Continuing our series of email interviews with some of our favorite writers around the web, we move to Rob Neyer of SBN. These pieces are designed to get a sense of how these writers got to where they are, so we didn’t pester Craig Calcaterra, Matthew Leach, Murray Chass or Shannon Drayer with controversial questions in previous iterations of this column. Instead, the focus is on what aspiring writers can learn from their ascension. Neyer, an inspiration to many, was gracious in giving us a little perspective on his past.

Eno Sarris: Where did you grow up? And go to school? Did you always love baseball? Did you play it?

Rob Neyer: I grew up in the Midwest, first in the upper part (Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan) before moving to the Kansas City area just before my 10th birthday. I always loved the team sports, played them all and was just passable in all. I didn’t really begin to love baseball — the kind the big boys play, I mean — until we moved to Kansas City and I discovered the joys of the late-’70s Royals, who were immensely entertaining.

I went to school at the University of Kansas, which is where I discovered Bill James and first developed my passion for baseball’s amazingly rich history.

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Born in a blowout.

ottoneu creator Niv Shah wasn’t always a Cleveland Indians fan. In part one of this two-part piece, we covered the beginning of that night when Niv called friend Chad Young (currently blogging about being a member of the FanGraphs Experts League) and said he had some tickets to the game that night between the Rays and Indians.

Though there might have been some resistance to the strange formatting, the die is cast. The format has been decided. Chad got Niv to the game, it turned into a blowout, and yet they stayed to appreciate the Jake. Now it’s time to bring this night to its thrilling conclusion!

Eno Sarris: Do you remember a moment when you were like, hey wait a minute, let’s sit down? A player at the bat, or some cheering or something?

Niv Shah: i honestly don’t think we did. i remember a point where we were like, wait a minute, we might come back here – i think it was fryman’s homer in the 7th… definitely a home run in the 7th that was like “Wait… we are not down that much”

yeah

david f*cking lamb too

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Born in a blowout.

ottoneu creator Niv Shah wasn’t always a Cleveland Indians fan. In fact, he once cared little for baseball, instead focusing on basketball, football and video games when he had a free moment. Then one day in 1999 a friend gave him some free tickets to the game. Niv called friend Chad Young (currently blogging about being a member of the FanGraphs Experts League).

Any birth is uncomfortable at best, and this one had its ups and downs. I asked the pair about the experience so that we can learn a little more about how a fan is born. Perhaps in a bid to promote ottoneu, it looks like Mr. Shah forsook the capital letter. Poetic license!

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…but when he is, he prefers to emote in pithy quotes.

Life on the road isn’t always beers, broads, and brats.

There are those other moments, times where the grind gets you down. Those Tuesday double headers, those foggy outfield practices. Those moments of self-doubt. Those existential crises, when, perhaps the day after an oh-fer, you just want to sit on the warning track and emote quietly to the grass.

In those moments, take heart. Emo Juan Uribe knows your pain.

H/T R.J. Anderson

What a Salvo.

It all started so innocently. Or, as innocent as intense sartorial mocking can be.

A fan site for the Cardinals posted a great shirt idea:
Mike Leake STOLE THIS SHIRT FOR ME.

The response came quickly, a surgical strike:
Tony LaRussa WALKED THE LINE AND FAILED.

Then the Cardinals site dropped a T-Shirt bomb of snark on their opponents, including the genius above. With the balance now obviously shifted in the battle, perhaps the underdogs need a little help?

Incredibly important note: I am not taking sides in this inevitably long and drawn out battle. I’m just making gentle suggestions from afar. Gentle. Suggestions.

Tony La Russa WANTS TO SEE YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE
Colby Rasmus MADE HIS FATHER PUNCH TONY LARUSSA
Ryan Franklin FOUND YOUR LOST SQUIRREL ON HIS FACE
Matt Holliday IS TOO BLAND TO MAKE FUN OF
Lance Berkman ATE YOUR ELVIS

Ready.

David Wright Jersey? Check.
Gotta represent for the tuffest dude on the team.

Mets hat and glasses? Check.
The sun can get in your eyes a little on the first base side, you know. Plus, makes me look like a badass.

Corncob pipe? Check.
A relaxing puff off the pipe always sets the mood right.

Carpet? Check.
Gotta keep the paws warm on a blustery spring day in New York.

Bag full of treats? Check.
I mean, I love me some Shake Shack but that line is RUFF.

Tip jar? Check.
I mean, if I’m going to sit here looking this good, might as well let people show their appreciation. Monetarily.

Swing, miss, get hit in the butt.

