For those of you who also write an MLBlog, you know how powerful the baseball blogger community can be and how active they are with regards to all headlines related to the great game of baseball. For those of you who tweet during games and have started a Twitter account to discuss your favorite baseball team, you can appreciate the network of baseball fans that exists across the country and how much fun it can be when they unite to discuss the latest news regarding your #1 team. For those of us lucky enough to have the opportunity to work together as baseball bloggers, looking to raise the bar when it comes to baseball blogging, the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) has been an amazing experience and a fantastic outlet for baseball bloggers across the globe. With members that are fans of all AL and NL teams as well as authors of general baseball sites, the group is overflowing with knowledgable, passionate baseball fans thrilled to type away and share their thoughts with you regarding the daily happenings surrounding the MLB.
Changes reflect appreciation for history of the game
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) recently announced the renaming of
their annual postseason awards to comply with the wishes of the Baseball
Writers Association of America (BBWAA), thereby avoiding confusion between
the two organizations. This allowed the BBA an opportunity to recognize
some of the legendary greats of the game, naming their highest honors after
them.
Earlier in the year, the BBA reached an agreement with former Yankee
reliever Goose Gossage to name our newest award, recognizing the best relief
pitcher in each league, after him, said Daniel Shoptaw, founder and
president of the Alliance. It only seemed fitting, then, that we rename
the rest of our awards after other legends of the game.
The five awards are given to a player in each league: The Connie Mack Award,
given to the top manager; the Willie Mays Award, for the top rookie; the
Goose Gossage award, mentioned above; the Walter Johnson Award, which would
be analogous to the BBWAA's Cy Young Award; and the Stan Musial Award,
awarded to the most valuable player in each league.
According to Shoptaw, These names are synonymous with quality, achievement,
and dedication. These names have not only stood the test of time, but have
been strengthened by it.
The schedule for the announcement of these awards is as follows:
Connie Mack Award: October 14
Willie Mays Award: October 18
Goose Gossage Award: October 21
Walter Johnson Award: October 25
Stan Musial Award: October 28
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was founded in 2009 and numbers 222 blogs
covering all major league teams and various other aspects of baseball, as
well as blogs and sites that are affiliated as Friends of the BBA. The
official website of the BBA is located at http://www.baseballbloggersalliance.com.
hashmark #bbba. Members of the BBA may be heard at Blog Talk Radio every
Tuesday night with their call-in show, BBA Baseball
Talk http://www.blogtalkradio.com/baseball-bloggers-alliance,
which may also be downloaded as a podcast from iTunes.
