Wednesday, June 4, 2008

ShysterBall Crashes The Hardball Times

Starting today, the daily "And That Happend" recaps are going to be available on the THT Daily page at The Hardball Times. No worries though: If you're the sort of person for whom THT makes you break out in hives as a result of mathaphobia, it will still be here as well. It's a win-win, really. I get to mooch off of their considerable traffic and prestige and they get, well, um, not a hell of a lot, actually. I guess I am prone to making the occasional obscure joke, and that has to count for something. Let's just call it win-charity, OK?

Going forward, I may very well be popping up with other things on THT from time to time as well. Not a ton, of course. They actually have, you know, writing standards and stuff, so unless and until I'm able to drop my cynicism and develop an attention span, those contributions may be sporadic at best. We'll see, though, and obviously I'll link to anything I do for THT here.

Some other things may be happening soon as well, but I'll leave that until they actually do. If I'm honest I worry about that sort of thing ["change bad! grunt, grunt, scratch"], and for that reason I really, really want you to let me know what, if anything, you think about any changes that happen around here. If I'm focusing too much on stuff you don't care about, let me know. If I'm being unfair to your team or your favorite player, tell me. If you liked me better back when I played folk songs and simply can't stand the electric stuff, feel free to call me Judas. I'm a big boy I can take it.

Ultimately I realize that nothing that will ever happen to me in the writing/baseball world would (will?) happen without the support and loyalty of the handful of people who started reading this site last year and who, for the most part, still form the vital core of the ShysterBall readership. I write this stuff for you guys (I'm aware of a handful of women too, but it's pretty much a sausage party around these parts, so forgive my use of the male pronoun). You know who you are.

Thanks,
Craig

15 comments:

Jason @ IIATMS said...

a hearty congrats at your "syndication"... or maybe it should be called "cynication"

Craig Calcaterra said...

Thanks Jason. Actually, I think "syndication" is a great way to think about it. It's a fun concept in that it implies one's ability to sell the same product multiple times, and I can't think of any other context in which that's possible without risking jail time.

Unknown said...

Congratulations, Craig. I really enjoy "And That Happened" and I'm sure the folks over at THT will appreciate it.

Anonymous said...

APBA Guy-

From those of us for whom yours is the first baseball site we turn to in the morning: let the changes come! So far, it's all positive.

Except of course, the repeated failure to use "beloved" in front of "A's."

Craig Calcaterra said...

Thanks APBA. But sorry -- the use of "beloved" before the A's is forever foreclosed by that team's choice of white spikes. No team should ever, ever wear white spikes, and it would take 30, no, 40 years of black-only for me to even consider coming around to them.

;-)

Anonymous said...

Congrats, you the best. First THT, then THE WORLD!

Anonymous said...

Craig - I have only been frequenting the site for several months and hardly ever comment, but between you, Rany, JoePo and Neyer, the four of you make up my morning commute through baseball.

Congrats on the syndication (I like that phrasing, too).

Anonymous said...

Congrats Craig! I've only joined the sausage party recently ('sup fellas), but as I've mentioned before, this is the first place I come in the morning because I enjoy your "And That Happened" so much. Keep up the good work, and I'll be sure to hold you accountable. That's what blog comments are for...

Keep smilin' Keep shinin' Knowing you can always count on me...okay that's enough of that.

John Brattain said...

Uhhh ... did Dave tell you about our little (ahem) 'initiation' ceremony?

It's a mix between a bris, a proctology exam and alligator wrestling.

But don't let that worry you--you'll be out of the hospital in no time!

Best Regards

John

Craig Calcaterra said...

bris: too late

proctology exam and alligator wresting: frightened but strangely intrigued.

But no, Dave didn't tell me about those things. He did say that you had already taken the slot of "the funny one," that Treder was "the cute one," and that he was the leader. I guess that makes me George Harrison.

/while my keyboard gently weeps

John Brattain said...

bris: too late

Oooooo ... too bad. You'd best change your letterhead to "Stubby."

proctology exam and alligator wresting: frightened but strangely intrigued.

I haven't told you what the alligator will be wrestling yet. We still haven't perfected the extraction stage. We thought the rubber glove over the snout would expedite the process but there are yet-to-resolved extraction issues.

But no, Dave didn't tell me about those things. He did say that you had already taken the slot of "the funny one,"

But not in a ha ha kinda way so you may be in luck (although after the initiation you'll be S.O. that commodity).

that Treder was "the cute one," and that he was the leader. I guess that makes me George Harrison.

/while my keyboard gently weeps


Well, Paperback Blogger doesn't make a whole lot of sense now does it?

Ah well.

By the way, you'll be covering THE BLUE JAYS BEAT ... BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Best Regards

John

Anonymous said...

I have no objection to the grammatically-correct "he," but I want to make sure your voice won't change now that "... Happend" is big time; I totally use you to impress men.

Craig Calcaterra said...

Blaze -- no worries. The voice won't change. Even if THT sees fit to make an edit or too (which they probably won't; they get it over there) it will still be unadulterated Shyster over here.

Boys: behave yourselves. There's a lady in the room.

Don Evans said...

Guys can actually mean a group of just men, women or men, or even just women. it is proper english

Unknown said...

Make that TWO ladies in the room... doesn't that constitute a brothel in some states?

Anyway, congrats on hitting the big(?)time, Craig. I always enjoy your take on things-- tough to beat other sites for speedy news, but you're much more entertaining.