Brian Wilson threw this pitch.

It started in the strike zone, going, oh, about 95 miles per hour, and ended up in the dirt behind Jamey Carroll. Strike three.

Is this fair?

Strange thing, though, even though Wilson has talked about adding the pitch, he’s not throwing it a ton. At least, not enough to show up on either pitch f/x classification system on this site. In fact, it doesn’t show up on most classification systems.

They can be forgiven – Wilson’s regular fastball does move a lot anyway. Take a look at Joe Lefkowitz’s Pitch f/x tool and it says that Wilson threw nine fastballs and five sliders that evening. But those fastballs weren’t all created equal. Check out the the fastballs that showed the most movement, those last two blue dots on the left. Those fastballs moved 11 inches horizontally. He threw three fastballs that also moved about 11 inches vertically. His average fastball has been moving about six inches horizontally and seven vertically, so we’re zooming in on that filthy, filthy pitch now. He might have thrown as much as three of them that evening.

One final picture to help bring this home. You see that blue box on the bottom right corner of this strike zone plot? That’s the pitch, at least where it crossed the plate.

To recap:
1) The pitch moved double digits vertically and horizontally.
2) The pitch left his hand at about 95 MPH.
3) The pitch started in the strike zone, belt-high, middle-ish.
4) The pitch crossed the plate at the very bottom, very inside corner of the strikezone.
5) The pitch ended up behind the batter, about knee-level.

That’s gotta go on some leaderboard as one of the filthiest pitches ever.

H/T: Grant at McCovey Chronicles

My shirt has an answer for you.

The further we get into this fantasy baseball thing, the more we’d like other people to know about it, right? And what better way to celebrate our nerd-dom than by wearing it proudly across our chest?

Thanks to FanSports, you can, indeed, emblazon your chest with a slogan relating to your love of the fantasy game. “Sleeper Alert” could refer to your own status within your league, or your pickup of Brent Morel in your 20-team dynasty league. Playing baseball “By the Numbers” is what we do.

If there’s anything that FanSports needs, it’s more products. To help them along, I’ve got some ideas of my own below.

“Tragic BABIP” – With a ball bouncing just beyond the reach of an outstretched glove.
“Sell High, Buy Low” – With a picture of Jeff Francoeur, smiling.
“Stars and Scrubs” – With a picture of Albert Pujols and Ryan Theriot
“Position Scarcity?” – With a picture of an infield missing a shortstop

Now, your turn. And! The best idea in the comments gets a free shirt from FanSports, just for fun.

You know what? I’m rooting for Henneman.

Before watching this video, know some things:

1) Justin Kaufmann is, indeed, a real-life news reporter for WBEZ, the NPR affiliate in Chicago.

2) His beat seems to be all things Chicago, with an emphasis on snark.

3) There is no way to confirm if this Henneman figure is real, and whether or not she actually consumed enough adult sodas to put down an adult horse before the making of this video.

4) We are left hanging as to the eventual conclusion of the interaction. My guess is that an eternal life of domestic bliss ensues.

5) Harry Caray is up there, yeah.

6) It may be strange that Carson Cistulli calls his sister attractive, but once you factor genetic factors in, he’s actually calling himself attractive. Vanity!

7) Lists are fun! Maybe if we make it to ten we can post this on Bleacher Report as “Top Ten Pieces of Mindless Drivel That Occurred to Me While Watching a Crazy Youtube Video.”

8) Was that mean? Maybe it was. I take it back.

9) Watch the video now. It’s pretty funny. The language is SFW, but the content may not be depending on your work environment. Mine (pajamas on the couch) didn’t seem to mind.

10) Made it!

H/T: Bryan Melmed (pixelvisions)

Love that scruff.

If this picture was worth a thousand words, maybe about nine hundred of them would be about hair. And as anyone who has seen my twitter feed might know, I appreciate hair.

It’s too bad that our sport has to be played with a cap on, in some ways. Looking at the 1978 Phillies, the rarity is an un-interesting ‘do.’ The butt-cutts, the afros of all persuasions, the mustaches, the chin straps, the hints of mid-eighties style beginning to emerge – it’s all awesome. If they were allowed, like in basketball, to play with their freak flags flying, we might have had some really interesting pictures of that era – not that the sight of Oscar Gamble with a hat on didn’t have its’ own charm.

But if we did have a game without hats – if we did, we could then have an interesting hair watch here at the NotG. Heck, maybe we’ll do it anyway.

H/T: Tommy Bennett pointing to the Mighty Flynn on Tumblr