Around the MLB.com Blogs
We’re waiting on a sunny day, just like the author of Blue Batting Helmet. Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Arizona and Florida shortly; MLB.com & top blogger Jonathan Mayo just released our 2012 Prospect Watch; the Super Bowl will lead right into our Fantasy rankings; Prince Fielder is joining the Tigers; there are no obvious favorites for the 2012 World Series; and there is more to blog about than ever as a Major League Baseball fan.
How’s everyone doing out here in MLB.com Blogs country? I wanted to check in before heading down to Florida later today for a vaca including my second Miami Marathon on Sunday (a very sunny day, hopefully not too much humidity!). We’ll be back midweek to present you with the first monthly installment of Latest Leaders. It has been great to see so many people apply the MLB.com Blogs Top 100 badge to their own MLBlogs after such hard work in 2011, and we have already seen some great new blogs start up that are sure to make the 2012 list. I just expanded the Comments list to the right and as you can see I hope you will always leave your full URL within any comment — use this technique to get people like me to your blog, and please go through their comments and look for other blogs.
Want to see a Tim Lincecum-Prince Fielder matchup in late October? Our friend Emily of Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend just posted a what-if about a Giants-Tigers World Series, so tell her what you think. Kevin of WestSide Culture vows in those comments that he “will be atop that list in 2012, starting now.” He just made the switch to an MLB theme (thanks!), which is necessary to be tallied for Latest Leaders page view search. We plan to update our themes soon and I’ll give a headsup whenever that date gets closer.
Jenn is coming up on her fourth anniversary of blogging at Phillies Phollowers and you can get some nice widget tips from her, such as incorporating your own Facebook page. It’s easy to drag the Facebook Like widget from your Dashboard, like I also did here to the right and below. Just go to Appearance –> Widgets. Another Top 100 Phillies blog is from Michael at The Phanatic Addict and you can see how he set up a favorite blogs Link set, including Jenn, which is what reminded us to check in on Phillies Phollowers. Be nice to others and you will benefit.
The Voice of the Mariners is the brand-new blog of the Seattle Mariners PR department, and despite launching in mid-month it is tracking as the No. 5 PRO blog right now and has a pretty good chance to go on to become the top overall blog into the season at MLB.com Blogs. Why? Check it out if you haven’t. It has been fun working with Jeff and the crew there as they take it very seriously and seek out feedback on what people like. Copy their widget techniques — the best I have seen since we switched to WordPress.com! Think of The Voice of the Mariners as a part of Mariners.com — a great club site.
March is my 10th anniversary with Major League Baseball Advanced Media, and probably my favorite photog in the business through that time has been Jon SooHoo — the official photographer of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is a joy viewing his photo galleries on Dodgers.com, and his Top 100 blog known as Dodgers Photog Blog is back better than ever. Check out his posts from the past week and consider subscribing to his blog so you see whenever he posts. These are great shots — even worth a Pinterest board. Jon appreciates feedback very much and I encourage you to please leave comments there on what you’d like to see from him.
MLB.com has the only traveling network of 30 beat reporters and there are some ongoing changes in beat assignments that you’ll want to know about. The list is to the right here and all the writers involved have used their blogs to discuss their moves for 2012. Alden Gonzalez now covers the Angels, Jen Langosch is moving over to the Cardinals to replace our first-ever MLB.com beat reporter/blogger, Matthew Leach, who has a new MLB.com gig coming up. Longtime MLB national writer Tom Singer is returning to his roots in Pittsburgh to replace Jen on the Pirates beat. We wish them all the best in their new roles and look forward to more great blogging!
In 2012, you will see more really cool changes as we continue to advance with the times. Part of that will be a way to find a lot of MLB.com Blogs through shares, likes and popularity. We’re discussing a number of aggregators we like — Punchfork, for example — and I would really love to hear from YOU in the comments here. How should MLB.com surface and showcase our MLBlogs? Included would be (only) any blogs started at MLB.com/blogs and any of the millions of WordPress.com bloggers who choose our MLB themes. Hey, we all have Facebook and Twitter, but you need a baseball blog for more long-form thoughts. Our widgets allow you to integrate it all.
