(This is a cross-post of an article I wrote on my professional website years ago. I am closing that site down to save some money.)
A few weeks ago, I closed down my blog on baseball in Tampa Bay. It was a great research project, one I put a lot of hours into, but one I couldn't see continuing from 7,000 miles away. I wrote 1,200 words on why I was putting the site on hiatus and as well why I was not positive the Tampa Bay Rays would ever be able to make things work in Tampa Bay.
Final posts are always tough and I was sad to close it up, but as I mentioned on the blog, it was time.
Little did I expect after writing that post that the Tampa Bay Rays would ship off several of their veteran players, claim to be "rebuilding", and be in the critical crosshairs of many national sports writers.
Even less did I expect to be cited in one of those articles. Definitely a nice surprise.
The USAToday.com article, "The Tampa Bay Rays haven't outdrawn the Lightning in 5 years and desperately need to relocate", was written by baseball writer Ted Berg. I'm pretty sure I have corresponded with Berg a few times on twitter.
In the article, Berg cites me often, writing about my blog overall and then linking to several of my research posts, including my posts on baseball research site Fangraphs.com. All great compliments that made me smile from across the world. Berg sums up my blog well, writing,
Lortz’s site has an incredible wealth of information on the topic and is well worth checking out.
He also sums up my current attitude about Tampa Bay baseball well:
Essentially, a baseball fan in the Tampa area spent years diving deep into data to try to figure out how to make Major League Baseball in the Tampa area work and concluded that, given all the factors in play, it might be hopeless.
Perfectly written.
It is always nice to be recognized as a subject matter expert, especially in the crowded field of sports writing. I was able to bring a unique look at a niche subject. And people in the know read my work and shared it.
That makes the effort all worth while.
