Latest Leaders - June 2009

 

480-latestleaders2009-06.jpgLatest Leaders in the MLBlogs Network by pageview, for the month of June 2009.

As previously announced, we're trying something new with Latest Leaders. Notably, we're going to do this as a monthly breakdown.

For June, Reed Johnson and Torii Hunter continued to attract many readers, though newcomer Rick Ankiel ended up right up there with them among the top player blogs. The top of the PRO BLOGS looks very New York-centric, including television personalities Kimberly Jones and Keith Olbermann, while Jane Heller's Confessions of a She-Fan beat out Red State Blue State and The Happy Youngster to claim top honors among the fans. For the beat writers, Mark Bowman's Braves blog has bragging rights this month.

So, without further ado, your June 2009 Latest Leaders:

PLAYERS
1. Reed Between the Lines
2. Ank's Blog
3. Torii's Storiis
4. Behind the Mask
5. Disco Hayes
6. Matt's Blog
7. Plugging the Leake
8. Derek's Blog
9. Beau knows diddly
10. Dining with 'Dre
11. kevin slowey's (offseason) blog
12. Laying Down the Lawrie
13. 30 is the new 20
14. Deep Thoughts By Gordon Beckham
15. Moskie Madness
16. Future in Pinstripes
17. Plouffe!
18. Perk's Place
19. The Doctor (Doolittle) Is In
20. Life in Grey Pants

MLB PRO
1. MetsBlog.com
2. Bronx Banter
3. Mets Minor League Blog
4. The Kimberly Jones Blog
5. The USA Baseball 16U Blog
6. Inside the Dodgers
7. Was Watching
8. Pinstriped Bible
9. YES Blog
10. Baseball Nerd
11. MLB.com Fantasy 411
12. The Baseball Collector
13. Reds Internal Affairs
14. Alyson's Footnotes
15. Inside the White Sox
16. Around the Horn in KC
17. *touch* 'em all
18. Beat the Streak Report
19. B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful
20. The Blob 21. Phillies Insider
22. Harold Reynolds Presents
23. Deep in the Red
24. Red Sox Insider Blog
25. Newberg Report
26. MLBlogosphere (LOL)
27. Vine Line's Cubs Club Blog
28. Inside the Giants Clubhouse
29. Mrs. Singy
30. The Pulse
31. Tommy Lasorda's World
32. Inside the Chiefs
33. MLB Urban Youth Academy
34. Kaat's Korner
35. Ben's Biz Blog
36. Friar John's Blog
37. Twins Ballpark Update
38. Brian Anderson's House of Blogs
39. The Max
40. Is this thing on?
41. Off The Wall with Chris Shearn
42. Down the Line with the Phillies Ballgirls
43. Heard It From Hoard
44. View From the Booth
45. Delmarva Shorebirds Blog
46. The LumberBlog
47. MURRAY COOK'S FIELD BLOG
48. Comerica Park, 48201
49. Psychollingy
50. Notes from NatsTown

FANS
1. Confessions of a She-Fan
2. Red State Blue State
3. The Happy Youngster...Brew Town's Ballhawk
4. Julia's Rants
5. The Future Blog of the Red Sox
6. Rockpile Rant
7. FutureAngels.com
8. Phillies Phollowers
9. Pick Me Up Some Mets!
10. The 'Burgh Blues
11. Counting Baseballs
12. I'm Not A Headline Guy...
13. I Live for This
14. Blogging Dodgers and Baseball
15. Life and Indians Baseball through the Eyes of a Clemson Girl
16. THE BOSTON RED SOX BLOG
17. Eat, Sleep, Baseball
18. New Yuck Yankees
19. Rays Renegade
20. The NYC Autograph Collector
21. Unfinished Business
22. Plunking Gomez
23. A Diatribe from a Journalism Student: Baseball Edition
24. BravesRed
25. Yankees Chick
26. Pittsburgh Pirates - Bucco Blog
27. Rocky Mountain Way...Outside Coors looking in
28. The Payoff Pitch
29. Baseball, The Yankees, and Life...
30. LA NACION MEDIAS ROJAS
31. King of Cali
32. Hook, Line Drive, & Sinker
33. The Yankees Baseball Whisperer
34. The Pittsburgh Peas
35. Bruce Markusen's Cooperstown Confidential
36. Statistician Magician
37. Flair For The Dramatic
38. The Diamond Diva
39. Crops on the Farm
40. Hello Halos! My View of the Big A
41. Cook & Son Bats' Blog
42. Baseball Cleats & Shoes
43. The Season Experience
44. Cardinal Girl
45. Baseball's Hottest Wives
46. Baseball Canadiana
47. Everything Baseball
48. A Misplaced Astros Fan
49. The Trop Autograph Collector
50. Angels Insider

