Tag Archives: Blog Dealings

What to expect during the off-season on the Baseball Continuum

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Well, now that the World Series is done, you probably are wondering what I’ll be doing to waste away the winter, especially since I won’t have any World Baseball Classic news to fill time with?

Well, here’s a run-down of what’s going to be happening:

  • Whenever possible, I’m going to have listings of places to watch or listen to offseason baseball, whether it be domestic (Arizona Fall League) or foreign (Caribbean, Australia, Asia, etc.). As I’ve mentioned before, I’d like to keep it to either official and/or legal sources- this is not a bootlegging pirate blog. Also, as an aside, the phrase “bootlegging pirate blog” is awesome. If you know of such games or sites, let me know. Video can be in any language, but radio-only stuff needs to be in English.
  • Bizarre Baseball Culture will become more frequent, preferably with maybe one or two a month, sometimes three, if I come across something that is total gold and/or fits current events well (for example, I had a Cardinals-related comic ready to be covered if St. Louis had won the World Series).
  • You’ll see the return of the Baseball Card Haiku Project that you may remember from July and August.
  • Out of the Park Baseball posts! What if certain points of baseball history had gone differently (earlier integration, for example)? What if there was a “Real” World Series? Stuff like that.
  • And, of course, there are always things nobody is expecting, and much of that will probably follow from what happens this off-season.

1,000th Post Spectacular: The Best (So Far) of the Baseball Continuum

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If my WordPress is to be believed, this is my 1,000th post on the Baseball Continuum! So, let’s take a look back at some of the best posts here:

The First “Big” Post

The first “big” post here, the first to get any attention beyond the small group of friends and family that I told about the Continuum, was Baseball in the Year 2044: A look at “Rockets on the Mound”. The look I did at the obscure 1950s baseball sci-fi story was written about over on Hardballtalk, and It provided the template and something of a prologue to the Bizarre Baseball Culture segments I’ve done, which are probably the most popular things on this site.

The Most Viewed Posts

The top 10 most-viewed posts on the site all have to do with the World Baseball Classic, which isn’t surprising, given the fact I was one of maybe eight on the baseball blogosphere (at least in English) to give it the time of day and may well have been the first to start projecting out rosters. The most popular post that isn’t WBC related? Why, it’s the first Marvel/AAA Baseball Crossover. In case any of you who have read it missed it, I’ve actually talked to that comic’s writer as well as Chris Hill, who was one of the main people who made that promotion happen. The most viewed post that doesn’t involve the WBC or Bizarre Baseball Culture in any way was the post about strangest stadiums.

My Favorite Posts to Write

Two posts come to mind as my favorite to write, in no particular order:

The first is the one about international team names, just because it was so fun looking at all of the creative names abroad. One team, the Bolton Robots of Doom, liked it so much they sent me a t-shirt. I really need to find that t-shirt, it’s around here somewhere….

The second was the one on favorite baseball memories, simply because I was so glad and a little surprised at all of the ones I got back. I was expecting some from some of the bloggers I’d been in contact with before, but I was pleasantly surprised when I heard from some big-name writers and/or editors like Joe Posnanski, Howard Megdal and John Manuel. Besides, it was just cool to see all those memories.

Stupidest Post

This one. What was I thinking?

Most hilarious-in-hindsight post

The time I wrote an obituary for the 2012 Baltimore Orioles’ playoff hopes.

The One With the Most Photos

Probably the post on the Pepsi Legends game.

The post that got the most attention in my hometown

The Rochester Red Wings tweeted and Facebooked about my post about Jeff Clement and a miracle comeback.

The one that got the most attention in Hollywood

My recent post on Parks and Recreation‘s tie-in book got the attention of both show co-creator Michael Schur and Mets reliever David Aardsma.

And finally…

Thanks to everyone who has been reading the Continuum, promoting/linking to it, and helping to make it possible! The best is yet to come, and here’s to 1,000 more!

Just a heads up: My Twitter account has been suspended for some reason

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Just a bit of a heads up: my Twitter account has been suspended for some reason. I’m not sure why, since I only tweet out sports stuff and the occasional popular culture quip, but somehow I’ve been suspended. Obviously, this was done in error, and I am trying to get it fixed and back to running as normal.

Thanks for understanding.

