Peter Gammons, the guitar-playing, Baseball Tonight patriarch who used to share a stage with Harold Reynolds, and now has to settle for Steve Phillips, has discovered blogs. Through the power of the interwebs, Gammons has fallen ass-backward into a cadre of baseball blogs, many of which he lists (ESPN editors must have been in a giving mood; they permitted a URL or two to slide onto the page). You’ll need insider to read this. After the jump, all you non-insider people can get a taste:


“So Internet politics have simply mirrored the world we now know as Internet sports. Sure, some of us old-timers still love a stack of newspapers draped across the front of the StairMaster, or still enjoy sitting at Peet’s with a huge cup of coffee and The New York Times, Post and Daily News. But the reality is that while I try not to miss any of those newspapers, they’re normally read on the Internet before 7 a.m., and there are sites that I never miss: Buster Olney’s blog on ESPN.com; David Pinto’s Baseball Musings; Tim Dierkes’ MLBTradeRumors.com; Baseball Prospectus (hey, Will Carroll’s “Under The Knife” remains the one column that cannot be missed); The Hardball Times; Baseball America; and, because I am from New England and like to be caught up, the Boston Sports Media Watch. I do not want any psychologist to know how many times a day I go to ESPN.com, Baseball Musings or MLBTradeRumors.com to check updates. And, sure, I never miss Curt Schilling.

There are bloggers and sites that savage those in the media who do interact with players and try to spend time understanding their motivations. We don’t have to agree. Joe Sheehan wrote a brilliant piece off a discussion we had about Jack Morris, and while I respect his opinion and am still in awe of his research, I still remember what it was like being around those Tigers, Twins and Blue Jays teams when Morris took the ball and the responsibilities, as opposed to the six-inning wonders who looked into their dugouts. I still believe that Morris was the best of his era, that closing two World Series stands for something and that Game 7 in 1991 defined how he transcended the human elements that so alter the sport. That doesn’t make Sheehan wrong.

But those are parts of a greater landscape of arguments. The fact is that we all know more about baseball because of the proliferation of creative thought. Run through Baseball Think Factory, The Baseball Analysts, Squawking Baseball, Sabernomics, Beyond the Box Score, Dan Agonistes, John Sickels’ minorleagueball.com. For everything, Deadspin.

Unfortunately, time keeps most of us from getting to those sites specific to teams. It’s amazing how many club officials read USS Mariner (Seattle), Fire Brand of the American League (Boston), Ducksnorts (San Diego), Athletics Nation (Oakland), Viva El Birdos (St. Louis), Lone Star Ball (Texas), River Ave. Blues (Yankees), MetsBlog.com, FishStripes (Florida), Dodger Thoughts, Bronx Banter (great writing), The LoHud Yankees Blog, Reds Reporter (Cincinnati), Bleed Cubbie Blue, Brew Crew Ball (Milwaukee) and more.

And you need an update on steroids? Try Baseball’s Steroid Era (an informative blog).”

Yes, you read that correctly – he doesn’t read us. Dammit! At least Scott Van Pelt and Dan LeBatard do – thanks for the radio shout-outs this week, guys!

Cyberspace Exploration (ESPN Insider)