It’s almost Memorial Day and Mitch Williams is having a tough time deciding which team is the best in baseball.

TribeVibe highlights Nick Swisher’s involvement with a program designed to protect kids.

The Brewers are doing something great for fans sitting the U.S. Cellular Tech Deck and John and Cait have the details.

Eric Sogard’s Glasses love the four-eyed tribute A’s fans are paying to the bespectacled infielder.

Jamie Ramsey has photos galore from Reds outfielder Donald Lutz’s recent visit to the MLB Fan Cave in New York.

Around the Horn in KC has all the details on the Royals’ six-game homestand, including upcoming promotions.

Vine Line celebrates the return of the Cubs’ Matt Garza from a 10-month spell on the sidelines with injury.

http://sfgiantsphotos.mlblogs.com/2013/05/19/pants-up
The Giants wore their pants up as a display of team unity on Sunday, and SF Giants Photo blog has snapshots.

http://tigers.mlblogs.com/2013/05/19/tigers-to-honor-1968-world-champions-on-saturday-may-25
Comerica Park, 48201 previews the upcoming tribute to the 1968 World Series Champion Tigers on Saturday.

http://ramsey.mlblogs.com/2013/05/20/happy-pick-strawberries-day/
Jamie Ramsey highlights some Reds ranking among NL leaders in a variety of categories and gets out the vote.

http://whitesoxpride.mlblogs.com/2013/05/19/coming-home-red-sox-up-next/
A preview of a big series between the White Sox and the visiting Red Sox from Scott Reifert.

http://philliesinsider.mlblogs.com/2013/05/20/lighnting-replaces-fizzle/
A look back at the Phillies’ remarkable late rally and walk-off win against Aroldis Chapman on Sunday by Larry Shenk.

http://newberg.mlblogs.com/2013/05/20/a-shortstop-from-maracay/
Jamey Newberg freely admits to coveting the Tigers’ amazing Triple Crown winner, Miguel Cabrera.

http://langosch.mlblogs.com/2013/05/19/so-what-was-it-that-made-lohse-so-mad/
Jennier Langosch looks into the mystery of what had former Cardinal Kyle Lohse upset at Busch Stadium on Sunday.

Reblogged from My Serendipitous Life as a Baseball Wife:

Latest Leaders ranked by page views from Apr. 1-30:

MLB PRO
John & Cait sit first in their division just as the Brewers are getting healthy…
1. John & Cait…Plus Nine
2. Baseball Nerd (Keith Olbermann)
3. Better Off Red
4. MLB.com Fantasy 411
5. Curly W Live
6. Brandon and Brandon (Belt and Crawford)
7. SF Giants Photos
8. Dodgers Photog Blog
9. From the Corner of Edgar & Dave
10. TribeVibe
11. Cubs Vine Line Blog
12. White Shark (Gregor Blanco)
13. So I Married A Baseball Player… (Dallas Latos)
14. Around the Horn in KC
15. MLB.com Blogs Central (lol – 96 months and counting without being No. 1)
16. MURRAY COOK’S FIELD & BALLPARK BLOG
17. Phillies Insider
18. Inside the White Sox
19. Our Game (John Thorn)
20. Eric Sogard’s Glasses
21. Cooperstown Chatter
22. CastroTurf
23. Newberg Report
24. Justice4U (Richard Justice)
25. MLB Urban Youth Academy – Compton, CA
26. Comerica Park, 48201
27. Wild Things (Mitch Williams)
28. Clubhouse Confidential (A’s PR man Bob Rose)
29. Monarchs to Grays to Crawfords (Official Negro Leagues Museum Blog)
30. Obviously, You’re Not a Golfer (Matthew Leach)
31. Rays Radio
32. Homestand Blog by Yankees Magazine
33. The Cutoff Man
34. Roof Report
35. *touch* ‘em all (Alyssa Milano)
36. Beyond the Ballpark
37. Padres hispanos
38. Braves Give
39. From the Booth with Steve Stewart
40. Desde el Desierto
41. Diamond Dollar$
42. Dodgers History
43. Indians Off the Field
44. Step up to B.A.T.
45. A Twinternal Perspective
46. A’s Ticket Services
47. Project Lomo (Logan Morrison)
48. Fenway the Dog
49. BTF Today
50. Baseball with Matt

