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Welcome, Rob Neyer

Wbc_029_tiny by Jeff Sullivan on in Around Major League Baseball

In case you haven't heard by now, we can finally reveal some super exciting news: Rob Neyer has joined the SBNation family, and here's his first post. Rob's coming over from ESPN, where he'd been for the majority of my time on this planet, and as evidenced by the fact that he was atop Google Hot Topics earlier this morning, he's kind of a big deal.

You'll be able to find Rob's writing on the main MLB page, and I look forward to working with him to make that page more of a destination. I was a little uncertain at first, since I'm not real wild about strangers, but it turns out Rob lives just a few blocks away from me and he's recently bought me lunch a handful of times, so now I'm totally on board. Buy me a lunch and I'm putty in your fingers.

Some of you might remember that, about four years ago, Rob asserted that Michael Young was the best position player in the AL West, and I flipped out in response. 21-year-old me decided the best course of action was to label Rob a has-been, and I'm pretty sure 21-year-old me believed it. But 21-year-old me believed a lot of things, and now that post just looms there awkwardly in the historical record. From the first time I met Rob in person a few weeks back, when we knew we'd be working together:

Me: Hey Rob, so in the interest of full disclosure, about four years ago you said that Michael Young was the best player in the AL West and I said that you'd lost it.
Me: I'm pretty sure I called you irrelevant.
Rob: That was you?
Me:
Rob:

But Rob knows how to let shit like that roll right off his back - he followed that up by buying my breakfast - and we've both learned a lot in the years since. I've learned not to be a complete idiot all the time, and Rob's learned that maybe he overrated Michael Young after all. (Victory!)

So anyway, Rob's going to make this company an awful lot better, and if you weren't already reading him before, now's the time to start. This is a really, really good day.

Comment 239 comments  |  3 recs  | 

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Comments

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Best news of the year so far.

I remember 12 year old me reading Rob on espnet.sportszone.com and being awestruck about these new stats like OPS and being able to read something new about baseball practically every day (not in the newspaper) just blew my mind. Hopefully Rob stops by, probably not at a gamethread though.

by hcoguy on Feb 1, 2011 9:20 AM PST reply actions  

GTE is a wonderful thing that should be shared with all

Because everyone else should suffer along with us.

by Eyebrows on Feb 1, 2011 9:25 AM PST via mobile up reply actions  

To hell with sharing GTE.

GTE only works when it’s genuine. People trying to fit in by faking extreme reactions is one of the biggest problems with game threads 2.0

by Matthew on Feb 1, 2011 9:28 AM PST up reply actions   6 recs

This is too awesome for words.

Is that the light at the end of the tunnel, or the headlights of an oncoming train?

by Benne on Feb 1, 2011 9:42 AM PST reply actions  

eh

Neyer left ESPN to write a blog at SB Nation? Isn’t that a giant step down? Like maybe not even on the same ladder? That’s sad news…

by WellsO on Feb 1, 2011 10:09 AM PST reply actions  

It may be a step down in total page views or ad revenue dollars or in being on a site that isn't a global behemoth

but Neyer being a part of SBN is the exact opposite of sad news. I don’t know if you’ve heard the news, but it’s not 1998 any more and “blogs” like SBN are a legitimate part of the sports conversation these days.

by pdb on Feb 1, 2011 10:15 AM PST up reply actions  

Also, it's good news for SBN regardless of where he was coming from.

Cliff Lee getting traded from Philadelphia to Seattle turned out to be a giant step down for him. We didn’t care; it was still great news for us.

by Matthew on Feb 1, 2011 10:16 AM PST up reply actions   5 recs

Hrm, yeah. Blogs at SB Nation are as legitimate and major a part of the sports conversation as a widely read column at ESPN. Keep believing that, if you’d like. Meanwhile, Neyer will preach to the small audience of the converted while the unwashed masses no longer have someone fighting to convert them. It’s not great news.

by WellsO on Feb 1, 2011 10:19 AM PST up reply actions  

And I didn't say 'as major as'

I’m not stupid. I know ESPN is bigger. But bigger does not mean better.