For anyone who has joined us since last May, here was the relaunch post after our MLBAM deal with WordPress.com. Reminder that WP handles support for our MLB.com Blogs community, so you may use this community blog for anything you wish but use their support link for fast action on any issues or questions. Have fun blogging and look for the next installment of Latest Leaders right here after we test out an IT Band issue over 26.2 miles of South Beach, Coconut Grove and other great places.
Top 100 MLBloggers: Get your badge!
Congratulations again to all our Top 100 MLB.com Blogs for 2011. If your blog made the list you’ve earned a Top 100 badge to proudly display in your sidebar. Here’s how to make it happen:
1. Log in to your blog’s dashboard.
2. Go to Appearance > Widgets.
3. Grab the Image widget from the list of available widgets in the middle of the window (they’re in alphabetical order), and drag it over to the top of your active widgets in the Sidebar section on the right side.
4. Enter ONLY the following information in the Image widget.
Image URL: http://mlblogsmlblogs.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/top100mlblogs.png
Alternate text: Top 100 MLB.com Blogs
Width: 300 Height: 50
Link URL: http://mlblogs.mlblogs.com/2012/01/05/2011-top-100-mlb-com-blogs/
5. Hit Save and you’re all set. The badge should display at the top of your blog’s sidebar, just as it does in this blog.
2011 Top 100 MLB.com Blogs
Congratulations to everyone who made the annual Top 100 MLB.com Blogs list in 2011, measured in page views for the full year. It was a year in which the Phillies topped the regular season in wins, and also a year in which MLB.com Phillies beat reporter Todd Zolecki topped all bloggers as the overall king of MLBlogs. The MLB.com Hot Stove Blog led the way in the PRO 100 division, ahead of Jamie Ramsey’s Better Off Red, Alyson Footer of the Astros, and Keith Olbermann. Baseball snagger and author Zack Hample edged Rays Renegade to top the FAN 100 list. See if you can make our 2012 list!
Here are your 2011 Latest Leaders, based on page views from Jan. 1 – Dec. 31:
MLB PRO
1. MLB.com Hot Stove Blog
2. Better Off Red
3. Alyson’s Footnotes
4. Baseball Nerd
5. MLB.com Fantasy 411
6. Bloomberg Sports
7. John & Cait…Plus Nine
8. Inside the Dodgers
9. Comerica Park, 48201
10. Beat the Streak Report
11. Ben’s Biz Blog
12. The Byrd’s Nest
13. MLB.com Blogs Central (lol)
14. Around the Horn in KC
15. The USA Baseball 16U Blog
16. Tommy Lasorda’s World
17. The WELL WISHES FOR GARY Official Greeting Card
18. The Veteran and the Rook *
19. CastroTurf
20. B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful
21. Inside the White Sox
22. Phillies Insider
23. Heard It From Hoard
24. rallymonkeys
25. Newberg Report
26. SFGiantScoop
27. Down the Line with the Phillies Ballgirls
28. The USA Baseball 14U Blog
29. OFFICIAL #GETWELLBUSTER GREETING CARD
30. Curly W Live
31. Ozzie Speaks
32. MURRAY COOK’S FIELD & BALLPARK BLOG
33. Great Scot!
34. Cubs Vine Line Blog
35. Rattler Radio
36. MLB Urban Youth Academy
37. The LumberBlog
38. Dodgers Photog Blog
39. The D-blog
40. ‘Riders Insider Blog
41. @MLB Twitter Blog
42. ‘Cats Corner
43. Above the Plate
44. Padre Knows Best
45. Clubhouse Confidential
46. Brian Anderson’s House of Blogs
47. Kara’s Hot Corner
48. Official Twins Fan Guestbook
49. Our Game
50. Torii’s Storiis
51. Cooperstown Chatter
52. From the Booth with Steve Stewart
53. The Watson Files
54. AFL Prospects
55. Padres hispanos
56. Fantasy Freddie
57. Baltimore Orioles Fan Guestbook
58. Homestand Blog by Yankees Magazine
59. HYDE’S INSIDE PITCH
60. Is this thing on?
61. Chirp Chatter
62. Yard Work
63. Red Sox DestiNATIONs
64. The Dish
65. Inside the Chiefs
66. Official Cardinals Fan Guestbook
67. Desde el Desierto
68. Delmarva Shorebirds Blog
69. Ozzie Habla
70. The Cutoff Man
71. The Schlact Stories
72. Bird Droppings
73. Cleveland Indians Fantasy Camp
74. Royals Then, Now & Forever
75. Salem Sox Talk
76. Unlocking the Keys
77. Marlins New Ballpark
78. From the Nest
79. The Mitchell Report & Livin’ La Vida Leo
80. On the Mike with Mike Safford (Voice of the Boise Hawks)
81. Docking With the Ports
82. Rollin’ with Rick
83. MiLB Snap Shots
84. BTF Today
85. Tony Schiavone Blog
86. Indians Off the Field
87. Colorado Springs Sky Sox Official Team Blog
88. Medias Blancas con Orgullo
89. The Sprouting News
90. Extra Innings with the KCrew
91. An Astros Minute
92. A’s Ticket Services
93. Diamond Digs with Daniel Descalso
94. Wings Things-official blog of the Rochester Red Wings
95. Catching Z’s
96. Inside the Clubhouse with Mike Antonellis
97. Bees Wax
98. Disco Hayes
99. Kaat’s Korner
100. Boomskie on Baseball
* Mark Derosa (“The Veteran”) has since signed with the Nationals.
