As you've all probably figured out by now, this time of the year is pretty slow. We've speculated and written about seemingly every free agent the Rays could have any interest in. Until the they sign or trade for someone there isn't much news. The proverbial well is dry. That's where you come in.
We're going to have a contest. Not a contest like the one featured in the Seinfeld episode, that would just be weird. This is a contest for you the reader, and you can actually win some pretty cool/useful stuff.
Here's the idea: We're looking for your best original piece written about the Rays. It could be something analytical, something super number heavy, something humorous, etc. Whatever you'd like. As long as it's an original piece that came straight from your own brain, it's allowed.
The rules are as follows:
- It can't be something that has been published somewhere else.
- Keep it to a reasonable length. We certainly want more than a paragraph, but we don't want to read a novel either.
- Multiple submissions are allowed, but you may only win once.
Please send any and all submissions to Steve at Steve.Slowinski at gmail.com. The last day to submit an entry will be January 21st. Once we have gathered all of the submissions we'll post them as FanPosts the following week. They will be posted anonymously so that there is no favoritism. This requires that the author of the post we put up not say anything indicating it is theirs in the comments. If you like the piece then Rec it. At the end of the contest the posts with the top three amount of Rec's will be declared the winners.
What will you be winning, you ask? Books, I say. Steve has offered up these three books to the winners: Baseball Between the Numbers, This Time Lets Not Eat the Bones, and The Baseball Economist.
Baseball Between the Numbers is from the minds at Baseball Prospectus and is edited by Jonah Keri. It features chapters written by Keri, James Click (now a Rays' Front Office Employee), Dayn Perry, Nate Silver, and others. This Time Lets Not Eat the Bones contains some of Bill James' early work in his Baseball Abstract and currently not in publication. The Baseball Economist is written by Economics professor and avid baseball fan J.C. Bradbury.
The person who receives the highest number of Rec's will get their choice of books, then second place, then third. We look forward to receiving your entries. This should be a fun experience for all involved.