As the creator and head writer of Bleeding Yankee Blue, I would just like to say how special this moment is for me. We are in our 8th year here and while writers have come and gone, our core is strong and continue to put out valuable and entertaining content to a group of fun loving, happy and wonderful individuals.
Many of you have been with us since the beginning. Some are new to the product. No matter... it's good to see you, to have a dialog with many of you and to chat through social media after you read some of our posts.
You are our loyal fans and readers. Not only that, you are the reason why Bleeding Yankee Blue is in existence. You make this fun. We love to write for you. We love to share our views. In short... we love you.
Now, I've softened over the years. In the beginning of BYB I was very much about making noise, getting into arguments and stirring stuff up. I liked causing trouble and none of it had to do with clicks. All of it had to do with my passion for the game, the Yankees and writing. But after a while, seeing the way social media has gotten a little nutty and scary, I stopped all that garbage. Why? Because life's too short. My family is growing up. I'm getting older... I know what's truly important in my life and what's not.
I don't care about debating people on politics for I will never change their mind. I don't debate people about Yankee trades and who's a better player. Fans are fans because of all types of reasons and sometimes you just can't change a point of view. And you know what? That's what makes being a fan so great. And that's where discussion... not hate, comes into view.
We love our audience here at BYB because we have respectful banter, see each other's points and are never nasty and hateful. It makes me feel good about what we have here.
Look, even when it comes to this Bill Ballou character and his article about how he's not putting Mariano Rivera on his ballot because he doesn't think 'Saves' are a big achievement based on stats and innings pitched per game. Yankeeland has gone crazy on this guy the past week.
Here's the thing... Mariano Rivera is one of the greatest closers ever. We as Yankee fans see it more than anyone and so, when a guy like that writes opinion like that, a Boston writer and Boston fan by the way, we grow angry. But why? Why are you guys so pissed? Who cares about Bill Ballou?
The bottom line is Mariano WILL get into the Hall of Fame. He's a lock actually. Who the hell cares is it's unanimous or not? Not I. I took my reasonable view to Twitter and made my points to Mr. Ballou directly. And it was respectful...
@BillBallouTG There’s some sense to your saves point. Problem is baseball invented the counting of “saves” making it another record to attack fans. Your argument against Mo falls empty however because he had a job and did it... better than his peers.— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) December 23, 2018
@BillBallouTG you not voting for him is your perogrative. I wouldn’t care if you ever vote for him. But in this era of baseball, Matheny, Francona, or you aside...Movdid something for the good of baseball whether you like it or not.— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) December 23, 2018
In the end though, while this Bill Ballou tries to stir crap up... he doesn't have the decency to respond. My question to that is why? Why have an article in which you know is going to cause a stir and then go radio silent with no dialog between the readers and the writer? Makes no sense. It's bad journalism in this day and age of social media. And that's why BYB was created. Banter is important.@BillBallouTG P.S. you don’t sound much like a sports writer as much as you do a whiny Boston fan. Which is fine by the way, but be more forthcoming with that information. That’s why you’re getting crucified. Merry Christmas.— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) December 23, 2018
We love the dialog between readers and us writers. We know you aren't going to always agree, but we also aren't hiding under our desks trying to avoid you. Again... we appreciate you.
BYB is not only a Yankee fan site, it's a family.
Over the years we have made amazing friends. We don't just talk about the Yankees... we also talk about our families and jobs and what we did last summer.
We have bonded, making life long friendships that will never end.
Our words about the Yankees and about baseball, while unique and sometimes obvious, is because we have a passion for this team. Without writers and BYB Managing Editors Suzie Pinstripe and Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa, BYB would have a tricky time surviving. That's because they truly offer a glimpse into a baseball world uniquely crafted from the female fan perspective. A view that wasn't always prominent in the sports blog world when we showed up in 2010. But I feel like since our existence, we've brought that perspective to the forefront.
BYB also tapped into a female audience... an audience not fed in the Baseball blog world. The reason is simple... for years when you thought about baseball blogs, you thought about nerdy men with statistics and WAR chatter about who is better through the numbers only. I hate that... it's a small way of looking at things. Offering a common sense approach and offering hard opinion as well was my vision, and add in that missing female component, both author and audience … and now a new world of bloggers and blog readers were born. We've succeeded in that vision. Bleeding Yankee Blue has become appointment web surfing and we are happy to serve you.
BYB is a mainstream Yankee blog. We thank you for such an amazing audience. We are now read all over the world and have nearly 6 million 42 hundred thousand visits since our infancy. That's not by accident, folks. People like us.
It's the perfect formula of our writers, our passion and you, the audience who come to us every day to not only check out Yankee news, but to check out baseball news and sometimes even a vent session about life and respect in general.
Thank you.
Thank you for always being there for us. You are truly the most dedicated and amazing audience ever. I know that many blogs out there have a following, and that's great, but there is something special about this one.
Your engagement with us is fascinating. You make writing fun. You make social media, a nasty, horrible place fun as well.
I personally appreciate you all. I know that Jeana and Suzie do too. And it's funny... we all write stuff here, and we all have a certain group of readers that follow us individually. But when we put it all together, it's strength in numbers, a truly unique and special audience.
It's the BYB audience and you're amazing! I cannot say it enough.
Thank you to my writers. Suzie and Jeana, you ARE special. No one better and no one that I'd rather have in my life. You are wonderful. I love your family milestones... I like checking in with your families and seeing everyone grow up. It's special.
I leave you with this. A clip that was created for me on Facebook to kind of encapsulate the year and years past. Truth be told... I wish I could encapsulate the entire 8 years in one shot. It's been a trip and we wouldn't be here without you.
Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2019, full of brand new BYB gear and hopefully we get that BYB podcast off the ground. This I will promise!
Thank you for everything.
--Robert Casey
BYB Chief, Managing Editor & Head Writer
Twitter: @BleednYankeeBlu
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