MiLB PRO
Ben forever has bragging rights after topping the inaugural MiLB Pro rankings…
1. Ben’s Biz Blog
2. MiLB.com’s PROSPECTive Blog
3. The Dash Board
4. Rattler Radio
5. B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful (Jonathan Mayo)
6. Salem Sox Talk
7. Inside the Jackson Generals
8. Walking with a Swagerty
9. 45 Miles From Fenway
10. ‘Riders Insider Blog
11. Porcupines in Pinstripes
12. It’s All Relative
13. Inside the San Jose Giants
14. Unlocking the Keys
15. M-Braves Clubhouse Report
16. Playing In Peoria
17. Rollin’ with Rick
18. Socci On The Sox
19. My Serendipitous Life as a Baseball Wife
20. Inside the Clubhouse with Mike Antonellis
21. Hook, Line, and Sinker
22. On the Mike with Mike Safford (Voice of the Boise Hawks)
23. The Sprouting News
24. Docking With the Ports
25. Chirp Chatter
26. ‘Cats Corner
27. Not Just Baseball…Aceball
28. The Tune-Up Blog
29. The Inside Pitch
30. The G-Blog
31. Knight Fever
32. From the Nest
33. CurveBall Blog
34. Yard Work
35. Inside the Chiefs
36. Intimidating Insight
37. Colorado Springs Sky Sox Official Team Blog
38. Express Tracks
39. Barons Beat
40. Portland Sea Dogs Promotions
41. Staten Island Yankees
42. Bill On Baseball
43. Sound Bytes Blog
44. The Spread
45. Delmarva Shorebirds Blog
46. B-Mets Buzz with Tim Heiman
47. Bird Droppings
48. MiLB Snap Shots
49. Hawk’s Eye: View From The Booth
50. Indy Baseball Chatter

FANS
Catch two home runs in one game and look what happens to your blog traffic…
1. The Baseball Collector
2. Rays Renegade
3. 7000 Coliseum Way
4. CardinalsFarm
5. The AustralianBaseballDigest
6. The Brewer Nation
7. A’s Farm
8. Cook & Sons’ Baseball Adventures
9. Three Up, Three Down
10. Beisbol 007
11. The Unbiased MLB Fan
12. mlbblogger
13. Pinstripe Birthdays
14. Born on Third
15. The Ballpark Guide
16. La Pagina de Tony Menendez
17. Ballparks on a Budget
18. Dodger Blue World
19. The Baseball Haven
20. Rockpile Rant
21. Where Everyone’s a Giant
22. Observing Baseball
23. Minoring In Baseball
24. Formerly Fausto: A Baseball Blog
25. Phillies Phollowers
26. The Blue Jays Dugout
27. Heard It From Hoard
28. Fish Fry
29. TheCutoffMan
30. Rockin’ Redlegs
31. Reds Camps
32. The Rays Rant
33. 9 Inning Know It All
34. Brewers Rumors
35. More Splash Hits
36. BrokeMets
37. baseballqueen
38. Cream City Cables
39. Head First Slide Productions
40. The Angels’ Ace
41. Collection of Baseball
42. The Yankee Dinosaur
43. Why Did My Dad Make Me a Mets Fan?
44. This is a very simple game…
45. The Best MLBlog
46. Battling Bucs
47. Prospects2Pros
48. DYNASTY League Baseball from designer of Pursue the Pennant
49. Talkin’ Rockies
50. The Cub Den

MLB.COM BEAT WRITERS
Once again traveling across the continent to bring you the very latest news…
1. Muskat Ramblings
2. Mark My Word
3. Beck’s Blog
4. The Zo Zone
5. Bowman’s Blog
6. Postcards From Elysian Fields
7. Mariners Musings
8. Bombers Beat
9. By Gosh, It’s Langosch
10. Gonzo and ‘The Show’
11. Britt’s Bird Watch
12. Brew Beat
13. Tag’s Lines
14. Brownie Points
15. Mets Cetera
16. The Fish Pond
17. North of the Border
18. Change for a Nickel
19. Major League Bastian
20. Major Lee-ague

Reminder: Blogs only can be tracked for this list if they use an MLB theme. If you switch to a different WordPress.com theme for a day or two during that month, those page views will not be included for these purposes because they cannot be recorded by MLB.com.

Reblogged from Eric Sogard's Glasses:

I spent Tuesday at Citi Field, partly for the big Clayton Kershaw-Jon Niese matchup and also to do some advance work on the All-Star Week stuff that is coming there for this summer. Here is my ballot launch story on MLB.com and here is the 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot sponsored by freecreditscore.com.

Just wanted to share some Instagrams I posted in the meantime, and making sure you are all set to blog like crazy now that the All-Star ballot is out. Make sure you leave comments here with your full URL and tell us to come and see how you use up those earliest votes, and we’ll promote some of them.

It’s the eighth birthday of this MLB.com Blogs community, which just happened Thursday. Feel free to wish us all well.