FANS
1. The Baseball Collector
2. Rays Renegade
3. Red State Blue State
4. Rockpile Rant
5. Cook & Son Bats’ Blog
6. Unfinished Business
7. The Three Bs
8. The Future Blog of the Red Sox
9. Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend
10. Phillies Phollowers
11. Counting Baseballs
12. Hands off my Pirates Booty
13. Beisbol 007
14. The Pittsburgh Peas
15. Pinstripe Birthdays
16. I’m Not A Headline Guy…
17. The Closer
18. Dodgerfilms
19. The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived
20. Rockin’ Redlegs
21. Crzblue’s Dodger Blue World
22. FutureAngels.com
23. Well Played Mauer
24. Blogging ‘Bout Baseball
25. Live, Eat, and Breathe Yankees
26. Rowland’s Office
27. This is a very simple game…
28. The Yankee Dinosaur
29. Observing Baseball
30. DYNASTY League Baseball from designer of Pursue the Pennant
31. BlueBattingHelmet
32. The Phanatic Addict
33. 2131 and Beyond
34. The Ballpark Guide
35. The Unbiased MLB Fan
36. Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts
37. The 1 Constant
38. The Baseball Haven
39. Art of the Pale Hose
40. Strictly Cubs Baseball
41. The Cartoon Bird
42. La Pagina de Tony Menendez
43. The Rays Rant
44. baseballqueen
45. Sarge’s Phillies Phantasy Camp Diary
46. A Misplaced Astros Fan
47. Plushdamentals
48. mlbblogger
49. Justine’s Baseball Journey
50. Amazine
51. Blue Jays Nest
52. Collection of Baseball
53. Minoring In Baseball
54. You’re Killin’ Me, Smalls!
55. Reds Country
56. Phillies Red Pinstripes
57. Cambios y Curvas
58. Red Sox Nation Daily
59. King of Cali
60. The Cub Den
61. All Things Pirates: Breaking down the Buccos
62. Brewers Rumors
63. The Yankees Baseball Whisperer
64. The Brewer Nation
65. Bjarkman’s Latino and Cuban League Baseball History Page
66. Nyjer Morgan Fan Club
67. The Baseball Daily
68. Perfect Pitch
69. Perpetual Padres Saga
70. El Designado
71. Confessions Of A Baseball Fan
72. A Girl’s View of the Brewers and Other Related Baseball Things
73. Cardinal Girl
74. Major League Ballhawk
75. LEAVes of Dodger Blue
76. World Series 41, Rangers Fan 1
77. steel city ballhawk
78. Linea de Primera
79. The Wizard of Ozzie
80. Thomas’ Trolley
81. Pop Fly Boys
82. Stuck On Prospects
83. Rox Addict
84. The Best Sox Blog
85. Tale Of The Tigers
86. (:> Bird Brained
87. Wrigley Regular
88. The Brawn of Braun
89. Fish Fry
90. Prose and Ivy
91. Totally Tribe
92. eltubeyero22
93. San Francisco Giants Stuff
94. The Heirloom
95. Baseball Addict
96. The Hitless Wonders
97. Cream City Cables
98. fenway fruitgirl: BEHIND THE NET
99. Soxoholics
100. Ballpark Banter
MLB.COM BEAT WRITERS
1. The Zo Zone
2. Bombers Beat
3. Bowman’s Blog
4. Beck’s Blog
5. Brew Beat
6. Muskat Ramblings
7. Postcards from Elysian Fields
8. Mark My Word
9. Obviously, You’re Not a Golfer
10. Britt’s Bird Watch
11. All Nats All the Time
12. Mariners Musings
13. Haft-Baked Ideas
14. North of the Border
15. Tag’s Lines
16. By Gosh, It’s Langosch
17. Brownie Points
18. Major League Bastian
19. Mets Cetera
20. The Fish Pond
Note: We’ve omitted the WordPress.com blogs using MLB themes that have no baseball content, and MLBloggers are reminded that they will only be tracked for Latest Leaders traffic if they are using an MLB theme.
Latest Leaders – November 2011
We’re a month into the offseason and the Hot Stove is heating up nicely, as evidenced by our top-ranked Pro Blog this month: The MLB.com Hot Stove Blog. If you haven’t already made that a regular stop on your Internet rounds, you’re missing out. Harnessing the power of MLB.com’s crack team of beat writers, it’s one-stop shopping for Hot Stove news and rumors. Congratulations to everyone who made the list!
Here are your November 2011 Latest Leaders, based on pageviews from Nov. 1-30:
MLB PRO
1. MLB.com Hot Stove Blog
2. Better Off Red
3. John & Cait…Plus Nine
4. Tommy Lasorda’s World
5. Baseball Nerd
6. The Byrd’s Nest
7. Alyson’s Footnotes
8. Comerica Park, 48201
9. Ben’s Biz Blog
10. Around the Horn in KC
11. B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful
12. MLB.com Blogs Central (lol)
13. MLB.com Fantasy 411
14. Phillies Insider
15. Down the Line with the Phillies Ballgirls
16. Vine Line Blog
17. CastroTurf
18. MURRAY COOK’S FIELD & BALLPARK BLOG
19. Fantasy Freddie
20. Newberg Report
21. Inside the White Sox
22. AFL Prospects
23. Our Game
24. Padre Knows Best
25. Ozzie Speaks
26. MLB Urban Youth Academy
27. Curly W Live
28. The Veteran and the Rook
29. Official Cardinals Fan Guestbook
30. Official Mariners Fan Guestbook
31. Cooperstown Chatter
32. Bloomberg Sports
33. ‘Riders Insider Blog
34. Great Scot!
35. Yard Work
36. Kaat’s Korner
37. Homestand Blog by Yankees Magazine
38. Padres hispanos
39. The LumberBlog
40. Rattler Radio
41. Screech’s Spot
42. The Mitchell Report & Livin’ La Vida Leo
43. ‘Cats Corner
44. Chirp Chatter
45. Ozzie Habla
46. From the Nest
47. Inside the Chiefs
48. Desde el Desierto
49. What’s On Andrew’s Desk?
50. HYDE’S INSIDE PITCH
FAN
1. Rays Renegade
2. The Baseball Collector
3. Red State Blue State
4. The Cartoon Bird
5. Beisbol 007
6. Cook & Son Bats’ Blog
7. Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend
8. Rockpile Rant
9. BlueBattingHelmet
10. mlbblogger
11. Phillies Phollowers
12. Brewers Rumors
13. Pinstripe Birthdays
14. The Baseball Haven
15. The Rays Rant
16. Counting Baseballs
17. 2r2d
18. Crzblue’s Dodger Blue World
19. Blue Jays Nest
20. La Pagina de Tony Menendez
21. This is a very simple game…
22. The Unbiased MLB Fan
23. Fish Fry
24. I’m Not A Headline Guy…
25. The Ballpark Guide
26. baseballqueen
27. You’re Killin’ Me, Smalls!
28. Rockin’ Redlegs
29. San Francisco Giants Stuff
30. Unfinished Business
31. The Yankee Dinosaur
32. Observing Baseball
33. Cambios y Curvas
34. Live, Eat, and Breathe Yankees
35. SongBirds on the Bat
36. Bjarkman’s Latino and Cuban League Baseball History Page
37. Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts
38. Collection of Baseball
39. eltubeyero22
40. The Sprouting News
41. Sarge’s Phillies Phantasy Camp Diary
42. Three Ball Walk
43. Reds Country
44. MLB-Yankees-Rays…Forever
45. Devils In Pinstripes
46. Pedro Calderón
47. World Series 41, Rangers Fan 1
48. The Phanatic Addict
49. Minoring In Baseball
50. Strictly Cubs Baseball
MLB.COM BEAT WRITERS
1. Muskat Ramblings
2. The Zo Zone
3. Bowman’s Blog
4. Postcards From Elysian Fields
5. Beck’s Blog
6. Britt’s Bird Watch
7. Brew Beat
8. Bombers Beat
9. Mark My Word
10. Tag’s Lines
11. The Fish Pond
12. Obviously, You’re Not a Golfer
13. Mariners Musings
14. Major League Bastian
15. North of the Border
16. All Nats All the Time
17. Haft-Baked Ideas
18. Brownie Points
19. Bollinger Beat
20. Hardball in the Rockies
Note: We’ve omitted the WordPress.com blogs using MLB themes that have no baseball content, and MLBloggers are reminded that they will only be tracked for Latest Leaders traffic if they are using an MLB theme.
New arrivals
Please welcome Larry Dierker to the MLB.com/blogs community. He just saved his first post at Dierk’s Dugout. The longtime Astros manager and pitcher commands a lot of respect among baseball fans and especially folks around Houston. See what he has to say about the Astros’ 2013 move to the AL West. Please be sure to leave Dierk some comments and questions so he can comment back. He’s using the WordPress.com Dashboard just like you and me, and so does fellow former pitcher Jim Kaat.
Two words: Hot Stove. It is the same year-round blog at mlb.mlblogs.com that is maintained by MLB.com reporters, and it heats up before the Trade Deadline and throughout the Hot Stove season. This is the best source of buzz, from the only network of 30 traveling MLB club beat reporters — plus an army of other contributors from around MLB.com. Please be sure to follow it by entering your email. Tracker is here.
Alden Gonzalez sits right next to me here at the Major League Baseball Advanced Media HQ in Manhattan, and I can personally attest that he just hit “Publish” on a post about his conversation with Jerry Reinsdorf. See what the White Sox owner has to say about realignment and playoffs, and please be sure you are subscribed as a regular follower of Alden’s Gonzo and ‘The Show’ — always good insights.
