Baseball Toaster: Bronx Banter : That's the Joint

That's the Joint

2008-05-12 10:13

by Alex Belth

I was having a conversation with a friend over the weekend about the future of the newspaper business. He suggested that the print version of The New York Times will not exist in ten years. I don't know enough about the future to know if that is correct, but the way things are going it wouldn't really surprise me. Everything is in flux.

The Times is doing a good job with their baseball blog, Bats (their Diner's Journal blog in the food section is tremendous). Sherman at the Post, Feinsand at the News and O'Brein at Newsday, Murti at the FAN, all have blogs to maintain along with their regular duties. Heck Pride of the Yankees has been around, and doing it well, forever. Blogging is part of the every day news cycle.

The fact that blogs as a medium have been co-opted by the mainstream press is not news. Nor is the fact that best Yankee information available anywhere now comes from a blog. But who would have thunk that the one-stop-shop for behind-the-scenes Yankee news would come from a Westchester paper and not one of Big Three? Pete Abraham will be scooped-up one day and be handsomely rewarded for his hard work. In the meantime, if his blog was the only access you had to the Yankees, you'd be well-informed. Pete's site isn't the end-all--other blogs, including this one and a host of others around the 'net, have lots to add to the conversation--but he's the starting point. It's a sign of how things have already changed that the New York Times, Daily News and the Post are all getting their asses kicked by a paper from the 'burbs.

This is good for us as fans because Pete has raised the bar, and now the rest of the papers have to keep up. That's competition at its finest.

Comments

2008-05-12 10:43:52

1. murphy

werd up to pete abe. i have been riding the blog wave since things really blew up a few years ago. two seasons ago, my daily read was up to 8 or so blogs bookmarked. now it's down to just two: banter and lohud. i don't even buy the paper for sports anymore. by the time i open it (after i have hit banter and lohud), it seems like old news.

2008-05-12 10:59:09

2. joe in boston

1 me too .... I used to read a bunch of blogs, then decided I can't keep up. Just the same 2 you mentioned.

Funny, I miss the allure of the sports page - currently they just don't do it for me anymore. I come from a family of newpaper-readers too ... I always used to read 3-4 per day, now just 1 or 2. And I find myself just blowing through them, not spending the time to really read.

Funny too how this entry came up today - as I was driving in to work this am, I was thinking randomly about The National from way back. That was a cool paper I thought....

2008-05-12 11:23:21

3. seattleyank

For me, it's four: LoHud for the access, River Ave. Blues for the prospects, Pinstripe Blog/Bible for the analysis and Banter for, well, the banter.

2008-05-12 11:26:10

4. rmd0311

I use to be and avid reader of the daily news. Now if I can't get it on the blackberry... It's not worth reading. I too use to follow a myriad of blogs. This has since dwindled down to my favorites and nothing else. LoHud, BronxBanter, RiverAveBlues and NoMaas. NoMaas is more of a weekly thing though. My daily's are the other three. When trade season comes and in the off season I hit up mlbtraderumors.

2008-05-12 11:46:55

5. Pete Abraham

Thanks for all the kind words, Alex. I would not have started my blog when I did were not for your influence.

And thanks to everybody for reading. Nice that there is one forum on the 'net where people are civil.

2008-05-12 11:52:11

6. Shaun P

The Times is already ramping things up. Bats doesn't just cover the Yanks and the Mets, but it has all sorts of general baseball info too. Its where I saw the video of Ankiel's two throws from CF, for example.

Still, for the lineup posts, and all the Yankee news updates, I go to Pete Abe first, and often. He's the man.

2008-05-12 11:57:31

7. Alex Belth

Yes, the Times is getting much better this year. They should do more video. Plus, Kepner and Curry are top notch.

2008-05-12 12:02:43

8. Raf

0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwMungF7eJQ

The title took me back, and I had to share :)

2 I miss The National, they had a few good writers, IIRC. That, Baseball America & Baseball Weekly were in my rotation.

Nowadays, Bronx Banter & WasWatching are enough for me. Sometimes I'll take a journey to other blogs listed on the Toaster, if I see a topic in the sidebar that interests me. Sometimes I'll post in other Yankee-related blogs. Due to time constraints, that doesn't happen often.

2008-05-12 12:03:04

9. williamnyy23

I think because PeteAbe doesn't work for one of the big three he was empowered early on to break news and dedicate time and effort to the blog. I am sure the Post/News/Times would like to cling to the days of print a lot longer than smaller, suburbian papers.

Another thing that PeteAbe does well aside from providing inside info (which, more than opinion, is the value of the beat writer) is stoke the flames. Even though I disagree with a lot of his opinions, he is very good at keeping his finger on the pulse and opining on hot button topics among more hardcore fans (e.g., the Josh Phelps and Stinky debate).

2008-05-12 12:11:41

10. rilkefan

9 "stoke the flames"

Precisely why I don't read him (plus the comments there are effectively worthless). If there was a just-news/zero-opinion version I would probably read it.

I find Replacement Level and this blog plus some of the NYT coverage to be enough. I miss Olney's writing though.

2008-05-12 12:23:06

11. Rob Middletown CT

Unfortunately, LoHud is blocked from work, so I don't read Pete's work much anymore. If I still had access, it would be a daily thing for me (much like the also-blocked YanksFan vs SoxFan).

My daily stops are the Banter, RLYW, River Ave. Blues, Pinstriped Bible/Blog, and NoMaas. One of those is not like the other, but hey, a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words (particularly if it is a badly animated one of Curt Shilling-as-Orca seeking a drumstick).

2008-05-12 12:26:18

12. tommyl

5 Thanks for all the writing and news Pete. We here may disagree with your analysis from time to time, but we all appreciate the hard work and time you put in. Your blog and this one are my first two procastination tools at work.

2008-05-12 13:17:04

13. rbj

Yup, Peter for the info, Banter for the games and other interesting items that pop up.

I also go to Baseball musings for more comprehensive around the leagues coverage.