Baseball’s back, and so too are its critics. When it comes to Major League Baseball there is never a dearth of issues to talk about, or in this case blog about. Whether it’s the steroid controversy, the best prospects, the game’s greatest rivalries, or who should be traded – if you look hard enough you’re sure to find a blog dealing with the issue. Here are 10 blogs about Major League Baseball to get you started.
1. Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings is a very informative Major League Baseball blog that provides a wealth of information from around the league. This blog provides previews of games of the day, links to other worthy baseball news, answers questions from readers (and even included a chart in one of his recent answers about the longest a team has gone without a save to start a season), and has one of the best blogrolls (links to baseball blogs that I’ve never seen anywhere else). Baseball Musings is worth checking a few times a day is it is updated throughout.
2. MLB Trade Rumors
Just as the title suggests, this blog is devoted to Major League Baseball trade rumors. At the moment we are still in the young stages of the season, but as the weeks go by the trade rumors will definitely heat up. In the meantime, you can find out about contract extensions (like the one the Atlanta Braves just gave closer John Smoltz) or who might get dangled as trade bait later on (Oakland Athletics’ young ace Rich Harden). Some of the most interesting posts on this blog are about the trades that didn’t happen (Alfonso Soriano a Red Sox?).
3. Sox and Pinstripes
A blog about arguably the best rivalry in all of a professional sports – The Boston Red Sox and The New York Yankees. With an interesting design, a red column on the left side of the page with a photo of Fenway Park and a list of Red Sox and Yankees links, a navy blue column on the right with a photo of Yankee Stadium and a list of general baseball links, and a gray larger middle column where the copy is posted, this blog has a dynamic feel. The best time to visit Sox and Pinstripes is while the Sox and Yanks are engaged in a series with each other. Then, you get more thorough posts, game notes, and a great feature in their in-game blogging which provides real time info on the game being played.
4. Baseball America Prospectus
While this is a list of blogs about Major League Baseball, this blog deserves inclusion on the list because it provides an introduction to future Major Leaguers. What Baseball America Prospectus does is report on Minor League ballplayers. It includes news from around the Minors and highlights individual stand-out performances by players. The blog also reports on Major League call-ups. On the right side of the blog there are links to other sites devoted to soon-to-be professionals, like a draft blog and a college blog.
5. Babes Love Baseball
Babes Love Baseball written by two babes who love baseball, Lizzy and Sooze, is the only blog on the list written by women. To me that fact is actually irrelevant because other than the title, there’s nothing specifically female about this blog. The Babes pull a lot of information from outside sources and include it in their posts about teams from all around the Major Leagues. One of my favorite things about this blog is the blogroll on the left with links to many teams in MLB.
6. Baseball Toaster
This blog is set on a very simple template, and therefore very easy to read. Baseball Toaster is actually a collection of blogs that contains posts about teams from all around the league. Since the writing is not just from one perspective you can get many different styles of writing and types of information. In addition to MLB related posts, there are posts about baseball worldwide. Just recently there was a post about the formation of a new baseball league in Israel which will begin its season on June 24.
7. We Should Be GM’s
Bloggers Corey and Carson devote their writings to the two Major League Baseball teams in Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Pirates and The Philadelphia Phillies. Even if you aren’t a fan of either team, We Should Be GM’s still worth reading. This blog contains some great humor, in both the copy (“Not Funny- Our resident fatty Donut-Eater Jon Lieber wasting away (his talent that is, not his actual girth) in the bullpen.”) and the photos.
8. Baseball’s Steroid Era
The steroid issue in Major League Baseball is not going away. In fact, in the coming months baseball fans will hear more and more about it with suspected abuser Barry Bonds fat approaching Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record. Along with all the updated news about steroids and the MLB, there is a list posted of all the admitted steroid users, the implicated users, and those who have tested positive.
9. 38 Pitches
Love him or hate him, one can never accuse Red Sox ace Curt Schilling of being a dull guy. Long at odds with the media, Schilling formed the blog 38 Pitches to speak directly to the fans without the interference of the professional media. Posts usually include things like general team observations, reactions to media coverage, and question and answer sessions with fans. 38 Pitches has been even more interesting of late due to the accusation from Orioles announcer Gary Thorne that the bloody sock of the 2004 Playoffs was really a painted sock.
10. Knuckle Curve
Knuckle Curve contains baseball news from around the league, but does seem a bit sidetracked by the controversies that brew in the Major Leagues. With posts on Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants, as well as Curt Schilling and bloody sock controversy, and the Tori Hunter champagne error, Knuckle Curve goes beyond the diamond for its content.