I just posted a review to our official MLB.com Books Blog. See what you think and remember that anyone can add a review to that blog. Got a baseball book that you just read and want to review it? Either leave the review in comments here or let me know and we can post it there for you. If you’re a baseball book author and want reviewed, give a heads-up here also, please.
If you don’t have an MLBlog of your own, then what are you waiting for? Go to MLB.com/blogs and start your own — it’s easy! Got any questions about MLB.com blogging? Want more people to see what you’re posting? Always leave tons of comments here and remember to type your full URL as an obvious breadcrumb back to your blog. See you in the next MLBlogs Latest Leaders at the start of December!
Latest Leaders – October 2011
It was a truly memorable October, thanks to a thrilling Postseason ending in a seven-game World Series. We were excited by the addition of MLB Network analyst and 283-game winner Jim Kaat, sharing his insights in Kaat’s Korner. Keith Olbermann topped the PRO list on the strength of his 10/12 Terry Francona post, and Rays Renegade streaked to the top of the FANS category like a Dan Johnson homer.
Here are the leaders by page views at MLB.com/blogs from Oct. 1-31:
MLB PRO
1. Baseball Nerd by Keith Olbermann
2. John & Cait…Plus Nine
3. Better Off Red
4. The Byrd’s Nest
5. Comerica Park, 48201
6. Ben’s Biz Blog
7. Alyson’s Footnotes
8. The Veteran and the Rook
9. AFL Prospects
10. Tommy Lasorda’s World
11. Official Cardinals Fan Guestbook
12. MLB.com Blogs Central (lol)
13. B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful
14. Phillies Insider
15. Newberg Report
16. Around the Horn in KC
17. MURRAY COOK’S FIELD & BALLPARK BLOG
18. Vine Line’s Cubs Club Blog
19. Down the Line with the Phillies Ballgirls
20. Bloomberg Sports
21. Inside the White Sox
22. Our Game by John Thorn
23. Fantasy Freddie
24. Ozzie Speaks
25. Great Scot!
26. Rattler Radio
27. Cooperstown Chatter
28. The LumberBlog
29. ‘Riders Insider Blog
30. The D-blog
31. Homestand Blog by Yankees Magazine
32. Curly W Live
33. Kaat’s Korner
34. From the Booth with Steve Stewart
35. ‘Cats Corner
36. The Cutoff Man
37. Padres hispanos
38. Desde el Desierto
39. Padre Knows Best
40. Yard Work
41. Screech’s Spot
42. From the Nest
43. Ozzie Habla
44. BTF Today
45. The Schlact Stories
46. The Mitchell Report & Livin’ La Vida Leo
47. Inside the Chiefs
48. HYDE’S INSIDE PITCH
49. Wings Things-official blog of the Rochester Red Wings
50. Docking With the Ports
FANS
1. Rays Renegade
2. The Baseball Collector
3. Red State Blue State
4. Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend
5. Beisbol 007
6. Cook & Son Bats’ Blog
7. Phillies Phollowers
8. Rockpile Rant
9. The Pittsburgh Peas
10. The Baseball Haven
11. Plushdamentals
12. BlueBattingHelmet
13. Pinstripe Birthdays
14. The Best Sox Blog
15. baseballqueen
16. Counting Baseballs
17. Live, Eat, and Breathe Yankees
18. The Unbiased MLB Fan
19. Observing Baseball
20. Pop Fly Boys
21. I’m Not A Headline Guy…
22. eltubeyero22
23. The Rays Rant
