Welcome to 408
What’s in a name?
I was born and raised into a family of New York Yankees fanatics, and although the other side of my family was then Cleveland Indians, and now Cleveland Guardians fans, I knew where I wanted my allegiance to lie. I enjoyed learning about the history, tradition, and overall excellence the Yankees had accomplished in their storied history.
When I started playing sports, I enjoyed all of them, but there was always something special about baseball. Maybe because it held such a special place in the hearts of both of my grandfathers, but it was especially loved (and still is) by my dad. The connection to baseball is something I hope to instill in both of my boys, as well.
In the eighth grade, we had to choose a profession and do a report on it. Like any 13 year old, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Granted, I had some ambitions, like being a teacher, doing general business, and becoming a writer - Something I’ve always enjoyed doing.
We were given pamphlets that included information on each profession, like how much schooling and overall salary, and needless to say when I saw the salaries for those professions, I immediately began looking for something else.
At the bottom of the pile was one that hadn’t been discovered - Professional Athlete. Its information caught my eye, especially how less of schooling was needed, but especially the salary part. I had made up my mind - I was going to be the starting centerfielder for the Yankees. In my mind, I was coming for Bernie Williams’ job.
Bernie Williams, a five-time all-star, and career .297 hitter with the Yankees, job was in jeopardy, according to 13 year old me.
My baseball career continued through and ended in college, and the older I got, I realized Bernie’s job was safer than ever. But there was one thing I still enjoyed doing - writing.
I have always enjoyed baseball writing, because the stories are unique, personal, and plentiful. That’s what I intend to do with this site.
From player profiles, to sabermetrics - And everything in between. No topic is off limits. Except for maybe the historic run of the 2004 Boston Red Sox.
I have written articles about baseball in the past, and a lot of the freelance work I kept to myself. When I started telling people about my passion, most, if not all of them encouraged me to publish it. Compared to this site’s predecessor, Bleacherseat Baseball, I want to make this a permanent publication to tell the stories of America’s Pastime.
The older I’ve become, I’ve realized that a lot of things in life are linear, and that they line up accordingly to take you to your next step in life. And although I didn’t get a chance to patrol the greatest position in all of baseball - which is 408 to Center - I can continue to be involved with the game through the next best thing that I know.
Welcome to 408.
