Monday, August 14, 2006

Last Chance: Become a Columnist!

Michael Carlucci's Column, "Yankee Diary," will appear here in its regular slot in two weeks. Today, in its place, we re-publish our call for a new columnist. Reminder: The deadline is tomorrow, August 15th! We will then review all submissions. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at baseballforthought@gmail.com. Thanks!

Dear loyal BFT reader,

For nearly five months, and through over 100 opinion columns, BFT.com has been providing you with fresh, insightful commentary on the game we all love- every weekday. Doug and Mike alternate Mondays. Jeremy and I man the Tuesday slot. Thursdays have always belonged solely to our ex-ESPNer Scott, and Fridays are split by Rob and Matt.

Up until now, Wednesdays have been host to "Wild-Card Wednesdays". We've always loved WCW, as it is a great forum to feature guest columnists (including our own Fanatic's Wife), as well a place to offer you news and ideas from a columnist that couldn't wait until the next column.

That being said, we have received several inquiries from readers interested in writing for the site, and have to date been reluctant to take on new columnists. Part of that reason is since March, we've seen our readership continually increase- and thanks to readers like you, have built a loyal fan base. We love writing for you, and apparently you've enjoyed what we've written- so why change a good thing?

Upon further consideration, however, we have decided to take on a new columnist, and give a budding baseball enthusiast/writer a forum to speak to the masses.

We will be opening at least one Wednesday slot for the next and newest Baseball For Thought columnist! For those of you who may be interested, or for those of you who know someone who may be interested, here are some general guidelines:

1. As columnist, you would write one new column for every other Wednesday.
2. You can write about whatever you feel like, as long as it is original and well thought-out. And of course baseball-related. Other than that, anything goes. It's YOUR space. Your soapbox.
3. We are a gang of Mets fans, Yankee fans, Red Sox fans, Cardinals fans and a kind of A's fan. We do not discriminate based on your team preference. In fact, we encourage dissidence- it makes for better columns. If you are a die-hard D-Rays fan, and want to focus on all things Tampa Bay, go right ahead.
4. As you may be able to tell, some of us rely heavily on stats, some of us not at all. Some of us prescribe very religiously to sabermetrics, others less so. We believe our greatest strength is in our diversity.
5. Upon the launch of our newly designed site in August, you will receive your own columnist page with name, picture, and vital stats, on top of your column every two weeks.
6. We are a bunch of regular guys (and gal) who share a passion for the game. We hope you are the same.

So, here's what to do next:
1. Send an email to baseballforthought@gmail.com
2. In this email, please include a short blurb about yourself, which should at least include
a. Name
b. Age
c. Favorite team
d. What you do
e. Why you'd want to be a columnist for BFT, and what you can add to the site and for the readership (Be creative! Improvements you'd make? A schtick you would want to consider? Some pertinent experience that would make you an excellent columnist?).
- the blurb need not be lengthy- a few paragraphs with pertinent info is fine.
3. Also include a sample column (links to previous work also sufficient). This doesn't have to be formal- we are looking for passion, originality and writing ability- formal experience is very much so secondary.

The absolute deadline is August 15, though we encourage you to get your information back to us as soon as possible. If you have any further questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us. Someone will get back to you shortly.

Good luck!
The Baseball For Thought Staff

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"I've had a pretty good success facing Stan (Musial) by throwing him my best pitch and backing up third base."
- Carl Erskine