by pdb on Feb 1, 2011 10:20 AM PST up reply actions  

Hey, I like a lot of the blogs at SB Nation. I’m just not willing to pretend that it has the reach and cache of a column at ESPN, nor (and more importantly) the ability to get new ideas out to the mainstream, where they can be most useful.

by WellsO on Feb 1, 2011 10:21 AM PST up reply actions  

pdb agreed that SBN blogs do not have the readership of ESPN.com

That said, I do suspect you’re underestimating the size and scope of SBN. It has a pretty major online presence.

by katal on Feb 1, 2011 10:22 AM PST up reply actions  

But my central point

Was really about the aspect of preaching to the choir here versus showing new ideas to people at ESPN. Yeah, his comments section at ESPN was often a fighty and poorly written mess, but he was putting new ideas in the face of people who had not come across them, and in that effort, really doing a service to the sabermetric community, or “cause” if you will. I feel like that’s something Neyer’s widely (and rightly) credited with and applauded for. I can’t see that continuing at SB Nation.

by WellsO on Feb 1, 2011 10:25 AM PST up reply actions  

I think you're equating SBN as being part of the stat-friendly community.

While that’s certainly true of sites like Lookout Landing, it isn’t the case for the SBN baseball blogs as a whole. There are still plenty of SBN readers who are either unfamiliar with or distrusting of advanced statistics.

by katal on Feb 1, 2011 10:29 AM PST up reply actions   1 recs

SBN is not always "the choir" though

the individual team sites might be what you describe, sure, but SBNation itself is as much a general sports site as ESPN, even if it’s a fraction of the size. I think you’re underestimating SBN a bit.

by pdb on Feb 1, 2011 10:29 AM PST up reply actions  

ESPN still has people doing that.

Keith Law is a pretty big presence there. They have a regular Stats and Info blog and have features articles from Fangraphs authors. Neyer leaving ESPN doesn’t eliminate the “informative” contingent there. It may remove a major name but he was there for 14 years.

by Mariner John on Feb 1, 2011 11:19 AM PST up reply actions  

I never once said it had the reach and cache of ESPN

but it’s not like SBN flies under the radar, exactly. To compare any site to the biggest sports site on the planet is a bit foolish.

I also don’t think it’s an either/or – if people liked Neyer on ESPN, they’ll find him here and still like him, and thus the process to which you refer will continue. it’s not like he’s hiding, or that a Google search for Rob Neyer will return no results after he left ESPN.

by pdb on Feb 1, 2011 10:24 AM PST up reply actions  

Neyer at ESPN was a lot like healthy food at McDonald's

Their intentions were good –offering a smart, healthy alternative to market in desperate need of such – but, the sad reality is, people don’t go to McDonald’s to eat healthy. They go to McDonald’s to gorge their fat asses on Big Macs and Double Quarter Pounders.

by ThomasG on Feb 1, 2011 10:32 AM PST up reply actions  

And he's not going to be stuck behind the "Insider" toll gate

I just won’t pay extra to read drivel like the “insider” stuff that Gammons posted.

by New England Fan on Feb 1, 2011 12:08 PM PST up reply actions  

To be fair, Neyer's stuff wasn't behind the 'insider' wall

It started out free, then went behind the paywall, then reverted to free again.

by marc w on Feb 1, 2011 12:58 PM PST up reply actions  

I stopped looking at ESPN when Neyer went PPV

Guess I should have looked again. It just annoyed me that every time I clicked on one of his headlines I got the login screen. I stopped going there because I didn’t want to be disappointed,

by New England Fan on Feb 1, 2011 4:59 PM PST up reply actions  

He will, at least for a while, be reaching a smaller audience

But that audience is by no means composed of the already-converted, and additionally, this job will afford Neyer more freedom than he had in his old position, which is a big perk for him. He can swear here!

by Jeff Sullivan on Feb 1, 2011 10:32 AM PST up reply actions  

And while it's a smaller audience,

Doesn’t this move alone stand as reason to believe that SBN is getting kinda big? Why else would a very accomplished, well-known writer leave a huge site like ESPN?

by tootthekazoo on Feb 1, 2011 10:37 AM PST up reply actions  

I worded the end of that poorly

Obviously there would be all kinds of reasons to leave, but the point I was going for was the first part of my comment. The move alone is some kind of validation that SBN is more than just a simple blog network at this point.

