It's time we got some minor league blogs going.

by Ozzz on Dec 30, 2006 1:44 AM PST Comment 51 comments

I posted this on Notes From the Nat tonight, and it seems to me that the natural place to cross-post it is here:

It's time that A's fans started getting together some blog coverage for our minor league teams.

I've been running the Notes From The Nat blog for nearly three years now, covering the heck out of the Vancouver Canadians, Oakland's short-season rookie ball affiliate, and it's been a heckuva time. Press box access, interviewing players, they even had me on the radio call a few times in the last couple of seasons. And on top of the fun side of things, it makes money through advertising, which is a nice bonus, and has led me to freelance gigs writing for other media outlets, both locally and nationally.

But, to my surprise, nobody else is doing anything similar.

Oh sure, there are minor league blogs out there, but they cover ALL the leagues, not specific clubs.

Where are the Sacramento blogs? Does nobody who can write attend Stockton Ports games? Or Midland games? Or Kane County games? Maybe even the Arizona A's?

Of course, plenty of you guys hit minor league games each year, and you're all fine writers (for the most part), so what's stopping others from setting up a minor league blog?

I figure it's the hurdle of setting it up. So I've come up with an offer:

If you want to blog about it, I'll build it for you.

No matter what the team, no matter what your standard of prose. If you're prepared to write even just a capsule game review and a little roster news for one of the teams in the A's minor league system, I'll buy you a domain name, I'll host the blog, I'll install the blog software, I'll hook you up with advertising and security, and we'll all be the better for it.

Is there a catch, I hear you ask? Sure there is. If I do this, go to the expense and the effort to set your blog up and keep it running, it's technically going to be my blog. That means, if you disappear after three weeks, I'm taking it off your hands and will find someone else to run it.

All I ask is that you keep the thing alive, but if you don't... fair being fair and all, you lose it.

On the other hand, if you keep it going, post every few days, and maintain a resource that helps all A's fans track their minor league prospects, then you can run the site how you like, earn advertising revenue, get yourself a press pass, and do your part to help the little A's-to-be move through the system.

And before anyone bitches me out for doing this on an SB Nation blog, I've asked Blez if they'd take on minor league team blogs and he's told me that they have no plans to do anything of the sort for a loooong time.

So why wait? Let's build the network now!

Anyone? Anyone? Scutaro?

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You can start a

new franchise called Blog'Donald's. Yeah, I know--that was bad.

by Salvatore on Dec 30, 2006 6:02 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

I respect your dedication, Oz

Recommended. Don't really get your hopes up for starting the minor league equivalent of SBN, though.

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 8:04 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

I'd settle for the Notes From the Nat equivalent..

..of the Kane County Cougars.

"Kotsay is 31... Kotsay's back is 127." - Jeepers

by Ozzz on Dec 30, 2006 8:42 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

best hope is probably...

getting maybe two RiverCats' fans to keep a twice-a-week type blog. There are a few dedicated Sacramento fans who post here; I don't know of anyone who's claimed to follow any of the other minor league teams all that regularly (although just today in another thread BlameChannel53, whose posts are top-notch, said he'd like to watch a couple of the rumored Mets' prospects at Modesto or something; he might be someone you might want to ask directly...). I don't think a Midland Mavens blog is going to be created anytime soon, though, and as far as minor league ball is concerned, I personally tend to favor AA. Too bad the A's affiliate ain't in Huntsville anymore; we know there would be a candidate then.

About five years ago, before the naming rights of the downtown stadium used by my hometown Buffalo Bisons were sold to a local tire chain, their ballpark was known as North Americare Park, or the NAP for short. Notes from the Nat and Notes from the NAP, heh.

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 9:16 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

rumored Mets' prospects

that didn't come out right; they (Milledge and Gomez, if I recall) are certianly bona fide prospects for the Mets; by rumored I was referring to the possibility that they could be part of a potential trade with the Mets. Which I'm sure you could figure out, but I'll clarify for the hell of it.

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 9:19 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Kane County

I'm likely going to transfer to DePaul in Chicago next Fall. Maybe I can see some more Cougars games!

by Zonis on Dec 30, 2006 1:00 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm told KC games are a great time.