It seems like forever since I sat here at the MLB.com office on April 18, 2005, and helped Tommy Lasorda get his first entry saved. That post about his friend Jackie Robinson was our first ever, millions ago.

A few hours later, MLB.com resident Draft and prospect expert Jonathan Mayo welcomed you to B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful. D-backs broadcaster Daron Sutton was an original, too.

That same night, our great friend and MLB groundskeeping guru Murray Cook started his blog. Zack Hample started a few days later and his snagging adventures continued when he celebrated our birthday by snagging two home run balls Thursday at Yankee Stadium.

This community blog debuted as “MLBlogosphere” on May 5, 2005, a day after Brooks Robinson started a blog. I explained in the launch post that you could blog here for $4.95 a month (with a 30-day free trial) or $49.95 per year. My how things have changed. You have an incredible WordPress.com dashboard and support now, obviously at no cost, and unlike back then you can go to Settings->Sharing and enable all the social media outlets so any post can be shared and get more viewers.

Some things haven’t changed. It’s still the only place you can use official MLB marks and logos, and you’re covered under our umbrella if you want to use great Getty or AP photos. We still offer the largest gateway for any baseball blogger, as this community is linked from an MLB.com mothership with billions of page views, and we have 100 or so PRO bloggers including seven active players.

More and more are realizing that an MLB.com Blog is the perfect hub for all their social media. The more social outlets you have these days, the more you need one HQ, and you can easily add your Twitter, FB and other widgets here.

Please join me in welcoming Logan Morrison as the seventh one. He started on our birthday. And feel free to help his Project LoMo.

Leading into the Matt Harvey-Stephen Strasburg pitching matchup, Mitch Williams of MLB Network blogged about Harvey and said he is revising his National League Cy Young Award prediction — and going with the Mets’ rookie. Fascinating view worth reading.

The Yankee Dinosaur just celebrated a third birthday around Opening Day.

On June 6, White Sox VP of Communications Scott Reifert will celebrate the eighth birthday of his blog, Inside the White Sox. He paved the way for other sports executives who blog or tweet today. When he started in 2005, no one was doing this. And he does it regularly, so please join him!

We still have the slogan: “MLB.com Official Affiliate, Unofficial Opinions.” You always say what’s on your mind. We will always keep looking for ways to get your blog seen, like monthly MLB.com Blogs Latest Leaders or our Meet the Bloggers video series (let me know here when you’re going to an MLB game), and I hope that relaunch of MLB.com/blogs happens this season.

New bloggers are joining you all the time. Astros Baseball jumped aboard in 2013.

Yes, that’s still me in the profile pic on this community blog. I decided to bag the familiar backwards white cap that’s been there ever since we started MLB.com Blogs all those many years ago. Hope you understand. And my thoughts are with everyone in the Boston area who has been through so much and has shown such strength. I look forward to running for Boston on Sunday.

Feel free to leave a birthday comment right here, y’all. And post about your own blog’s birthday. Happy Birthday to us all.

Mark

I’m looking for MLB.com Blog reviews of the following two Jackie productions:

- The movie “42″ once it hits box offices this weekend. If you review it, please leave a comment here with the Permalink, so we can promote a collection of reviews here.

- The same goes for anyone reviewing our amazing new Jackie e-book “Fortitude” in our MLB.com PLAYBALL BOOKS series. My MLB.com story has more details on “Fortitude,” which has a special Foreword from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was literally born into a new world, the day after Jackie’s debut in Brooklyn.

Jackie Robinson Day is Monday, the 66th anniversary of him breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier. You are invited to use #Jackie42 on your Instagram pics to be part of the story in the coming days.

If you haven’t noticed it yet, we are honored that our friends at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City have chosen MLB.com Blogs as its official blogging community. Be sure to follow Monarchs to Grays to Crawfords and look for Dave Barr’s posts there, including an outstanding interview with Mariners broadcaster Dave Sims. They’ll have ongoing live content through Jackie Robinson Day, and best of all is knowing they will be blogging here after April 15, to keep the conversation going.

Why is this so important?

It was obvious to those of us who attended the Jackie Robinson Foundation Dinner last month in New York. Thomas Tull, head of the Legendary Entertainment film company that is bringing his legacy back to life in a movie now, told the story of how he had spoken recently to Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey told him that he had done a baseball clinic with inner-city kids, and he asked the youths if they knew who Jackie Robinson was. When few kids spoke up, Griffey was alarmed. It became the mission of the “42″ creators that they reach everyone with the story of Jackie. “That can’t happen,” Tull said. Your reviews only can help.

