Recommended Blogs
Last week, a few folks asked if we could recommend some sites that cover other teams in a similar way that we cover the Mariners. Thanks to the explosion of blogging, a veritable cornocopia of team specific sites have popped up over the past few years, and nearly every organization in baseball has a quality site devoted to the team. So, what follows is a list of my recommended blogs for the rest of baseball; these sites have all published content that I have read and enjoyed at some point in time, and while they vary in quality, they’ve all earned the recognition as one of the better sources of information for their particular club.
AL West
Oakland: Athletics Nation
Texas: The Newberg Report and LoneStar Ball
Anaheim: Chronicles of the Lad
Seattle: Lookout Landing and Marinerds
AL Central
Minnesota: Bat Girl, Stick and Ball Guy, and Twins Geek
Kansas City: Rob and Rany and Royals Review
Detroit: Tigers Central
Cleveland: Lets Go Tribe
Chicago: Sox Machine
AL East
New York: Bronx Banter, Pinstriped Blog, and Replacement Level Yankee Weblog
Boston: Sons of Sam Horn
Baltimore: Orioles Hangout and Birds in the Belfry
Toronto: The Batters Box
Tampa Bay: Rays of Light
NL West
Arizona: Snake Pit
San Diego: Duck Snorts
Los Angeles: Dodger Thoughts
Colorado: Purple Row
San Francisco: McCovey Chronicles
NL Central
Chicago: Cub Reporter and Cub Town
Milwaukee: Brewer Fan
Houston: Crawfish Boxes
St. Louis: Viva El Birdos
Pittsburgh: Bucs Dugout
Cincinatti: Red Reporter
NL East
Philadelphia: Phillies Nation
Atlanta: Sabernomics
New York: Amazin’ Avenue
Florida: Fish Stripes
Washington: Capitol Punishment
So, there’s at least one link for every team. However, there are some that are good enough that you should read them even if you’re not trolling for team specific content. These guys are the best of the bunch, in my opinion, and I give them my full endorsement:
These include Lookout Landing, Bat Girl, Pinstriped Blog, The Batters Box, Dodger Thoughts, Brewer Fan, and Sabernomics.
So, hopefully this helps you guys. If you’re looking for information on a certain team, at the very least, most of these are a good starting spot.
Huh . . . I’d have thought you’d have recommended the Newberg Report, too — granted it’s Rangers-focused, Jamey’s always been a sharp observer of the minors; he isn’t slipping, is he?
And for my own part, I’ve always enjoyed Sons of Sam Horn (though it’s been quite some time since I looked at the site, I’ll admit); I have a few friends that have been part of SoSH since the beginning.
October 18th, 2006 at 8:52 amThanks, Dave.
October 18th, 2006 at 9:11 amThanks for the pointer to Dodger Thoughts. I now have another place to lurk!
Jimmie
October 18th, 2006 at 9:17 amRe: #1
I’ve heard several Rangers fans complain about Newberg’s slipping quality and increasing shillitude over the past year or so. So there’s that.
October 18th, 2006 at 9:19 amHuh . . . I’d have thought you’d have recommended the Newberg Report, too — granted it’s Rangers-focused, Jamey’s always been a sharp observer of the minors; he isn’t slipping, is he?
Umm, the Newberg Report is the first link listed for the Rangers.
October 18th, 2006 at 9:36 amI’m a little disappointed Mickey Tettleton Memorial Overpass was left off the Tigers list. He’s an enjoyable read, even if he shuns Strunk and White’s rules for writers in favor of some combination of the writing styles of James Joyce and David J. Corcoran.
October 18th, 2006 at 9:37 amYou forgot Halo’s Heaven under the Anaheim listing. (kidding)
October 18th, 2006 at 9:45 amthe writing styles of James Joyce and David J. Corcoran.
That’s a freaky combination.
For the record, I’d rather read Corco than James Joyce.
October 18th, 2006 at 10:09 amAs it is, I’ve always considered Beerleaguer to be the Phillies equivalent of USSM, though I was in a fantasy baseball league with most of the Phillies bloggers this year and they’re all a decent bunch of people.
And thank you for the link, though in the offseason I tend to go into general-baseball mode until Mariners games start again. I suppose we all do, though. The offseason sucks.
October 18th, 2006 at 10:38 amDefensive drills, anyone?
October 18th, 2006 at 11:18 am#8: For the record, I’d rather read Corco than James Joyce.
That depends on whether it’s been filtered through the Corco-o-tronic.
October 18th, 2006 at 11:39 amRe #5: Sorry, Dave, should have been clearer and said “endorsed” instead of “recommended” — I was referring to your “read them even if you’re not trolling for team specific content” list at the bottom. As regards Jamey, though, I think Jeff Sullivan answered that one adequately.
October 18th, 2006 at 11:42 amRE: The Pinstriped Blog…Steven Goldman just wrote that they finally went back to a distinct URL. The address is now: http://pinstripedblog.yesnetwork.com/
October 18th, 2006 at 11:59 amYeah, I’d like to read Corco writing about James Joyce. Book report!
October 18th, 2006 at 12:02 pmThis is a wonderful list; thank you!
October 18th, 2006 at 12:46 pmThanks Dave.
I see that you reference Rob and Rany for the Royals. Just out of curiousity, what is your opinion of Rany Jazayerli? Do you consider him to be a good analyst?
