Being part of the network for the past two years was a very good experience. Specifically, collaborating with people like Fred Harner, Ted Berg, Matt Cerrone, and Jeff Goldman (and his team) was a pure pleasure. It was an honor to have an affiliation with such a talented crew. Further, while I met them through “business” when I first joined the network, I later came to consider them as friends. And, today, nothing has brought cause for me to change that view. Naturally, I remain a fan of their work and wish them continued success going forward.

This has been a month of transfiguration for WasWatching.com – adding additional authors, updating our look, and ending our affiliation with the SNY.tv blog network.

Personally, I find this all very exciting. In some ways, it’s a reengineering for WasWatching.com. I hope you find these modifications as invigorating as they are for me.

Sorry that, for the last two weeks, WasWatching.com was not working for many when using a Mobile Browser. The issue has been corrected this evening. (Thanks to WW reader “Justin G.” for the heads-up on the issue.)

The second major change to WasWatching.com arrives today – as you can see. We’ve updated the look of the blog with a custom theme via the good folks at Beers Design. There’s been a lot of work behind this effort over the last month. And, of course, my thanks to Beers Design for making this happen. In terms of asking the right questions, actively listening to the client, and providing consulting expertise, Beers Design hits a homerun on every swing. They’re extremely professional. And, they also excel at relating one-on-one with the client giving a personal touch to every interaction. If you’re ever in need of a custom websites and/or Wordpress theme, I highly recommend using Beers Design.

Speaking WasWatching.com’s look, this is also a perfect time to once again thank Pete Mrsich for all his great work over the last three years on various WasWatching.com graphics – including our current banner. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: It’s always been a pleasure to partner with Pete on these projects. And, if you’re ever in need of a talented graphic artist, I highly recommend Pete Mrsich.

The look of this blog has come a long way in the last 4 years and 10 months, huh? Remember what it looked like back in the beginning?

A long way…indeed.

I sincerely hope you like our updated look. And, again, a million thanks to Beers Design and Pete Mrsich for all their creative efforts behind getting us to where we are today.

One more “change” to announce…coming soon…within the next two or three weeks. Stay tuned!

For the first five years of WasWatching.com, sans an anomalous and sporadic guest contribution, I was the singular voice of this blog. However, begining in Feburary 2010, there will be others contributing content here. Here’s the roster of who will be coming onboard:

• Andy K.
• Corey Italiano
• Dan LaTorraca
• Jeff F.
• “Jeteupthemiddle” Allie
• MJ Recanati
• Phil Allard
• Sean McNally

For more on the background of each if these authors, please see their “bio” information via this link.

To me, this is one of the most exciting updates to WasWatching.com in the last few years. While the posting frequency of these additional authors will vary contingent to their availability, the contributions from them will greatly add to the reader experience here. When I look at the diverse skills and backgrounds of this collective, I imagine all sorts of wonderful opinion, insight, analysis and energy being added to WasWatching.com. Expect to see them writing about all things Yankees-related…including, but not limited to, news and current events, franchise history, the minor leagues, and the Yankees fan experience.

Since the views and opinions of these authors may sometimes differ from my own, with respect to several Yankees topics, the synergistic effect of adding them to my voice (here) will greatly benefit the scope of content to be found at WasWatching.com.

See why I’m so excited? I feel like it’s the day before Opening Day following an off-season where I’ve just added an All-Star to my team at every starting position.

Please join me in welcoming Allie, Andy, Corey, Dan, Jeff, MJ, Phil and Sean to the WasWatching.com team!

I’m pretty sure that you have to take this in context – because I’ve seen some numbers that suggest these rankings would be different if some other sites were included. But, just to be in the Top 100 is an honor, as far as I am concerned.

Related, a always, thanks to all for their interest in WasWatching.com!

And, don’t forget – we have some exciting news about the blog coming in the next month or so. Stay tuned for more on that.

As always, thanks to all for their interest in WasWatching.com!

What’s that average out to? It’s 5 posts per day, everyday, for the last four years, five months, and two weeks.

How many hours of my life has been spent doing this? It has to be at least 2,000 – probably more. Actually, if you told me it was 3,000 hours, I wouldn’t be able to defend against it.

O.K., I’ll just hang up now and listen to your reaction to that…

A few comments on this:

1. It’s limited to books that I’ve personally read and/or have used for reference. Therefore, if there’s a notable work out there that seems like it’s missing – i.e., “Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero by Leigh Montville” or “Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life by Richard Ben Cramer” – it’s because I haven’t read it (yet).

2. If it seems like the list is heavy towards the time period 1980-2009, there’s a reason for that: My date of birth. Granted, it would be nice to have more works listed here covering the time period pre-1980. However, I was 17-years old in 1980 – and, until that time, I was more into playing and watching baseball than reading about it. It wasn’t until I was in college, and thereafter, that reading about baseball became one of my favorite baseball-related activities. As such, I was more likely to read baseball books released after 1980, etc.

3. Some of the books listed have publication dates that differ from what you might see in other sources. Basically, for the most part, I listed the publication dates as they appear in the copies of these books that are in my possession.

4. I decided to exclude “annual” baseball books from this list – although there are many great ones, especially the old Bill James Abstracts. Perhaps, at a later date, I’ll decide to include them on the list.

5. Related to the above, this list is very fluid – and a work in progress. And, I’ll be updating it appropriately, as needed.

Please feel free to use the comments section below to discuss this list – and thanks in advance for your interest and feedback on it.

How will you know it’s “them” when reading a post? Simple, you’ll see a closing with:

“- Posted by X”
[Where "X" is their name]

at the end of their entry.

My thanks to these members for adding to the big role they already have in the WasWatching.com Community.

And, I hope that the readers of WasWatching.com enjoy this additional content shared by our “Yankees News Aggregators.”

On July 11, 2009, Rob Neyer referenced a WasWatching.com feature on his ESPN.com Blog SweetSpot.

On July 14, 2009, Marc Carig referenced a WasWatching.com feature on his Yankees Blog at The Star-Leger.

And, on July 16, 2009, Bob Klapisch referenced a WasWatching.com feature in his column for the Bergen Record.

So, I thought it was proper to express my thanks to Rob, Marc and Bob for their interest in these recent WasWatching.com features and to also remind the readers here to check out their excellent work as well.

To read Rob Neyer’s SweetSpot Blog at ESPN.com, click here.

To read Marc Carig’s Yankees Blog at The Star-Leger, click here.

To read Bob Klapisch in the Bergen Record, click here.