Celebrating The Baseball Bloggers Alliance

While Off Base was just born on May 30, 2010, we could not be prouder members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. And as soon as our esteemed founder Daniel Shoptaw declared December 10th BBA Day, we decided to honor his creation the only way we knew how. Pure nonsense. So I tracked down the MLB headquarters in New York...



And then I sent some of my minions to stage a protest until Major League Baseball recognizes the BBA as the literary force it is. My demands were one press credential to a game of my choosing, a link to the BBA on the MLB.com homepage, three hot dogs and one of those Baskin Robbins sundaes in an Angels helmet...



The results were less than satisfactory. For all of our trouble, we received a stern talking to and a coupon for 35% off of a Fudgie the Whale from Carvel.

Occasionally, I'll stray from the nonsense to write some actual baseball content around here. I couldn't be more grateful to Daniel for starting the BBA to create a haven for all of us baseball nerds to get together and share our opinions on our beloved pastime. I've been blogging about sports for several years now. I started Monkeys Throwing Darts years ago and it had some relative success thanks to the ridiculousness known as the Lingerie Football League. But baseball has always been my true passion and the BBA provides a fantastic support system.

In creating the BBA, Shoptaw has not only given baseball bloggers a venue to gain a greater audience but has created a structure similar to the BBWAA. The BBA was created in April of 2009 but didn't start gaining momentum until September of that year. It now boasts over 230 member blogs ranging from team specific sites to general baseball to fantasy and history.

The BBA votes on the same major awards that the BBWAA does even though Shoptaw was politely asked told to alter the names of said awards in order to not conflict with those of the BBWAA. Surprisingly, the BBA and BBWAA have only differed in the 2009 NL ROY and the 2010 AL MOY awards in the two years of the BBA's existence. A feat that I believe reflects the continuing influence of the blogosphere on the mainstream media. But I do have a pretty high opinion of ourselves.

The BBA also has a weekly radio show on Blog Talk Radio that I somehow fell backasswards into hosting one week. I have not been asked to return even though I felt my 43 minute House of Pain remix of Take Me Out To The Ballgame was groundbreaking.

There's even an App for that. An iPhone app for the BBA was recently released and it is pretty impressive. Julian from Splashing Pumpkins did an amazing job spearheading the project and you should definitely go get the app now. Don't forget to bookmark us! It also begs the question... Where's your app, BBWAA?

I'd love to go on and on about the BBA because we are a proud member and I believe it is still just in its infancy. This is how great institutions are built. Shoptaw has put together an impressive group of intelligent, passionate baseball writers and the future is bright for the BBA. But, if you'll excuse me, I have a BBA Hall of Fame ballot to fill out and these 14 open tabs of Fangraphs aren't going to read themselves.

Want more? Here's an interview with Daniel Shoptaw about the BBA.