philadelphia that makes one significantly more vicious at sporting events.

At every Phillies game I’ve gone to, the fans have been very civil.

Question 8: You were picked up by Rob Neyer’s SweetSpot network. What was that process like?

I was very surprised. There are a lot of quality Phillies blogs out there, including ones that focus on the team from a Sabermetric angle. To stand out among them in the eyes of Neyer is an honor.

As expected, I got a huge boost in traffic to my blog during the World Series. The challenge of properly analyzing baseball games, teams, and players, doing so in a short period of time, and making it palatable for a more general, spread out audience was a challenge I really enjoyed and look forward to taking again for the 2010 season.

Question 9: If you had to pick one player from the Phillies’ past to play on the current team, who would it be and why?

For strictly entertainment purposes, I’d take Darren Daulton. He’s hilarious.

For strictly performance purposes, you can’t go wrong with Michael Jack Schmidt, as Harry Kalas used to call him. The best third baseman of all time. Oh, and hey, would you look at that! The Phillies need a third sacker!

Question 10: Has the current success of the team led to an increase in Phillies blogs?

Yeah, definitely. There are a lot more of them now than there were back in 2007.

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