"Kotsay is 31... Kotsay's back is 127." - Jeepers

by Ozzz on Dec 30, 2006 3:24 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

just wanted to point out

My recommendation of your diary achieved two equally worthy goals, only one of them intended: it got your diary on the recommended list, and it ousted the "It sucks to be an A's fan" from the ranks of the recommended.

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 9:41 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

"It sucks to be an A's fan"...diary

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 9:41 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

While I'm rolling/semi-hijacking...

You know what would be an interesting addition to AN diaries, and maybe main page threads too? Instead of just tracking the total number of comments in the diary/thread, and reporting that on the main page, the number of unique users who have posted those comments could be tabulated as well. For example, after this post by me, it would say "8 comments by 3 users" on the main page...so you could avoid clicking on the diary if the first thought that comes to your mind upon seeing that comment/user ratio is "ah, fuck it, it's just CTM rambling incessantly..."

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 9:46 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

This isn't a novel idea...

Seen it on other sites, like, I'm somewhat ashamed to say, on the message boards of groups on Facebook. In addition to giving people a heads up about my monologues that have been divided into multiple posts, it would also be useful for, say grover-dominated threads, where you might have "75 comments by 5 users." Just a thought...AN is kind of immune to change, though (remember the experiment with the post-rating system? I think Oz and LCJoe were the only ones to utilize that feature. Fuck, how about my own initial anger at Blez's decision to start up blogs for our rivals...so yeah, I don't expect it to be adopted, and it's not exactly a major issue, just thought I'd throw it out there.) (Wow, I remembered to use the ")" at the end of that parenthetical there...rare for me.)

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 9:52 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

AN already does that

at least the AN group on the facebook does.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Dec 30, 2006 10:07 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

there's an AN group on Facebook?

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 10:16 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

closest thing I could find...

was a group called "A's Nation"...which sounds pretty damn close, but the description doesn't describe it as the Facebook extension of athleticsnation.com, and although AN is listed as an official website, it's not the only one. But I joined, and posted on the wall.

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 10:37 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

you were on the first page of members

grad student at UCD? Though I could be wrong to have gotten out my jump to conclusions mat and assumed that you'd be the only Bhaskar in the group.

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 10:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

no that's somebody else

my name is guy incognito.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Dec 30, 2006 11:14 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

related to richie?

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 11:16 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Kristin Macha is a member, heh

ok, her last name is Macha, and she goes to Penn State...she has to be related, maybe even Ken's daughter. I think I'm going to ask a) if that's the case and b) if it is the case, why she hasn't left the group yet...

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 11:10 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Minor League blogs--yes

I too would like to see some kind of news about minor league teams. There are alot of dedicated, hard working managers, coaches, and players who don't get recognized.

by baseball4life on Dec 30, 2006 10:11 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

thanks for the offer

I will contact you later in the week about taking you up on it. (an email link at notesfromthenat?)

It certainly is something I'd LOVE to read, and probably would check every day if there were blogs for any other of our affiliates. Minor League Baseball is the best reality show out there, and unlike the majors, it is really easy to become part of the show.

by jakarta on Dec 30, 2006 10:52 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

sweet

just out of curiosity, what team would you be willing to blog for?

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 11:08 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

well that's the thing

I'm a Cal League guy. But live closest to Visalia, I don't really go to Stockton much. I do go to Visalia, and then Bakersfield and Modesto. Maybe a group Cal League blog works best.

Still thinking about this...

by jakarta on Dec 30, 2006 5:06 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

oz at notesfromthenat dot com

Good stuff!

"Kotsay is 31... Kotsay's back is 127." - Jeepers

by Ozzz on Dec 30, 2006 11:17 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Rivercats

Season ticket holder, let me know how I can help.

Oops, gotta pay soon : )

by LawDaddy on Dec 30, 2006 11:30 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Drop me a note.

oz at notesfromthenat dot com - and let's talk about options.