Coming Up in Bizarre Baseball Culture

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Some of you may be wondering what the next installments of Bizarre Baseball Culture will be. Well, here’s a little sneak preview- not really giving out exactly what and exactly when, but some good hints:

Actual Books: There hasn’t been a Bizarre Baseball Culture on fully-written material since the short story that acted as a prologue to this feature. That will soon change, as I am currently reading two books that fit into the realm of Bizarre Baseball Culture. One of them involves time travel, the other involves the Frankenstein Monster. I’m not sure what one I will do, but one of these WILL be the next installment.

Ultimate Sports Force: At the turn of the century, there was a comic company called Ultimate Sports Force that made it’s name making giveaway comics that depicted athletes as actually being superheroes. I have obtained some of these comics, and I can confirm they are as crazy as you could think. How crazy? Well, as I told Michael “Old Time Family Baseball” Clair on Twitter, one of them involves four members of the New York Yankees fighting off meteor-monsters by order of Cal Ripken Jr. and the United States Military. Go back and read that sentence again, and not look for the pieces of your mind, as it has just been blown. Expect to see some Ultimate Sports Force comics between now and winter, although I’m not quite sure of the order yet.

Public Domain Comics: The backbone of early Bizarre Baseball Culture installments, there still are some tales left to tell from way back. There is, however, one public domain story I will not be doing, at least anytime soon: a Captain Marvel Jr. story in which he goes and helps American POWs in a game against the Japanese. The reason I am not covering it is because it is incredibly racist, and even considering that it was a product of being in wartime, I don’t feel comfortable printing any images of it here.

Television: There are other television things I’ll be covering, both live action and cartoon. They will range from shorts like the Goofy segment to longer-form things like the Pokemon and the Pinky and the Brain episodes.

So, keep an eye open….

Do you have any suggestions for “Bizarre Baseball Culture”? Let me know.

Baseball Card Haiku Project on temporary hold

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The Baseball Card Haiku Project is going to be on a temporary hold over the next week or so. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Continuum Week in Review (7-29 to 8-4) and Preview (8-5 to 8-11)

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This past week on the Continuum:

This coming week….

  • The usual features
  • An installment of Bizarre Baseball Culture. Maybe two, actually.
  • And plenty of things I haven’t thought of yet!

Bumper Stickers!

Aside

Baseball Continuum bumper stickers are now a thing. So are T-Shirts, but there aren’t as many of those.

 

So, yeah, keep an eye open for more updates on how YOU can get a bumper sticker (as well as, y’know, what they look like).

Continuum Week in Review (7-22 to 7-28) and Preview (7-29 to 8-4)

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This past week:

  • MVPs of Yesterday included Felix Hernandez and Davis Price.
  • The Baseball Card Haiku Project started- it’ll run on weekdays until I run out of baseball cards from the assorted pack I found.
  • Pinky and the Brain played baseball.
  • I did a book review of Cellar Dwellers.
  • I humorously discussed how the Alex Rodriguez saga could end.

This coming week:

  • The usual features like MVP of Yesterday and the Baseball Card Haiku Project.
  • Perhaps another Bizarre Baseball Culture.
  • Another Book Review.
  • A look at why some players have been struggling since the All-Star Break, while others have improved.
  • And more!

The Baseball Continuum $ells Out

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You probably will have noticed that there are now more ads here at the Continuum. Well, that’s no surprise, as I have asked WordPress to move me up to the “optimized” version of WordAds, which means that the site will have more ads and (hopefully) I’ll get a bit more money. As always, I’d like to note that this change is not due to any type of greed but rather as a way of improving the Continuum itself, with proceeds going back towards the site, such as paying hosting fees, keeping certain softwares and equipment in order, and perhaps acquiring items for future Bizarre Baseball Culture use.

In addition, you’ll notice that the main header image at the top of the page is gone. This is mainly an aesthetic change to allow for you to see the newest story upon opening the page- otherwise you would have had to scroll down due to the space the top advertisement takes up. In the future, I intend on fiddling around a bit with the theme and perhaps reintroduce the top header image- maybe even a new one entirely- and perhaps get a better format for reading the articles.

If you have any questions or problems, please let me know.

Thanks!

Continuum Week In Review (7/8-7/14) and Week Ahead (7/15-7/21)

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This week on the Continuum…

This coming week:

  • The usual features
  • All-Star Stuff
  • Some things that I had meant to have this past week but had to be pushed back, including a Bizarre Baseball Culture, a book review, and a full review of Out of the Park Baseball 14.
  • Things to watch for in the second half
  • And more!