MLB.COM BEAT WRITERS
1. Bowman's Blog
2. Brownie Points
3. Muskat Ramblings
4. Obviously, You're Not a Golfer
5. Beck's Blog
6. The Zo Zone
7. CastroTurf
8. Bombers Beat
9. Postcards from Elysian Fields
10. Brew Beat
11. Mark My Word
12. Haft-Baked Ideas
13. By Gosh, It's Langosch
14. Tag's Lines
15. Major League Bastian
16. The Fish Pond
17. Being Ozzie Guillen
18. All Nats All the Time
19. Noble Thoughts
20. Kenny G Around the Horn
21. rallymonkeys
22. Jim Street Vet Scribe
23. Kelly's Corner
24. Big Urb Baseball
25. Hardball in the Rockies
26. Inside the D-backs
27. The Spence Report
28. Who's your Padre?
29. Rays Plays
30. Royals Beat

Latest Leaders update

For those of you eagerly awaiting the next installment of the MLBlogs Latest Leaders, it's coming very soon. We're switching things up so the rankings will be based on calendar months, so The Happy Youngster and Red State Blue State have a week to try to catch Confessions of a She-Fan...

On the subject of blog traffic, we're noticing that the new ratings and related entries feature has helped introduce readers to new blogs around our online community.

Also, we're always looking for new blogs to spotlight as the Featured MLBlogger on our front page. If you want to be featured in that space, you'll want to make sure you have a profile picture up in your blog. That (along with quality blogging, of course) is a prerequisite for consideration for that spot.

And speaking of new blogs, we've got some new additions to MLBlogosphere who wear spikes, with new player blogs by Rick Ankiel, Matt Holliday and Derek Lowe joining Torii Hunter, all sponsored by Sharp.

And last but not least, make sure you're voting for your All-Star Game picks!

Verified MLB Players on Twitter

Here's a comprehensive list of all verified authentic Major Leaguers on Twitter:

Player Twitter Account Club
Jeremy Affeldt @JeremyAffeldt Giants
Coco Crisp @coco_crisp Royals
Carlos Delgado @carlosdelgado21 Mets
Chad Durbin @chaddurbin Phillies
Chris Getz @chrisgetz White Sox
Curtis Granderson @detroit_tigers Tigers
Jason Grilli @JGrilli49 Rangers
Doug Mientkiewicz @Dougiebaseball Dodgers
Jamie Moyer @moyerfoundation Phillies
David Ortiz @davidortiz Red Sox
CC Sabathia @cc_sabathia Yankees
Joakim Soria @joakimsoria Royals
Nick Swisher @nickswisher Yankees
Mark Teahen @ESPY_TEAHEN Royals
Todd Wellemeyer @todalion Cardinals
C.J. Wilson @str8edgeracer Rangers
Barry Zito @barryzito Giants


Tweet @MLB to verify any other potential player accounts. We only list players who (a) tell us it's them and (b) are fine with being listed.

New MLBlogs features

You'll be noticing a couple of new features in MLBlogs, as we roll them out system-wide. They'll be showing up in blogs as new entries go live.

The first is a ratings system for blog entries that will be displayed at the bottom of every entry. You've seen this elsewhere on the Internet undoubtedly. It's just a way for a reader to share his or her rating for a particular entry, with all the user ratings for that entry then averaged together.

