Programming Note
For the past couple of years, I’ve been posting online under a pseudonym. That’s not news, but this is:
I’m dropping the ruse. That funny-looking name you see next to the byline is indeed my own.
While this site is still largely a personal hobby, it’s proven to be something that I now feel like I need to utilize professionally. So if I’m gonna “take ownership,” I have to put my name on it.
Are things going to change now that I’m unmasked? No, not really. I’m still gonna go for the visual pun (see above) when I feel the urge, pepper the prose with one-liners, and exploit my bulldog for branding and marketing purposes.
In short, I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! It is time that I also stop using a pseudonym, and come clean to the readers here that I am in fact Don Zimmer.
Call yourself what you like, Luke, but please just continue to provide us this service and forum.
+1/2St.
I remember once defending you from spurious comments on NFA. I believe I said something like “Hey, hold on there…Sue may be a chick, but she’s a chick who KNOWS baseball.” Someone then explained.
I didn’t post again for about a year.
Damn blogging transvestites…
I suppose pointing out that I’m not Swedish either will make things worse…
Doesn’t this sort of thing cause psychological damage?
Hi Luke. I made the transition a couple of years ago from anonymous (dcbatgirl) to myself and think it was the right choice. Keep up the good work!
Good to meet you Mr. Erickson. Ironically I was just considering the advantages that you, TangoTiger and the Common Man’s enjoy in anonymity and wondering if that wasn’t the right way to go in the first place.
‘keep doing what i’ve been doing’ sounds good to me, Luke. And Positively, you’re handle has been around since the ‘Journals’ inception, so I got rather used to it–a few originals are left, but a lot of interesting ones appear to have disappeared. (or changed their moniker)
On this site I’ve switched back to Jeeves from my real name, Jackson Campbell. (shorter to write)
And Luke, I assume that Spike is actually called Spike.
Happy New Year to one and all from Prince Edward Island, Canada. As I look out the window I’m amazed that there is no snow on the ground at all, and the temperature is well above zero. ( centigrade )
Jackson: Jeeves works, and your rationale for an alias is much like mine (Bob in Manassas = BinM), and probably others as well.
Glad to see our wizard finally step out from behind the curtain, however. The New Year is as good a time as any for change, so good on you, Mr. Erickson. Looking forward to another year filled with news, observations & opinions on all things related to the Nationals minor-leagues, even if a few of them are mine.
Spike is indeed named Spike. I’ll try to come up with some new pics with him in 2012.
Good to hear! One of my favorite parts!
Jeeves-
I won’t really give up the old name, although I started in 2005 with a series of other names the first year or two. Good to have Jeeves back. And I am not Don Zimmer, although if you saw a current picture of the old guy you would know why I thought it was a funny idea; I hope he lives another 25 years and continues to look even more Don Zimmer with time.
It is refreshing and amazing to start a new year with real optimism and chance to truly feel positively about the team. We did so in 2006, as well, but that was a cruel joke. There is real substance to the system now (including Gio Gonzalez as the replacement for high prospects).
Now let’s just sign Prince Fielder, already. Any logjam that causes can be cleared with a trade for prospects with time.
+1/2St.
Nice to meet you, Luke. I approve of the change, and I’m glad you’re proud of your work — you should be.
All I ask for is the same quality of content. And as many pictures of Spike as possible.
Appreciate all the kind words, folks.
As for content… Player reports are coming along. Basically I’m writing up the Potomac players, the BA Top 10 (i.e. I have access to more up-to-date scouting reports) and the three-letter leaguers, for which there will be few, if any, mentions in the books.
“Report Not Yet Written” basically means “whatever I were to write now is probably going to change once I see what the experts have to say.” Unlike the MLBA, I’m not going to trot out last year’s blurb if I can possibly avoid it.
Starting in the middle & working toward either (or both) ends works for me – Looking forward to them all. I’m currently working from the top down, trying to figure out what we could be looking at in 2012. As always, it will make for an interesting comparison & spark some comments.
Thanks for all the great work, and now maybe that you use your real name on the site, Potomac will give you a press pass. I also have to try and write something to go with my top 50 prospects.