"Kotsay is 31... Kotsay's back is 127." - Jeepers

by Ozzz on Dec 30, 2006 3:28 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Will do

Need a client to pay so I can re-new my tix :)

by LawDaddy on Jan 1, 2007 9:30 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

alright oz..

the response has already been stronger than I would've anticipated.

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 11:43 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

why not a single a's minor league blog?

either on sbnation or elsewhere?
multiple authors covering the various teams, sorta like we have here with blez, nico, and bbg?

i can understand blez not wanting to get into minor league team blogs, but the a's should be an exception considering AN has like 6000 members.
if there was just one minor league blog for the whole a's system, i'm sure plenty of people from AN would check it out.

i'm a pretty big a's fan, but i can't see myself regularly checking out blogs for specific a's minor league teams.
however, if there was a single site with info on EVERY a's minor league team, i'd probably spend a fair amount of time over there.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Dec 30, 2006 12:30 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

thats how I feel

I love reading about our prospects, but I know I wont read 3 different blogs related to minor league teams.

Even though its a bit selfish, I'd read the blog if its more "player oriented" rather than a "team" blog. I just dont care enough about the teams.

I think this is a great idea though overall.

"...we don't score six, seven runs. We score three, four runs and play defense and pitch" - Eric Chavez

by pickinmachine on Dec 30, 2006 12:38 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree ...

I think that something along those lines would have a much greater potential readership.

It could be set up so that each of the teams has a subdomain that only has content on that team and a unique domain name pointing to it, all of which dumps into the amin site that covers all of the teams.

That would help to drive both a readership among fans of the ML team, who would go to the main site and fans of the particular MiL teams, who would go to their local team's site.

Read my latest articles

by devo on Dec 30, 2006 1:58 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Not a bad idea

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 3:25 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

That's a really good idea.

I'd be happy to help make it so.

"Kotsay is 31... Kotsay's back is 127." - Jeepers

by Ozzz on Dec 30, 2006 3:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

100% Agree & Recommended

Oz - One site combining all 5 A's MiL teams makes a lot of sense for all the reasons others have stated. Here are a few others:

Re: Player Development

A Blog's ability to show a player's progress and movement thru the system is a true attraction and potentially exciting.
To focus on one team and area you disconnect the intent of player development. You also tie yourself down to the local team audience and schedule which is restricting.
Funneling input from all 5 teams, winter leagues, playoffs, player awards, Rule 5 draft, Draft Picks, now brings you closer to 12 months and the MLB team's goals.
An On-Blog Player Biography, Profile, Projection, Photos, etc. would encourage access, assistance, and endorsements of the MLB Team and might eventually include every minor league player. The player's "package" simply sorts out to the current team.
A Blog User-name automatically allocated to minor leaguers would encourage blogging by those players that may be interested.
Players and families might provide an evergrowing "core" user group as they "stay in touch" with the many players and friends as they move up and to other systems.
Fans like the idea of talking to players be it on blogs or in person.
Media pros might source you for one-stop team and/or player news.
Fans will cross-over from A to AA to AAA as they notice other prospects doing well.
Scouting basics for each position could be permanent displayed with notes on what achievements are desirable at each level.
Such a format invites local, regional, and done correctly, ...national advertising all 12 months. If you mimic SB's MLB Blogs you'll "pioneer" 30 sites instead of 150. Areas that warrant it might break down to 5 separate sites later but dinner is many small bites isn't it?

...just my 2c,

...sounds like a fun project!

by A s Eh on Dec 30, 2006 3:40 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

that post was worth more than 2 cents

very exhaustive list, A's Eh...good ideas.

"We don't want haddock and chips, we want cod. In cod we trust." --Ghostigital, the pride of Iceland

by Cutthemullet on Dec 30, 2006 3:52 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm geographically close to the A's ...

whether they are in Oakland or Fremont.

I'm fully employed now and fast approaching eternal semi-retirement.

Keep me in mind if you see a fit.

by A s Eh on Dec 30, 2006 4:43 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks! For some reason I was thinking

I was responding to Oz with that first response.

I think he is onto something nice here.

by A s Eh on Dec 30, 2006 4:49 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the input, Eh.

I think you guys are totally onto something with one home base that divvies up into categories for each team instead of one per team.