He probably left because he couldn’t handle the rigors and pressure of being part of the biggest sports website. Some guys just aren’t cut out for the Yankees ESPN

by tootthekazoo on Feb 1, 2011 10:55 AM PST up reply actions  

My guess

SBN is, in fact, getting quite big and is looking to make the next push forward. They decided to put of chunk of their latest round of venture capital into snagging an accomplished writer. One who would bring his own loyal base of readers and instantly confer a stamp of credibility. SBN may simply have had good timing: ESPN, while massive and far-reaching, will sometimes lowball.

All guesses but it looks like a really shrewd move however you slice it.

by lemonverbena on Feb 1, 2011 10:56 AM PST up reply actions  

Also, Rob probably doesn't like writing at ESPN

The comments… yuch.

Skip Schumaker is a scapegoat

by vivaelpujols on Feb 1, 2011 10:40 PM PST up reply actions  

His old message board was great

At one point, Neyer had his own board on ESPN and it was the most vibrant sabermetric discussion community anywhere on the web. This was right around the time Usenet and rec.sport.baseball were being phased out. But the message board was inexplicably dropped. (I was a semi-regular posting under the name jeffjt.)

by Suburban Shocker on Feb 2, 2011 7:36 AM PST up reply actions  

SB Nation is smaller. Rob Neyer is huge for SBN, and will increase SBN's readership. When SBN's readership increases, more people are exposed to new methods of statistical analysis.

Rob’s getting less readership, and probably less money, but he’s helping further bridge the gap between the mainstream and blogs, so that is why it’s a good day.

by BrettJMiller on Feb 1, 2011 11:04 AM PST up reply actions  

I read the Neyer article before coming here

And as soon he excerpted your post I remembered exactly where it came from. I can’t believe that was 2006, it feels like it was only six months ago or so. Jeff Sullivan: How to make friends and influence people.

Stats are not a euphemism for tits

by Trenchtown on Feb 1, 2011 10:43 AM PST reply actions  

Rob n' me

I can trace my interest in sabermetrics to a day more than 10 years ago when an acquaintance told me I looked like some ESPN baseball writer I’d never heard of named Rob Neyer. I decided to go look the handsome fella up. After deciding I looked nothing like him (except for the no-lips thing), I became interested in the stuff he was writing about. The rest is history.

by Suburban Shocker on Feb 1, 2011 11:14 AM PST reply actions  

What happened to your lips?

I’m going to guess chemical fire.

by Lanky on Feb 1, 2011 11:15 AM PST up reply actions  

Just crazy genes

Like this pic of Neyer – “Link”:
http://www.sabr.org/cmsimgs/Rick%20with%20Rob%20Neyer.JPG

That’s Rob on the right. No upper lip to speak of. I even had an e-mail exchange with Neyer about this, several years ago.

by Suburban Shocker on Feb 1, 2011 11:30 AM PST up reply actions  

I'll never look at his mugshot the same way.

Just because this post may not contain a pun, I have not surrendered my pun-alienable rights.

by thehemogoblin on Feb 1, 2011 4:33 PM PST up reply actions  

Awesome.

Angels fans deserve their front office.

by jwiscarson on Feb 1, 2011 11:26 AM PST up reply actions  

Not according to tolbs1010 over there at HH

“Neyer is not a good writer

He knows it. It shows in the self-deprecating wussiness of his style. Poor hire by SB Nation. Why bring on a retread like Neyer? Should have hired someone who actually has something to say."

by pdb on Feb 1, 2011 12:50 PM PST up reply actions  

2 more STDs?

M's fan in the Bay, soon to be LA

by perfectstrat on Feb 1, 2011 1:34 PM PST up reply actions  

damnit

M's fan in the Bay, soon to be LA

by perfectstrat on Feb 1, 2011 1:34 PM PST up reply actions  

Fact

California stays put!

by pdb on Feb 1, 2011 1:32 PM PST up reply actions  

That's bad!

