Friday, January 6, 2012

Bleacher Report Round-Up: Turning a New Leaf, Fantasy Payroll, Player Comparisons

Being a Featured Columnist for the Philadelphia Phillies for Bleacher Report has opened a number of doors for me as I pursue a career in journalism. I've interviewed a number of current and former baseball players, including former MVP of the Boston Red Sox, Fred Lynn, and was able to get a taste of what covering the Phillies' beat is like by covering the team from Citizens Bank Park.

That was kind of a long winded explanation for the point I was trying to get across here, which is more simply said as: I take pride in the work I do for Bleacher Report.

The company has come a long way over the last year or so, bringing aboard credible writers and approaching sports journalism in a way that no organization has ever done before. There will always be lingering questions about credibility, but at the end of the day, regardless of my reputation, I realize that the only way to gain support is by doing good work. The recognition will come later.

So with that being said, I've decided that at the end of each week I'll post a round-up of the slideshows I've written for Bleacher Report during the week, for those of us who crave baseball 24/7.

1.) Philadelphia Phillies: 25 Reasons 2012 Will be Different than 2011

In this slideshow, I break down 25 reasons that the 2012 season will be a completely different experience for the Phillies. I have laid out why each player is in store for something new in 2012 and took a look at the rest of the National League East, and what each of those factors means for the Phillies in 2012.

2.) Philadelphia Phillies: Handing Out Their Payroll Based on Success

This slideshow kicked up a bit of a stir in the comments section. In this one, I looked at how the traditional means of creating a payroll in the game of baseball can lead to an inefficient product on the field, and compared those salary numbers to the amount of money I would pay each player based on the success of their 2011 season alone. That means that I only valued statistics in this process, and created some interesting results.

3.) Comparing Every Philadelphia Phillie to a Former Player

In this slideshow, I simply took various aspects of a current Phillie's career and compared them to the various aspects of a former player's career. This created some interesting results. For example, I examined the route Mike Stutes took to the MLB in 2011, and compared that route to former Phillies' reliever Toby Borland (a story provided by fellow Bleacher Report contributor, Mike Lacy.) I compared Domonic Brown to Darryl Strawberry, and some way, some how, managed to link Hunter Pence's career statistics to... Aubrey Huff?!

As always, thanks for reading, and I appreciate any feedback you have to offer!

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