The second new feature uses an advanced formula of content analysis and user ratings to present related entries from other blogs. You'll see a box entitled "You might like:" with links to four other entries from MLBlogs recommended by the system.

Here's a screenshot of how it will look:

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One of the main goals of this is to make it easier for users to find blogs of interest to them in the MLBlogs Network. We hope you enjoy these new features and take full advantage!

Latest Leaders - Apr. 15-May 18

Latest Leaders in the MLBlogs Network by page view, for the period from April 15 through May 18.

Latest Leaders is back, and the big mover this past month has been the Happy Youngster, who surged from 17th to top the fan bloggers. Meanwhile, Kimberly Jones made a big leap up to third among the Pros, and Reed Johnson, Torii Hunter and Bengie Molina continue to set the pace for player-bloggers.

PLAYERS
1. Reed Between the Lines
2. Torii's Storiis
3. Behind the Mask
4. Disco Hayes
5. Dining with 'Dre
6. Beau knows diddly
7. Deep Thoughts By Gordon Beckham
8. Laying Down the Lawrie
9. Plouffe!
10. Perk's Place
11. 30 is the new 20
12. kevin slowey's (offseason) blog
13. Life in Grey Pants
14. Moskie Madness
15. Bally's Blog


MLB PRO
1. MetsBlog.com
2. Bronx Banter
3. The Kimberly Jones Blog
4. Was Watching
5. Mets Minor League Blog
6. Baseball Nerd
7. Inside the Dodgers
8. Pinstriped Bible
9. MLB.com Fantasy 411
10. The Baseball Collector
11. YES Blog
12. *touch* 'em all
13. Inside the White Sox
14. Red Sox Insider Blog
15. New Era Presents the Call-Up
16. Reds Internal Affairs
17. Around the Horn in KC
18. The Max
19. The Blob
20. Phillies Insider
21. Beat the Streak Report
22. Newberg Report
23. Inside the Giants Clubhouse
24. Vine Line's Cubs Club Blog
25. Off The Wall with Chris Shearn
26. Friar John's Blog
27. MLBlogosphere (lol)
28. Tommy Lasorda's World
29. Brian Anderson's House of Blogs
30. Kaat's Korner
31. B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful
32. Down the Line with the Phillies Ballgirls
33. Ben's Biz Blog
34. Mrs. Singy
35. View From the Booth
36. The Nets Insider
37. Twins Ballpark Update
38. Gameday
39. MURRAY COOK'S FIELD BLOG
40. MLB Urban Youth Academy
41. Psychollingy
42. Heard It From Hoard
43. Comerica Park, 48201
44. Is this thing on?
45. MLB.com Organizational Report
46. The Dog Ate Daron's Homework..Again
47. Struck out looking
48. The LumberBlog
49. Welcome to Third and King
50. Chirp Chatter


FANS
1. The Happy Youngster...Brew Town's Ballhawk
2. Confessions of a She-Fan
3. Red State Blue State
4. Julia's Rants
5. The Future Blog of the Red Sox
6. Rockpile Rant
7. Pick Me Up Some Mets!
8. A Diatribe from a Law Student: Baseball Edition
9. Phillies Phollowers
10. Life and Indians Baseball through the Eyes of a Clemson Girl
11. FutureAngels.com
12. Counting Baseballs
13. I Live for This
14. THE BOSTON RED SOX BLOG
15. Rays Renegade
16. Blogging Dodgers and Baseball
17. Unfinished Business
18. I'm Not A Headline Guy...
19. Bruce Markusen's Cooperstown Confidential
20. Plunking Gomez
21. The 1 Constant
22. The 'Burgh Blues
23. Eat, Sleep, Baseball
24. The Season Experience
25. Bleeding Pinstripes
26. Yankees Chick
27. A Misplaced Astros Fan
28. The Pittsburgh Peas
29. Flair For The Dramatic
30. LA NACION MEDIAS ROJAS
31. King of Cali
32. Baseball Cleats & Shoes
33. Statistician Magician
34. Rocky Mountain Way...Outside Coors looking in
35. Cambios y Curvas
36. Hook, Line Drive, & Sinker
37. Twins Limey
38. Phillies Red Pinstripes
39. Baseball, The Yankees, and Life...
40. Crops on the Farm
41. The Yankees Baseball Whisperer
42. Random Reds Rants
43. The NYC Autograph Collector
44. Yogi Brewer
45. The Brewer Nation
46. crzblue's World
47. Fantasy Hardball: a bloop and a blast
48. Mets Go
49. Baseball Canadiana
50. The Diamond Diva