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Feb 1, 2011 1:36 PM PST up reply actions  

Isn't the asshole always in the bottom half?

"Making hitmen legal would really help the unemployment rate."-Thingray

by ToddK on Feb 1, 2011 2:47 PM PST up reply actions  

Stupid enough to forget the "much" between "How" and "stupider"

I wouldn’t recommend doing it again, that is for sure.

Stats are not a euphemism for tits

by Trenchtown on Feb 1, 2011 12:18 PM PST up reply actions  

I will concede that,

If you tell me how to make the crossed out equal sign so I don’t have to use !=

Stats are not a euphemism for tits

by Trenchtown on Feb 1, 2011 1:05 PM PST up reply actions  

In his defense that's the only way to do it

there’s no alt code for the crossed out equals sign, it’s a unicode character, so you have to copy and paste it from word or from the web somewhere.

by pdb on Feb 1, 2011 2:10 PM PST up reply actions  

The Vernon Wells joke was pretty good.

But the rest, wow.

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Feb 1, 2011 1:23 PM PST up reply actions  

Matthew, how many other writers on SBNation write for Fangraphs?

I can think of R.J. Anderson, but who else?

M's fan in the Bay, soon to be LA

by perfectstrat on Feb 1, 2011 1:36 PM PST up reply actions  

Graham has not written an article at fangraphs in a while.

I think he’s more of a contributor, but he’s awesome too.

M's fan in the Bay, soon to be LA

by perfectstrat on Feb 1, 2011 1:47 PM PST up reply actions  

I wasn't really thinking in terms of writers that write for both.

More like an appreciation of the two developing as relative powers in the “new media” movement in baseball reporting and analysis. I’d love to see the arms race continue to the point where FG and SBN are where you go for good content and analysis and ESPN is where you go for Joe Morgan. Here’s hoping that Jonah Keri and Rob Neyer are just the beginning.

by moyerLIVES on Feb 1, 2011 1:42 PM PST up reply actions  

ESPN will always be where you go for news

and I cannot stress strongly enough that for all their faults, ESPN does a great job of reporting the news

by seattlebruin on Feb 1, 2011 1:43 PM PST up reply actions  

No question.

I’m talking about the second level, “value added” type of writing. I like to think of FG and SBN as the Larry Stone to ESPNs Geoff Baker.

by moyerLIVES on Feb 1, 2011 1:47 PM PST up reply actions  

That they do

They also do a great job of creating the news, but that’s true of all media outlets

by tootthekazoo on Feb 1, 2011 3:09 PM PST up reply actions  

The only complaint that I have with them is their incessant

harping on 80% of the news cycle being dominated by 20% of the markets. I’m a free market guy through and through, but it seems to me that they do themselves a disservice and lose potential viewing minutes by being so blatant about it.

Their online stuff has always been solid and entertaining. Not so much thought-provoking, but I’ve never really considered them a place to go learn new things.

Stranded In Paradise

by misterjonez on Feb 1, 2011 4:17 PM PST up reply actions  

Actually, Morgan’s not with ESPN anymore!

--
Dan Szymborski
Dan's Stuff is on: BTF, ESPN, Twitter

by D.Szymborski on Feb 1, 2011 3:17 PM PST up reply actions  

Does this mean he'll be at the next USSM/LL event?

If so, the odds of me going went from 100% to, well, I guess it’d just be awesome is what I’m saying.

by -Carson- on Feb 1, 2011 3:29 PM PST reply actions  

Best small sample size ever.

I turned on the TV last night. The Mariners were playing in Yankee Stadium in June. Felix was overpowering. Milton Bradley hit a home run. Michael Saunders hit two. There was talk about how the M’s had scored 7 two nights in a row. The Yankees sucked.
And all of this was being reported by Dave.
Based on this, we won the World Series, and Dave will be around forever.

by diderot on Feb 1, 2011 4:00 PM PST reply actions  

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