-Andrew Walker
I’m still a fan and don’t intend to swap my seat for a spot on press row, at least not for Potomac. I appreciate the sentiment, but all I’ve asked for from the affiliates is to be placed on media distribution lists for press releases and transaction updates, so that I can deliver that news more quickly than I would be otherwise. Potomac has granted that modest request and I hope this (dropping the pseudonym) doesn’t change things.
By the way, where *is* your seat (if I may ask)? I’d love to say hello some time.
Let’s leave it at behind home plate for now. On a midweek night, I’m pretty easy to find; only a handful of non-players and scouts keep score.
It looks to me like the possibility of a Michael Morse to Tampa Bay for BJ Upton could end up as real possibility given the momentum toward a Fielder signing.
I can’t see them trading Morse straight up for Upton. Both sides would look at that as “uneven”. Offensively Morse is clearly superior, at least at this point, but he is older and his fielding, albeit flexible with all the positions, isn’t at the level that Upton’s is. Upton still has a ceiling.
I expect prospects from the Rays and perhaps other players from the Nats might be involved.
And conjectures?
I prefer to keep my speculation at the minor-league level, so what does worry me is some folks blithely plugging in Rendon at 3B and sliding over Zimmerman or vice-versa. FWIW, if Rizzo is drawing a line in the sand on Fielder on the length of the contract: I agree. I’m sure some of the old-timers might think of a slugger with his body type that didn’t fall off a cliff around age 32, but none come to mind off the top of my head.
nice to see you taking credit for all the work you do! keep those pictures of spike coming!
Hi Sue-Luke,
I am from Montreal and and old member of the Expos fans message board (french section), and one of the few who still roots for the Nationals (as an ex-expos).
Every year I go to a few of the Syracuse Chiefs game and before I always went to Burlington for the Nats rookie league team (Expos-Lake Monsters).
But last year, I went to Auburn in the same week-end as you were there. I asked the Doubledays staff people if they had seen that Sue Dinem lady…with no success…
Just want to thank you for the wonderful job you are doing keeping this blog alive…mostly after the end of Nats Farm Autorithy…
The Big Board and the Draft Tracker are so useful tools for Nats fans.
Keep on the good job Luke.
The use of the first-person plural “we” is a reminder that while Spike and I do the bulk of the work, volunteers help. April and SoulDrummer are especially appreciated during Potomac homestands so that I can sit at the keyboard and write up LNIW without having to rush. SpringfieldFan maintains the Draft Tracker and Big Board.
Sorry we missed each other. This year’s excursion is non-Nats (just like in ’10, when I went to TN) — I’m just not 100% when it’ll be. Obviously, when the P-Nats are on a road trip. A swing through West Virginia and Ohio is the early favorite.
Speaking of, I guess this is the end of “the two SDs”…
My entire reason for retaining anonymity is that I’m afraid people will attribute my errors to my being a chick (albeit a “chick who KNOWS baseball” … and options). In reality, my errors result from my occasional failure to check whether the guy’s a lefty and from the massive challenges in tracking DSL players.
So I’ll stay anonymous. But in the spirit of the day, I’ll mention that I have a Ramos t-shirt.
Not sure how sensitive he is, but how is Spike handling the name change?
Not sure if I can tell.
Luke,
Which newspapers did you write for in Oregon? I live in Corvallis and am a Nats fan a long way from home. These blogs make following the Nats and their organization a little more bearable.
How ’bout that? I wrote for the Gazette-Times in the mid-90s while I was living in Tangent, but I actually went to the U of O (and therefore am ineligible to ever complain about uniform fashion).
Wow, I bet Tangent was really in the boonies back then. Thanks for all you do to make the Nats babies a little more “real” for me.
Happy New Year, Luke! Congratulations on the new/old handle 🙂
Luke, I’m not your father , but I’m glad your out of the closet. Ladies and gentlemen it’s a boy! This is one of my favorite sites to visit and your humor adds to the excitement of what the Nats our doing with their farm system. Keep it up!
The Caped Crusader is unmasked! Glad to see that you’re taking this thing above ground and will have access to some more media stuff to keep the transactions current. I hope that putting your name out there will yield profitable and fulfilling opportunities for you. I got a taste of how much work you put in, and I’m always amazed by your steadfastness and your positive attitude in making nationalsprospects such a great site.