It's Not That I'm Back...

I have, for all intents and purposes, clipped the wings that made this site soar. While things were far from booming for me, I was very pleased with the direction of the site and the increased readership. Four months of school-related busy-ness and it feels like the first time all over again.

Over this time I began to question why I was "blogging" and if there was a point to continue. While I did not come up with an affirmative yes, I furthered my understanding of why I write and to whom I write for.

That is, it is not as if I am writing through the lens of some minority, fact is, like the majority of baseball fans, I fall under the category of WASPy-McWASP; but a Canadian WASP! While I have a relatively open mind when it comes to writing and researching (read, filled with cynicism) there really isn't a whole lot that I can offer to the baseball world that couldn't be found elsewhere.

Alas, a purpose must be found, a purpose must be committed to, and a purpose must be put into action.

Over the coming weeks as I prepare for a major change in my life I intend to develope (/discover) this purpose, stringing it together as a work in progress.

A Week Today

A week today marks the official start to the baseball marathon. On this date pitchers and catchers begin reporting to the Spring Training facilities of their respective Major League clubs and all that has been put on paper over the previous four and a half months begins to take shape.

This date will also mark the end of my neglect from writing. My schedule has been jam-packed and as my as I enjoy writing, I simply haven't had the motivation to do so.

That said, I have kept up with the on-goings of baseball as I typically do as well as coming up with some great topics to write about.

What can be expected in the coming week:

• Trade Reflections - A few trades have gone down that I haven't written about. Specifically a swap between the Indians and Cubs, not to mention a swap between the Cubs and Mariners;
• Award Reflections - I never got around to finishing this up. I plan to take care of the MVP Awards as well as giving out the OLIBy's;
• Under the Radars - There have been plenty of lesser reported moves, a handful of which deserve mention;
• Random Articles - These include articles about Salary Arbitration, Salary Caps, wOBA, The Battle Between Boston and New York, Rule V Draft Recap, More on Bonds and Steroids, Analyzing General Managers, among others; and
  
• Team by Team Reflections - This year these will be slightly more detailed. In addition to my personal reflection of the team's offseason and what to expect for the 2009 season, the reflections will involve a top 5 prospect list as well as word from a fan of the team.

Articles should begin rolling out with more frequency in the next day or two as I try to get back on track.

Thanks for sticking around.

An Open Letter

I am in the midst of working out my team by team preview for the 2009 season, something that will be much further in depth then what I did last year.

With that, I hope to do a '5 Questions' type thing with fan-bloggers to add to each of my team previews, getting an 'Armchair Experts' opinion on what is going on and what can be expected with each individual club.

Currently I am working on solidifying my questions as well as coming up with a wishlist of contributors. However, I understand that people will be busy with their own season previews and may not get a chance to help out with this.

That said, anyone who reads this and hosts a team-specific site and would like to be apart of this, please send me an email and let me know of your interest. Further, for anyone reading this, if you have a suggestion of an 'expert' you would like to hear from, let me know, and I will do my part in getting that author aboard with this.

The OLIB's First Birthday

A year has gone by already?

I've got to say, when I first started this thing, it was wishful thinking to believe it would last a year. I never anticipated posting daily or even having more then a handful of posts or so a month. But here we are, full circle, 216 posts later.

Obviously a lot has gone on, not only here at The OLIB but in baseball in general. There really isn't much need to reflect upon either, given the fact that if you are interested you can search the entire sties database.

After a year, I am pleasantly surprised with the amount of readership. While I am not on the cusp of obtaining any corporate sponsorship, the fact that I have averaged over 20 readers per day since the websites Opening Day means a lot.

Below are the stats from the past year, courtesy of SiteMeter, a surprisingly free stat counting website.

Nearly 8,000 visitors since Opening Day, whether or not that is something to be proud of, I really do not know. Needless to say, I'm impressed.


The first time I broke 1000 readers, I had a mini-celebration. In stead of taking the bull by the horn, however, I let personal issues get in the way en route to a whopping 5 posts for the month of August.

I rebounded in September. Although the hits were slow to come, I continued churning out posts and began brain storming for the future. This led to another busy month in October, coupled with the most hits the site has seen in a given month.

While not breaking a single month record for views, November followed suit in cracking 1000 readers, a milestone I hope for as a minimum from this point forward and am currently paced for entering the 13th month of The OLIB's existence.


Thank you to everyone who has come and read anything on this site. Whether you have agreed or disagreed with whatever I have had to say, your viewership is greatly appreciated.

-Brandon