24. Rockies News Blog
25. You’re Killin’ Me, Smalls!
26. Rockin’ Redlegs
27. The Optimist Tiger
28. Brewers Rumors
29. Crzblue’s Dodger Blue World
30. The Yankee Dinosaur
31. Justine’s Baseball Journey
32. This is a very simple game…
33. La Pagina de Tony Menendez
34. World Series 41, Rangers Fan 1
35. Unfinished Business
36. Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts
37. Three Ball Walk
38. Circulo de Espera
39. The Sprouting News
40. The Brawn of Braun
41. The Phanatic Addict
42. Collection of Baseball
43. Blue Jays Nest
44. San Francisco Giants Stuff
45. Brewers Today
46. Nyjer Morgan Fan Club
47. You Jivin’ Me, Turkey?
48. Sarge’s Phillies Phantasy Camp Diary
49. Minoring In Baseball
50. Fish Fry
MLB.COM BEAT WRITERS
1. The Zo Zone
2. Muskat Ramblings
3. Beck’s Blog
4. Bowman’s Blog
5. Postcards From Elysian Fields
6. Brew Beat
7. All Nats All the Time
8. Obviously, You’re Not a Golfer
9. Bombers Beat
10. Britt’s Bird Watch
11. Mark My Word
12. Mariners Musings
13. Brownie Points
14. Haft-Baked Ideas
15. Tag’s Lines
16. Mets Cetera
17. Major League Bastian
18. The Fish Pond
19. rallymonkeys
20. Bollinger Beat
Note: We’ve omitted the WordPress.com blogs using MLB themes that have no baseball content, and MLBloggers are reminded that they will only be tracked for Latest Leaders traffic if they are using an MLB theme.
Happy Birthday to Jim Kaat
Want to wish 2012 Hall of Fame candidate Jim Kaat a Happy 73rd Birthday? Just go to his comments on his MLBlog and tell him. Kaat, winner of 283 games, just four fewer than 2011 inductee and fellow longtime Twins pitcher Bert Blyleven, is looking forward to hearing from his blog readers. Stop by Kaat’s Korner now!
Now blogging, Jim Kaat
I hope everyone in the MLBlogs community will join me in welcoming the great Jim Kaat as our newest blogger. Jim wanted an outlet to express his thoughts about what’s going on this Postseason and beyond, and in typical Kitty Kaat fashion he pulls no punches. Kaat writes in his first post that he thought Jon Lester and Josh Beckett had “scouting-reportitis” — worrying about the batters and trying to avoid contact. In contrast, he raves about the Carp-Halladay duel as a textbook example of how to be in charge with a quick pace and be almost oblivious to whatever body in a uniform happens to be standing in the batter’s box. Get familiar with this 283-game winner’s MLBlog and be sure to say hi to him, ask any questions, and leave your own URL as a breadcrumb so other commenters can find you. Happy postseason blogging…
Latest Leaders – September 2011
The regular season ended with a bang that baseball fans never will forget. It was a strong final month for MLBloggers, too. There were big performances from veteran blogs, and some impressive debuts from Latest Leaders newcomers. The Baseball Collector and The Zo Zone stayed atop their respective divisions, while John & Cait…Plus Nine came in first among the Pro Blogs. Congratulations to everyone who made the list!
Here are your September 2011 Latest Leaders in traffic by pageviews from September 1-30:
FANS
1. The Baseball Collector
2. Rays Renegade
3. Red State Blue State
4. Cook & Son Bats’ Blog
5. Phillies Phollowers
6. Beisbol 007
7. Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend
8. Nyjer Morgan Fan Club
9. Rockpile Rant
10. Counting Baseballs
11. Plushdamentals
12. The Pittsburgh Peas
13. Pinstripe Birthdays
14. The Ballpark Guide
15. La Pagina de Tony Menendez
16. The Unbiased MLB Fan
17. The Baseball Haven
18. Pop Fly Boys
19. Rockin’ Redlegs
20. Observing Baseball
21. I’m Not A Headline Guy…
22. Blogging ‘Bout Baseball
23. This is a very simple game…
24. You’re Killin’ Me, Smalls!
25. FutureAngels.com
26. Unfinished Business
27. Crzblue’s Dodger Blue World
28. BlueBattingHelmet
29. Blue Jays Nest
30. The Rays Rant
31. Live, Eat, and Breathe Yankees
32. Ballpark Banter
33. The Yankee Dinosaur
34. The Phillies Girl Tells All
35. Collection of Baseball
36. Hoppers Fan
37. Rockies News Blog
38. Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts
39. The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived
40. Phillies Red Pinstripes
41. Cambios y Curvas
42. baseballqueen
43. DYNASTY League Baseball from designer of Pursue the Pennant
44. The Heirloom
45. Giants By The Bay
46. The Phanatic Addict
47. Little Baby Jaysus
48. BudapestBaseballBlog
49. The Sprouting News
50. Craig’s Lair
MLB PRO
1. John & Cait…Plus Nine
2. Alyson’s Footnotes
3. MLB.com Fantasy 411
4. Comerica Park, 48201
5. Better Off Red
6. The Veteran and the Rook
7. Baseball Nerd
8. Ben’s Biz Blog
9. Beat the Streak Report
10. The Byrd’s Nest
11. Around the Horn in KC
12. Ozzie Speaks
13. Heard It From Hoard
14. Bloomberg Sports
15. Phillies Insider
16. MLB.com Blogs Central (lol)
17. Inside the Dodgers
18. CastroTurf
19. Vine Line’s Cubs Club Blog
20. Newberg Report
21. Down the Line with the Phillies Ballgirls
22. Inside the White Sox
23. B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful
24. The D-blog
25. ‘Riders Insider Blog
26. Desde el Desierto
27. MURRAY COOK’S FIELD & BALLPARK BLOG
28. MLB Urban Youth Academy
20. Curly W Live
30. Rattler Radio
31. The LumberBlog
32. Cooperstown Chatter
33. The Cutoff Man
34. Our Game
35. Brian Anderson’s House of Blogs
36. Great Scot!
37. Padres hispanos
38. HYDE’S INSIDE PITCH
39. ‘Cats Corner
40. Clubhouse Confidential
41. Gonzo and ‘The Show’
42. Homestand Blog by Yankees Magazine
43. MLB.com Question of the Day
44. On the Mike with Mike Safford (Voice of the Boise Hawks)
45. Inside the Chiefs
46. Yard Work
47. Ozzie Habla
48. Medias Blancas con Orgullo
49. Docking With the Ports
50. Red Sox DestiNATIONs
MLB.COM BEAT WRITERS
1. The Zo Zone
2. Brew Beat
3. Beck’s Blog
4. Muskat Ramblings
5. Bombers Beat
6. Bowman’s Blog
7. All Nats All the Time
8. Mark My Word
9. Postcards From Elysian Fields
10. Obviously, You’re Not a Golfer
11. Tag’s Lines
12. North of the Border
13. Britt’s Bird Watch
14. Brownie Points
15. The Fish Pond
16. Haft-Baked Ideas
17. Major League Bastian
18. Mariners Musings
19. Merk’s Works
20. Bollinger Beat
Note: We’ve omitted the WordPress.com blogs using MLB themes that have no baseball content, and MLBloggers are reminded that they will only be tracked for Latest Leaders traffic if they are using an MLB theme.
Dealing with problem comments
A lively comments section is every blogger’s dream. But what about when unwanted comments from unwelcome guests become a problem? Fear not! MLBlogs is powered by WordPress.com, who provide bloggers with all the tools you need to make your comments a troll-free zone.
A first layer of defense comes from WordPress.com’s spam filter. Should any spam messages make it through, you can mark them as spam to remove them from your visible comments and add them to the spam filter. Additionally, every blogger has the ability via your blog dashboard to customize comment approval under Settings > Discussion. You can open things up and automatically publish all comments in real time, require all comments to be approved by you before they appear on your blog, or choose from a wide variety of customizable options in between. Should you encounter an unwelcome commenter, you can blacklist both by email address and IP address — preventing them from returning to the blog under a new account.
As always, WordPress.com’s Support section is a great resource. Here’s a link to their support page on this topic for more information.
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