This is an analysis free post, but I have several site-related odds and ends I’ve been wanting to mention.
First, you may have noticed a link labeled ROSTER up in the navigation bar. If you haven’t visited, it has the complete 40 man roster as well as links to various stat sites for each player. There are links to Baseball Prospectus, Baseball Reference, Baseball Cube, and Retrosheet for each player where there are stats available. Also, if you want to search for times this site has mentioned a particular player, each player’s name is a link to just such a search. I plan to add a couple more data sources including ESPN and Baseball Musings Day by Day database.
Also in the navbar, there is a link to subscribe to the RSS feed. The SUBSCRIBE link will take you to a page with various chicklets for the most popular feed readers, and an email subscribe feature as well. This way you can easily stay up to date on various Tiger happenings.
I’ve also added a feature in the sidebar that shows the most recent comments. I don’t know if this provides any value, but it was easy to do.
You also may have noticed that I’m posting quite a bit more frequently than I have in past seasons. In the past I’ve done more deep dive analysis, and fewer game recaps. I’ll try to do both, but I don’t know that I can keep up the pace. I still hope that you guys are finding value in what I manage to post.
One newer type of post I’d like to find a way to keep doing is the minor league wraps. I’ve received some nice feedback, and it is actually valuable for me to do. I’ve kept an eye on the minors in the past, but not on an everyday basis.
Finally, I want to thank all of you that keep coming back. This is already my biggest month ever for unique visitors (~400/day) and page views per day (~850). This breaks last months previous highs and there are still a few days to go. I offer my utmost gratitude to all the other bloggers who have linked to me, to those who have told friends, to those who have posted my articles on message boards, and to anybody who has helped spread the word about the site.
This is a labor of love, but a winning team and growing traffic numbers definitely help keep the motivation levels high.
Billfer, the blog is awesome. You’re too much. Links, updates, you name it. You have really kicked things up a notch this year. I’m checking it everyday. Keep up the good work. No vacation allowed.
You’re definitely doing a great job. I’ve been checking the site several times a day.
$0.02:
The gameday threads are definitely a good thing. It gives us a forum to talk about what we’re seeing. You don’t necessarily have to do a write-up for each game though. In most cases, a link to the box score would be more than sufficient.
Then you could save some of your insights/observations for a series recap. That way, we always have a thread to talk in and you’re not burning yourself out trying to post every day.
Definitely keep the focus on the medium and in-depth analysis. I can get game recaps with light analysis anywhere, but the mainstream media skips right by the heavy stuff. That’s your value proposition. The day-to-day stuff should just be enough to build the community and keep it active. Tiny morsels to keep us coming back until you have a full meal ready. 🙂
Jeff’s right.
I like the series wraps, especially the statistical comparisons. The minor league recaps are great too but feel free to get some sleep sometime too.
Thanks for the feedback.
I’ve held off on doing game threads because there are other places that have pretty robust discussions (Like Motown Sports) during games. But it never really occurred to me that people might not visit those other sites. Jeff, you’re absolutely right that it would be a great way to build community. That way you guys aren’t left commenting on an irrelevant post. We’ll start it today and see how it goes.
As for my value proposition, I also agree. I generally try to stay away from explaining what just happened, you can find that anywhere. I typically try to write recaps assuming that you already know what happened, and try to point out other things – at least that’s the goal.
Fancy! And keep it up. Y’know, it’s excellent, intelligent, informative bloggers like you that make me feel perfectly justified in writing the crap I write over at my place. Otherwise I’d feel like the Tigs weren’t getting their due. 😛
No complaints here, fresh and enjoyable everyday. Now we have a team who is poised for a .500 plus season (or more).
Steve
What can I say? Love the site, love the changes, coming here more often then ever. Would love a Game Chatter feature – I’m sure I’ll be a regular once I get MLB TV. Thanks Billfer.
I’ve been away a few days… Keep the minor league wraps coming!