IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

When I put together Bleeding Yankee Blue 5 years ago, it was a goof. You know the story... if you don't read HERE.  Well... it developed into a monster.  But why?  I mean look, we have opinions, but those opinions are opinions of the regular fans, it’s just that many fans don’t have an outlet to express themselves.  And so, I guess when I gave you my straight talk about a goof that Joe Girardi made in a game, or a bad play or good trade, it just resonated.

Over time, many of my writers have expressed themselves freely here on BYB, and I can guarantee you the other sites won't do that.  They’re afraid of not being excepted in Yankee Heaven.

We here at BYB know we’re going to Yankee Heaven, because while we may speak our mind, we also love our team.  But there’s more to it; we love our team as family.  Our readers… our loyal, very loyal readers know what we’re doing here and you embrace, encourage and root us on every day.  You feel like you know us.  You communicate with us on social networks. We talk about baseball, the Yankees and life… and we’re friends… and yes, dare I say… we are now a family too.   It’s pretty incredible.

Bleeding Yankee Blue is a 24/7, 365 days a year free shop.  My writers and I volunteer to write content for all of you to read.  We take it seriously, but we make mistakes.  We are in no way perfect… and that’s OK.   We don’t try to be overwhelming.  We do try to be accurate, fun, informative and daring.    Since our birth we've done that, and now we’ve grown.  We have interviewed many, many baseball folks here... Yankees and non-Yankees and the reason is simple; We are fascinated with baseball people, as well as their lives their friends and their families.  There are those words again… Friends. Family. 

We’ve made many bonds and when I told you a while back how when we interview folks, it’s more of a courting than an interview, I meant it.  The baseball families we’ve met are incredible.  Not only that, our writers, all of us have done things that 5 years ago, we never could have imagined doing.

Look who's at the Joe Torre Gala tonight. @e_morales1804 ! Dedicated to the #BYB readers! Way to go E! pic.twitter.com/yHu1wklPNd

— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) November 14, 2013

Erica Morales can just get on the phone and chat with Laura Posada if we are doing an interview for an upcoming story for BYB.

For me personally, I am lucky enough to communicate with Clay Rapada, Bergen Record Sports writer Pete Caldera, Sharyn and Brendan Ryan, the Hensley family, the Jones family, the Ankiels and more… and it’s because we’re honest folks here and our message is about not only baseball, but about good friends.

If you ask Suzie Pinstripe if she thought she’d be on the Trenton Thunder field to report on Mariano Rivera Night, she would have told you you were crazy.

The point is, this isn’t some fly by night operation that does a story and moves on.  Ike Dimitriadis has been to Sabathia events for us.

Mike O'Hara, already a popular on-air personality, came to Bleeding Yankee Blue and volunteered his time because, he liked the direction BYB was going. All these little things, make a big, popular product.  In short, I'm blessed to be surrounded by hardworking folks.

Bottom line, We’re no factory. We’re thoughtful.  We’re serious about how we present our news and we try to make it entertaining and visually stimulating for you.   I’m gonna be honest with you… the stat nerds, the guys that have been reading the blogs before we even existed... they just don’t get us.  I don’t care.  I want to share something with you... hate.  These are actual quotes from actual haters trying to break BYB's desire. Trust me, you will be offended, but this is just a snapshot of what we get:

"I want you to stop writing shit you piece of shit!!!!! who the fuck do you think you are????"

"this fucking kike with this horrible blog has no idea what he's talking about."

"we got a genius of a GM writing this blog. "hey guise I got the solution, let's just chuck ass loads of cash at the best free agents available, that should win us a WS"  are you like 13?"

"Why don't you and your staff blow me. You stupid. Sos youa blog." 

"Your blog says nothing. How are you so popular again?"

My will will not be broken... We just fired up.  To these folks; you were NEVER my audience.   I’m not trying to sway you. I don’t even want you as a reader.  Stay on your side of the street and leave us alone. Your hate filled comments are baseless.  Your anger is misdirected. You are 1 dimensional, you don’t believe in change and you need to check yourselves.  It's sad, isn't it?

Look, BYB is a movement. No, we’re never looking to change the world… we’re looking to be different.  That’s why we use pop culture. That’s why we have humor and that’s why we have a primarily female audience.  We tapped into something great.  We tapped into something that you passed by.  You’re loss, our gain. Buh-Bye.

We’ve done pretty great things here at Bleeding Yankee Blue.  I even started the #BYBHub to give new baseball bloggers a chance to get some exposure and get read.   We want folks who have dreams to have opportunities and exposure.   It’s for a good cause, and it’s to inspire and motivate new writers in a sports writers world that need alittle kick in the pants.

As Chief of BYB, I believe in my writers. They are amazing, motivated people and my respect for them is at 100%.  They work their butts off in life, and then find time to write something interesting for all of you.  I could not be prouder of them. It’s that family bond that takes us to a different level and better than the rest. I thank them. I believe in them.

And finally, on this Christmas Eve, I thank all of you, our readers.  You found BYB somehow over the years and you stayed with us.

You bought our merchandise and you wear it proud.  You tweet our stories, you talk with us about them. You comment and most importantly, you like us and yes, you get us.

You appreciate what we’re doing here.  I could not be happier about that.  It’s pretty incredible.

Enjoy your holiday.  Love your family, spoil them rotten and do what you do best...Love.

You guys, the BYB Audience are a group of wonderful people.  No matter how life goes, you still find the time to come check out the pages of BYB.  We have over 7100 stories on BYB and we are almost at 4 million views.  Think about that for a second...unreal.

That’s not only amazing… it’s flattering.

Merry Christmas.  Happy New Year…. and most of all… Thank you.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you.  You are great people, family and friends.  I leave you with a quote from one of my favorite Christmas movies… It’s a Wonderful Life…

“Remember no man is a failure who has friends.” 

That’s me.


 

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!  Also, don't forget to check out the BYB Hub!