That way you can share pics, cross-reference posts, tag up a storm and the thing would be jumping all day, every day.

Gimme a few days to sort out the coding end. I think Wordpress can handle this without any tweaking, but I don't want to make any promises before I pop my head under the hood.

"Kotsay is 31... Kotsay's back is 127." - Jeepers

by Ozzz on Dec 30, 2006 8:52 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Bravo...but no thanks

despite living in West Sac (Yes, the Rivercats play in West Sac) and making it to 30 games or so, I don't have the time.

But someone should do it!

Two-thirds of the earth is covered by water, the other third is covered by Kotsay.

by carp on Dec 30, 2006 12:50 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

No reason it needs to be restricted to one person

... per team. I think it'd rule to have two or three Sac fans sharing a blog.

"Kotsay is 31... Kotsay's back is 127." - Jeepers

by Ozzz on Dec 30, 2006 3:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Eye witness accounts of players, festivities and

facilities goes a long ways.

One person would be hard pressed to do every game. A tag-team approach keeps things manageable: AN is a good example.

by A s Eh on Dec 30, 2006 9:46 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

this is a great idea

I would look foward to being a part or to reading it.

Rickey Henderson: 35, 24, hall of fame!

by Athletics fan and runner on Dec 31, 2006 10:41 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Yay, I'm in!!!

I just to learn how to run a blog, what a minor league team is, and where you can find one! But totally count me in, HollyOz--unless I fail Advanced Eyeliner and have to re-take it in the Spring. Then I won't have time. :-(

-Cindi.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Dec 31, 2006 12:03 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Sorry, I got my report card today--

I'm out. :-(

-Cindi.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Jan 1, 2007 2:35 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

A GREAT IDEA...

I would read the blog(s) and be a regular reader. Can not get enough to read on the Minor leaguers that the A's have. Oz provides info on some of players who move on to other clubs etc, but there is just so much info that exists in the minds of the fans or in writing elsewhere.

Blee has indicated that his site is going to be cut way back next year. Brian Durack used to run a site, but he could not keep up with it. He now does Monday Morning Minors when season is ongoing. So lots of need.

On occasion, I put minor league reports on Scout at night when the games are completed. Just bored with the lack of info and I hope someone reads the reports and they do.

Charlie Brown GO A'S WIN

by Charlie Brown on Dec 31, 2006 3:19 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Nice Idea Oz

I could possibly be a part of one for Stockton. I work there so its pretty easy to attend some of the game, not sure i could get to them all though so the tag team approach could work better. Of course i am not sure my writing would be up to scratch either!!!!

Swisher on Ellis - "every day he does something that makes me say, 'Well, I'll be damned, look at that!'"

by Mantecan As Fan on Jan 1, 2007 1:12 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

That is i work in Stockton, not for the ports!!

I Wish...

Swisher on Ellis - "every day he does something that makes me say, 'Well, I'll be damned, look at that!'"

by Mantecan As Fan on Jan 1, 2007 1:13 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Criticism of writing

would be put on hold as long as you proofread what you are going to post. That should catch the bad aspects of your writing and avoid criticism from those who really care.

Most criticism is of folks who post without any concern to what anyone thinks of their "crap." So do not worry about that. LOL.

GO FOR IT...

Charlie Brown GO A'S WIN

by Charlie Brown on Jan 1, 2007 10:08 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Update:

Okay, so I did some playing with Wordpress (which is what I run NotesFromTheNat on), but though I'm capable with it, I'm no coding god.

So what I think might be a good first step is to talk with Blez and see if SBN might be interested in an Oakland minors site - keep it in the family, you know? I reckon they could set something like this up fairly quickly, and the Scoop software SBN uses would be ideal for a multi-blogger blog... and the chance to earn some dough on Blogads wouldn't hurt.

If they don't have the time/desire, I'll make it happen with Wordpress - one way or another, the OaklandMinors blog will happen before spring training.

"Kotsay is 31... Kotsay's back is 127." - Jeepers

by Ozzz on Jan 1, 2007 9:57 AM PST reply actions 0 recs