My blog officially launched on October 9, 2015. Last year I published a “year in review” at the one year anniversary mark. I decided to make it a yearly tradition, so here we are again. The “year in review” details many of my posts in each category from the past year. If you want to easily revisit something you enjoyed, or want to check out something you missed, you’ll find it below. Thanks for supporting me this past year!
Baseball Book Reviews – Sometimes I find time to actually read books – and even write reviews!
Baseball Book Review: Wait Til Next Year
Current Thoughts Covers everything from an early Welcome from before I even announced this blog existed, to fishing memories with my Dad. This is just what is currently on my mind – at least at the time it gets posted.
Telling Your Story Workshop Recap with Jerry Apps
Milwaukee Brewers 2017
I started a weekly review of the team in 2016 that usually was posted each Monday or first thing Tuesday. I thought I’d continue this in 2017, but quickly shelved the idea as I was just too busy with the Brewers book.
My Milwaukee Brewers 2016-17 Offseason Plan vs. Reality
Milwaukee Brewers Week in Review: April 3-10
Milwaukee Brewers Week in Review: April 11-17
Milwaukee Brewers Week in Review: April 18-23
Milwaukee Brewers Book in Progress
This is a lot of the reason why I started a blog in the first place. As much as I recoil at self-promotion, every time I read about what budding authors should do, most articles pointed toward a blog and/or author page on Facebook. Do it well before you’re going to submit to publishers! Build your platform! Participate in social media!
It took a lot of research to pull together my Brewers book. I’ve been lucky enough to interview players, coaches, and former team employees over the past couple years. Some of these were converted into biographies and posted in this category. Google has become my best friend as I scour old newspapers for memorable quotes and moments.
This category allows me to provide progress reports on the book along with some related content.
Milwaukee Brewers Book – August Progress Report
Bud Selig and the Milwaukee Brewers Book Specifics
Milwaukee Brewers Book – July Progress Report
Milwaukee Brewers Book – June Progress Report
Milwaukee Brewers Book: Progress Report
Milwaukee Brewers Book Update (where I signed my publishing contract!)
Milwaukee Brewers Follow-up: Ray Peters
Milwaukee Brewers Research Interview: Pat McBride and Rick Napholz Part II
Milwaukee Brewers Research Interview – Bob Humphreys
Milwaukee Brewers History
At some point I decided to branch out a bit and tell stories about moments in Brewers history that didn’t have anything to do with my book in progress. Here I cover everything from the wacky to the heartfelt:
This Day in Milwaukee Brewers History – .500 Again!
This Day in Milwaukee Brewers History: Robin Yount’s 3000th Hit
Remembering Don Baylor as Hitting Coach of the Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers History: July 9-18, 1982
The Curious Case of Clyde Wright
Classic Matchups – Milwaukee vs. Baltimore on June 3, 1980
Remembering Lary Sorensen’s Callup to the Majors
Classic Matchups – Milwaukee vs. New York on April 8, 1979
Classic Matchups – Milwaukee vs. Boston on May 31, 1980
This Day in Milwaukee Brewers History: A Robin Yount and Hank Aaron Hitting Clinic
Classic Milwaukee Brewers Opponents – The 1980 Toronto Blue Jays
Chris Sáenz – A History-making Cup of Coffee
Radio and Mobile Music Memories
I have plans to expand this category in the future with posts about the various radio stations I worked at – in what seems another lifetime ago.
Zany Z’s Mobile Music Memories (tells about the business I owned after I left my radio career)
The Newspaper Age
Back in high school I wrote…and wrote…and wrote. I did it for fun, for learning, for subversion, and went pro for what felt like a minute. I was on the Viking Voice staff, which was my high school’s student newspaper. That wasn’t enough for me, so I co-founded, co-wrote, and co-edited an “underground” newspaper called “What the Feck?” I took the pen name Robin Goodfellow. I also wrote a couple articles for the Verona Press. One made it to press (bad pun intended) and the other was never quite completed. Samples of all these efforts include:
Saga of a Deranged Insomniac (from the Viking Voice)
A Trip Down Kids’ Memory Lane, Saturday Morning Cartoon Style (from the Viking Voice)
Writing Archive
Most of these posts are from my childhood – the “lined paper years” is how I describe the content.
A Manager’s Point of View (from my short-lived Strat-o-Matic Baseball childhood magazine)
Senior Class Question and Answer
Dusten My Cat and Me: A True Story (lined paper years story)
Acknowledgements
I have to tip my hat to a number of other sites where my blog has been shared and featured. My readership has increased in steady numbers over this year, and I owe a debt of gratitude to the sites listed below. If you haven’t already, please take some time and check out their pages. I’m including a short description of each in case you are unfamiliar with what they cover.
Baseball Bloggers Alliance – a great group of bloggers covering teams, players, and more!
MLB Trade Rumors – Don’t let the name fool you. The site covers a lot more than just trade rumors. Many aspects of the teams, players, and game are covered here. Plus they have a weekly blog roundup each weekend.
MLB Reports – Another great site of bloggers covering multiple aspects of baseball.
1980’s Baseball – I really dig this site as the content pertains to the era I grew up enjoying. I particularly like the “That Time I Met…” feature – and not just because I’ve contributed stories about meeting Robin Yount and Sixto Lezcano.
And don’t forget to check out my Facebook author page for additional content!
Chris Zantow 