In case you missed the rankings of the most popular blogs here, see the MLB.com Blogs Latest Leaders for March. Hope you make the April list! Leaving comments here with your full URL is a great way to get there…

Latest Leaders ranked by page views from Mar. 1-31:

MLB PRO
Proof that one viral Harlem Shake video can make all the difference…
1. TribeVibe
2. Dodgers Photog Blog
3. From the Corner of Edgar & Dave
4. MLB.com Fantasy 411
5. Ben’s Biz Blog
6. Better Off Red
7. Baseball Nerd (Keith Olbermann)
8. Curly W Live
9. SF Giants Photos
10. John & Cait…Plus Nine
11. Brandon and Brandon (Belt and Crawford)
12. MiLB.com’s PROSPECTive Blog
13. Inside the White Sox
14. Phillies Insider
15. Cubs Vine Line Blog
16. MLB.com Blogs Central (lol)
17. MURRAY COOK’S FIELD & BALLPARK BLOG
18. Our Game (John Thorn)
19. Walking with a Swagerty
20. Alyson’s Footnotes
21. Around the Horn in KC
22. So I Married A Baseball Player… (Dallas Latos)
23. Rattler Radio
24. B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful (Jonathan Mayo)
25. Inside the San Jose Giants
26. Newberg Report
27. CastroTurf
28. Unlocking the Keys
29. Cooperstown Chatter
30. Eric Sogard’s Glasses
31. Porcupines in Pinstripes
32. White Shark (Gregor Blanco)
33. Welcome to Third and King
34. The Dash Board
35. 45 Miles From Fenway
36. Obviously, You’re Not a Golfer
37. Clubhouse Confidential
38. MLB Urban Youth Academy – Compton, CA
39. Justice4U
40. Inside the Jackson Generals
41. It’s All Relative
42. Rays Radio
43. Wild Things (Mitch Williams)
44. The Inside Pitch
45. X-Country Drive-a-Thon
46. ‘Riders Insider Blog
47. Down the Line with the Phillies Ballgirls
48. Yard Work
49. Homestand Blog by Yankees Magazine
50. Inside the Clubhouse with Mike Antonellis

FANS
Cardinals Farm looks like a phenom on the rise…
1. Rays Renegade
2. The Baseball Collector
3. The Brewer Nation
4. The AustralianBaseballDigest
5. A’s Farm
6. CardinalsFarm
7. The Unbiased MLB Fan
8. mlbblogger
9. Beisbol 007
10. Cook & Sons’ Baseball Adventures
11. Pinstripe Birthdays
12. The Baseball Haven
13. La Pagina de Tony Menendez
14. Rockpile Rant
15. Ballparks on a Budget
16. 9 Inning Know It All
17. Dodger Blue World
18. Minoring In Baseball
19. The Ballpark Guide
20. BrokeMets
21. Phillies Phollowers
22. Major-League Obie Role-Based Projection System
23. Born on Third
24. The Rays Rant
25. Heard It From Hoard
26. TheCutoffMan
27. Brewers Rumors
28. Observing Baseball
29. Where Everyone’s a Giant
30. Battling Bucs
31. 7000 Coliseum Way
32. Rockin’ Redlegs
33. eltubeyero22
34. Bjarkman’s Latino and Cuban League Baseball History Page
35. Three Up, Three Down
36. The Blue Jays Dugout
37. The Angels’ Ace
38. Cream City Cables
39. Blogging ‘Bout Baseball
40. The Best MLBlog
41. A Piece of The Game
42. Formerly Fausto: A Baseball Blog
43. Fish Fry
44. The Yankee Dinosaur
45. You’re Killin’ Me, Smalls!
46. Resumen De La MLB
47. The Cub Den
48. This is a very simple game…
49. More Splash Hits
50. BLOGGIN’ IN L.A.

MLB.COM BEAT WRITERS
They’re just glad to be done with Spring Training…
1. Muskat Ramblings
2. Mark My Word
3. Beck’s Blog
4. The Zo Zone
5. By Gosh, It’s Langosch
6. Bowman’s Blog
7. Bombers Beat
8. Postcards From Elysian Fields
9. Mariners Musings
10. Britt’s Bird Watch
11. Gonzo and ‘The Show’
12. Tag’s Lines
13. Bollinger Beat
14. Brew Beat
15. North of the Border
16. Brownie Points
17. Change for a Nickel
18. Mets Cetera
19. Major League Bastian
20. The Fish Pond

And say hi to The Phillies Girl, who’s dealing with Roy Halladay’s rough first outing…

Reminder: Blogs only can be tracked for this list if they use an MLB theme. If you switch to a different WordPress.com theme for a day or two during that month, those page views will not be included for these purposes because they cannot be recorded by MLB.com.

Reblogged from *touch* 'em all: