A Different Kind of Rookie of the Year
Let me start this off by wishing everyone of my readers, anonymous or not, fans and detractors, a belated Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Saturnalia, and of course, a happy anticipated New Year. Though there are still five days before 2014 officially rings in, I thought I’d use this post as my 2013 closeout.
First off, I’d like to give a shout out to a really awesome guy. I don’t know him personally, and I probably never will (unless he would be interested in giving his opinions on The Final Out,) Here’s a guy who this year made his debut on Around the Horn and essentially blew his competition away. He’s beaten the likes of Bill Plaschke, Tim Cowlishaw, Bomani Jones, Jackie MacMullan, J.A Adande, Israel Gutierrez, Frank Isola, Kevin Blackistone, Bob Ryan, heck, in this year’s Tournament of Champions, he beat the all-time king of Around the Horn, Woody Paige by making Rocket Frog his picture of the year. This guy is also a man of the people, after each show, he takes the time to tweet his fans. If you haven’t guessed who it is already, then you’ve either been living under a rock or you don’t watch the show. This is a shout out to Pablo Torre, the ESPN writer and one of the two New York based panelists on the show. Congratulations Pablo on your successful ATH debut, and best of luck next year.
This year has been nothing short of crazy. What started as a branch off of writing for another website, to which I no longer write for, although I still have the rights to the podcast that they gave me, branched into something I thought it wouldn’t be. I covered my first MLB draft in depth, posting my first two MLB mock drafts (and failing miserably for the most part). I interviewed three baseball prospects, Mets pitcher Michael Fulmer, Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon, and current Padres first baseman Alex Dickerson, as well as ball hawker Zack Hample. I essentially kissed the butt of one of the top prospects for the 2014 draft, in exchange for a chance to interview him (which by the way, will happen this coming May.) I blasted San Francisco Giants fans for stuffing the All-Star ballot, went against the grain by saying that Yasiel Puig did not deserve a spot on the All-Star team, and attended the All-Star Futures game for the first time. I offered my two cents on the 2013 NFL quarterback rookie class, as well as the Redskins controversy, and Bullygate. And finally, I questioned why Shin-Soo Choo got such a ridiculous amount of money for an extended period of time. You liked my opinions at times, and at others, you called me an idiot. And you know what? In a small way, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I feel that this blog could effectively go on for a while. MLBlogs has been too kind to me, and I’m glad that I’m using this platform to write my opinions on certain sports topics.
I’m going to clue you in on some new stuff for 2014. First, I’m going to do my MLB mock draft earlier this year. Instead of May, like last year, I’ll have it up by April. Secondly, I will be making an official twitter account for Prospects2Pros. Thirdly, I will be asking for more fan input, so if you would be so kind as to offer suggestions to me as to make this blog better, I will appreciate it. Lastly, I promise you that there will be more podcast episodes, provided I can get into contact with some people. Maybe they will be prospects, maybe they will be with other journalists. Whatever it is, 2014 will be a much better year for Prospects2Pros then its debut year.
Once again, Thank you for reading and I wish you all a happy new year.