MLB.COM BEAT WRITERS
1. Bombers Beat
2. Beck's Blog
3. Bowman's Blog
4. The Zo Zone
5. Obviously, You're Not a Golfer
6. CastroTurf
7. Muskat Ramblings
8. Brew Beat
9. All Nats All the Time
10. Postcards from Elysian Fields
11. Brownie Points
12. Major League Bastian
13. Alyson's Footnotes
14. Mark My Word
15. The Fish Pond
16. Haft-Baked Ideas
17. By Gosh, It's Langosch
18. Noble Thoughts
19. rallymonkeys
20. Jim Street Vet Scribe
21. Big Urb Baseball
22. Inside the D-backs
23. Being Ozzie Guillen
24. The Spence Report
25. Kenny G Around the Horn
26. Hardball in the Rockies
27. Who's your Padre?
28. Kelly's Corner
29. Rays Plays
30. Royals Beat

MLB Tweeps roster

Here is the latest MLB Tweeps roster for those of you on Twitter. Carlos Delgado is latest player addition. Please leave your own Twitter names in comments here. Possible MLB Tweeps reported by fans are authenticated here by the MLB.com beat writers for each team, who simply ask that player or exec. Please note that I am now tweeting @MLB so be a regular there! Updated 1:52 p.m. ET May 28:

Official Major League Baseball Twitter
@MLB

Wear Spikes
@barryzito - Barry Zito
@carlosdelgado21 - Carlos Delgado
@cc_sabathia - CC Sabathia
@chaddurbin - Chad Durbin
@chrisgetz - Chris Getz
@coco_crisp - Coco Crisp
@davidortiz - David Ortiz
@gator4god - Matt LaPorta
@joakimsoria - Joakim Soria
@moyerfoundation - Jamie Moyer
@nickswisher - Nick Swisher
@str8edgeracer - CJ Wilson
@todalion - Todd Wellemeyer
@detroit_tigers - Curtis Granderson

Don't Wear Spikes
@AdamMcCalvy
@AlysonFooter
@Alyssa_Milano
@aroundthehornkc
@Ask14 - Jim Rice
@beckjason
@BlueJays
@Braves
@Brewercom
@bryanhoch
@CincinnatiReds
@CubsClub
@cushmlb
@DbacksPRGirl
@DodgertownUSA
@fantasymlb
@followthepadres
@gehrig38
@giantscommunity
@GiantsInsider
@InsideTheSox
@jerry_remy
@JesseSanchezMLB
@JoeFrisaro
@KC_Royals
@kellythesier
@klaystation
@MarinersClub
@marlinsmedia
@matthewhleach
@MLB_Network
@MLBAngels
@mlbastian
@mlbbravesscribe
@mlbCoz
@MLBMets
@MLBNationals
@MLBOrioles
@MLBPirates
@MLBRangers
@MLBRays
@mlbtv
@m_sheldon
@N_Y_Y
@OaklandAs
@OFFICIAL_TIGERS
@OrgulloSox
@PadresPR
@philaphillies
@RealRockies
@Red_Sox_Nation
@ticketservices (A's)
@Twins_Territory
@tzolecki
@vinelinecubs

Yankees vs. Red Sox

Amidst the first 2009 renewal of Yankees vs. Red Sox, please note that there is a new batch of Red Sox Nation Governor MLBlogs for fans of Boston. They are at:

http://rsn-midwest-govs.mlblogs.com
http://rsn-newengland-govs.mlblogs.com
http://rsn-northeast-govs.mlblogs.com
http://rsn-northwest-govs.mlblogs.com
http://rsn-southeast-govs.mlblogs.com
http://rsn-southwest-govs.mlblogs.com

There are countless MLBlogs for both Red Sox and Yankees fans alike, whether from the club or the fans. Check out the tag search results for YANKEES and RED SOX to see them in order of most recently updated.