October 18th, 2006 at 1:43 pmI had to read Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man at some point last year, and I even have an essay written up on it. So, yeah. Once I’m done with work I’d be more than happy to upload it and link it.
October 18th, 2006 at 2:18 pmI’d say his writing is more like mine than Joyce’s, though, after reading it.
October 18th, 2006 at 2:19 pmThis is awesome. Any chance of it getting sidebarred, so when I go looking for it I don’t have to hunt? I’m not going to sit here and read 40 blogs today. Maybe under “Get Lit for a Little” or something?
October 18th, 2006 at 3:03 pmMcCovey Cronicle is doing a post tomorrow (Thurs.) on possible trades to fill thier 1B dilemma. Hopefully they’ll have more insight as to who might be offered for Sexson.
Other searches on links who’s teams I thought might have interest in Sexson turned up mostly nothing. It was nice having this resource to look around.
The list would be great to see added to the sidebar at some point. I’ve been looking to places like these when thinking of a trade partner to see what thier followers might be thinking a similiar scenario. Presently I can look back at this to find site’s that probably have more knowledge of thier teams intent than most I’d found with searches.
October 18th, 2006 at 3:15 pmI’d say his writing is more like mine than Joyce’s, though, after reading it.
By Joycian I was thinking of his lack of comma usage.
October 18th, 2006 at 3:21 pmCorco sounds better after he drinks some strawberry Fanta mixed with vodka.
October 18th, 2006 at 3:22 pmAnother vote with # 19 for making this a permanent addition to the sidebar.
kcw
October 18th, 2006 at 4:06 pmWow, the “Sox Machine” blog for the White Sox is smarmy. I especially like the headline “Great, *now* Juan Uribe hits something!” Maybe not so much with the smart, in-depth analysis that is what makes U.S.S. Mariner so good, but good for an occasional laugh.
October 18th, 2006 at 4:40 pmJust thought I’d toss out http://www.aarongleeman.com as another must read. I’m not sure if it just didn’t make the list because it’s gotten so big at this point, but it’s still a fairly well-written and informative site for the most part (even if Gleeman is stretched thin these days with all his writing gigs).
October 18th, 2006 at 4:42 pmThanks for those links, that’s awesome.
Since the Red Sox are my 2nd favorite team, I’ve often considered looking at SoSH, but I wasn’t certain if they were any good. If they’re good enough for Dave, they’re good enough for me!
October 18th, 2006 at 4:43 pmOh, and I vote for this to be included on the sidebar as well. Thanks.
October 18th, 2006 at 4:44 pmRE: #1 For those of you who still want to take the pulse of Red Sox fans after experiencing SoSH…I joined Red Sox Nation, which is SoSH without the ‘tude.
October 18th, 2006 at 4:46 pmPshaw! Who needs all those pretty blogs with their pictures and beautiful maroon text on white backgrounds. I’m sticking with my “black on gray” and light cyan hyperlinks; go USSM.
October 18th, 2006 at 5:15 pmHey that’s 99% of why I like USSM. It’s simple. The internet has gotten way too complicated, and USSM is simple without looking elementary and outdated.
October 18th, 2006 at 5:19 pmWould it help anyone if I made an OPML version of the list for importing into RSS readers?
October 18th, 2006 at 6:20 pmAnother vote for a sidebar link to this aricle. I don’t comment much anymore, but still read quite a bit. More than once over the last 2 years I’ve been reading this blog and thinking this would be nice info to have. This is another example of why my first baseball link in IE’s “My Favorites” is the USSM. Thanks for everything, guys.
October 18th, 2006 at 8:51 pmI hope you’re at least using IE7.
October 18th, 2006 at 9:02 pmOK, no OPML yet, but if you have Firefox, here’s a bookmark file you can import. (Right-click on the link and choose “Save Link As…” then import into Firefox. Won’t work with IE, sorry.)
October 18th, 2006 at 11:01 pmThanks for the recommendation.
October 19th, 2006 at 5:01 amSo I was reading through Brewerfan.net and what do you know, Dave’s endorsement is on This page.
“The guys over there set the standard for hard core fans…”
October 19th, 2006 at 5:43 am– David Cameron, Baseball Prospectus
Thanks for the endorsement.
I’d like to blurb #24, though make some slight changes:
“Wow, the “Sox Machine” blog for the White Sox is … Great …! So much … smart, in-depth analysis … so good … good for [a] … laugh.”
October 19th, 2006 at 6:57 amHi ussm. I am from the kindly recognized Tampa Bay site. This is a mighty fine site you folks have cooking over here and I just thought I’d let you know. Tampa Bay has developed a very warm relationship with other teams over the years, and our guys always seem to be welcomed with open arms in every city we travel to. Seattle was no exception this year. I am 3 hours ahead of you guys here in FL., so feel free to check in if you ever want to know how the future will be. I don’t want to be a spoiler, but I thought I’d tell you that your upcoming 3 hours are gonna pretty much kick some ass.
October 19th, 2006 at 10:15 pmCheck out my link
Dave, thanks for the plug.
Jeff Sullivan, I’d like to know more about what you heard. I don’t mind if you post it here, but if you’d like you’re welcome to email me at jamey@newbergreport.com. Thanks.
Jamey
October 20th, 2006 at 12:15 pmVery useful, please make this a link on the sidebar!
October 20th, 2006 at 2:22 pm