New sidebar links

Finally got a round to update my sidebar links. Some of the items marked as “new” weren’t, and some new one deserving of notice needed to be added.

All new site entries will be preceded by an asterisk and followed by “(NEW)”, just to make it easy for you.

• Eephus League: A neat site, virtually and literally. It’s a collection of various aspects of the game, including history, stats, books, collectibles, etc., that’s a community effort spearheaded by graphic designer Bethany Heck. It looks like a fair amount of work to keep it so fresh, so I hope it can stick around.

• Additional “artistic” newbies include Graig Kreindler and Craig Robinson’s Flip Flop Fly Ball sites. Graig is more old school, with lush portraits of some of the games greatest players and moments, while Robinson — a British native — uses “inforgraphics” in an entertaining manner to highlight some of the game’s quirkier issues.
• Facebook friend Mark Aubrey has a couple of baseball sites, but this one in particular caught my eye: Got It, Got it, Need It. For card collectors “of a certain age” it was a familiar conversation as kids would look through their friends’ collection, as a preamble to doing a little business, as in “I’ll trade you two Mickey Mantles for a Sandy Koufax.” Visitors to his site are invited to list five cards they’re looking for to see if they can reach an arrangement through the community. Somewhat of an extension of this is 1,000,000 Cards for Kids, whose purpose is to collect unwanted/unneeded cards to distribute to kids in need. A noble gesture that deserves support.
• As the book industry has taken a downturn over the last few years, authors have had to take more responsibility for contributing to their projects’ publicity. With the publishers no longer serving as the sole vehicle, writers have been blogging about their work on their own websites or those dedicated to a specific title. Naturally some are produced better than others, with excerpts, reviews, etc., as opposed to just a “here’s my book, buy it” approach. New links in this category include Mark Kurlansky, author of The Eastern Stars and a new title from Yale University on Hank Greenberg due out in the spring, and Clay McKinney, author of the new Pinstripe Defection, about the NY Yankees’ questionable dealings with Latin America prospects.

Look for new additions as the season progresses.