Ballots and Blogs

Today we launched the All-Star Game Ballot and here is my MLB.com story with all the details. It makes for great baseball blogging material, and I look forward to frequent blogging on the subject between now and what probably will be another record-shattering voting finish during the summer. Just to get things started, below is the thank-you page for my first of 25 ballots I will submit, to show my votes. I have an all-Dodger outfield (justified because Kemp is having the best start, Ethier was just named NL Player of the Week, Manny is Manny to me and they look like baseball's best club right now) and right now I feel like the left side of the AL infield, once a Yankee province, belongs to the Rays (sorry, Jeter fans).

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Happy Fourth Birthday To Us!

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It's a grand slam! Saturday marks the fourth anniversary of the MLBlogs community, and it all began with Tommy Lasorda's inaugural MLBlogs posting about his old friend Jackie Robinson. That is how Major League Baseball launched its own blogging community, billed as an official affiliate of MLB.com with unofficial opinions. It was April 18, 2005, and the Red Sox had just ended an 86-year drought, the White Sox were in the process of ending an 88-year drought, Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi had just dropped, and that day Adobe bought Macromedia, the Boston Marathon was held, and our friend Murray Cook also saved his first blog post, a simple picture as an offering to the baseball gods.

mariahcarey.jpgTens of thousands of blogs later, we are here blogging about baseball on a regular basis and we have Latest Leaders and we have new MLBlogs starting for free all the time. We have Briscoe Baseball Blog predicting Indians over Dodgers in the Fall Classic (thus ending a drought dating back to 1948); we have none other than Giants catcher Bengie Molina telling you what's wrong with Tim Lincecum and his team right now; we have all 30 MLB.com beat writers like Ian Browne (Red Sox) and Kelly Thesier (Twins) blogging and communicating with you here; Welcome To The Show blogging about the best night for a ballplayer you might ever see; Kim Jones of YES posting about the new Yankee Stadium; and a Phillies fan from way back in the Connie Mack Stadium days blogging about the bid for a repeat.

Zack Hample, one of those first MLBloggers, has raised $634.80 for Pitch In For Baseball.

You can find all of the MLB PRO BLOGS in the drop-down menu on the MLBlogs homepage, and use the tag-search results link for each club nickname also on that page to find other MLBlogs about topics that may be of interest to you. There is so much to do, so much new technology to develop, but mainly we want to see our favorite MLB players and teams have great seasons, and there is a whole summer in front of us now. Be sure to follow us at the Official MLBlogs Twitter.

Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, New Ballparks

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I chatted with Keith Olbermann for a while on the field during Padres batting practice just before the Citi Field opener on Monday, and took the profile pic of him above on his MLBlog. He is really enthused about his MLBlogging, as you can see from his very impassioned posts. Below is a grab of the MSNBC video clip from last night's show, in which Rachel Maddow chatted with him about baseball and his popular MLBlog Baseball Nerd. "Can we do this all the time?" she asked him. Be sure to regularly watch for Keith's posts, but remember that he already has advised everyone he could care less what you say in the comments. So if you want to get all political, he just doesn't care. Talk baseball.

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Pics from Opening Night at Citi Field

I'll be working the Yankee Stadium home opener all day and will post some pics, tweets and all that good stuff. This site actually has the best way for me to find my own MLB.com articles, always chronological, in case you want to catch up as it is an Opening Blur. In the meantime, here were some shots I took Monday in Queens -- where they now have a ballpark that I consider second to none in baseball.

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