Yuni Watch … and, yes, my life
Posted: August 4th, 2009 | Filed under: Baseball, Media | 197 Comments »
Yuniesky Betancourt … and my professional future. All in one blog post!
Yes, true, I had put the Yuni Watch away … but I thought it would not be fair to allow Yuniesky Betancourt’s back-to-back two-hit days — which included a double, triple and homer — to slip away without offering a comment.
First, the improved numbers:
Yuniesky Betancourt on Royals:
65 plate appearances
.164 average
.175 on-base percentage
.295 slugging percentage
4 extra base hits
1 walk
2 sac hits
1 strikeout on a two-strike bunt attempt
2 grounded into double plays
Positive OPS+
I was in the stands with my family on Tuesday night and watched Yuni crack two opposite field extra base hits … and I saw him score on a very short sacrifice fly caught by the first baseman. Hey, you know what? I’ve made my points about the trade. Tonight, it’s his Yuniverse, and the rest of us are just living in it.
But I guess, maybe, for once, the news of the day is not Yuniesky Betancourt. I have written about this at The Kansas City Star, but I’ll give you a short version here. You may have noticed that I have been distracted the last month … and this is the reason why. Something was building. On Monday I was offered my dream job. On Monday I was offered a senior writer’s position at Sports Illustrated.
I’ve written here before, at some length, what Sports Illustrated means to me. I just called this my dream job but to be perfectly honest, I would never have dared to dream up this job. This is Broadway. This is Paris under a setting sun. I remember the feeling I had when I was walking on the Great Wall while at the Olympics … it was this feeling of “Wow, I’m really here, and this is really happening — I’m really walking on the Great Wall of China. How did I get here?” And this job offer is that feeling times a thousand.
That said … it has been an emotional ride. I’ll put it this way: My oldest daughter, Elizabeth, cannot stand change of any kind. Every so often, we’ll see a really cool car on the road and for fun I will say, “Hey, maybe we should get a car like that,” and she will get upset because she is scared to death we’re not going to keep what we have now. She likes things to stay the same. She is frightened of thunderstorms.
Well … she got that from somewhere. I love Kansas City. I love the Star. I love the people I work with. I love the rhythms of my life. It’s not a feeling-too-comfortable thing — I don’t EVER feel comfortable. I mean, heck, I write 6,000 word blog posts. No, it has something to do with loyalty, I guess, and old friends, and a good town, and being a part of the fight, and being part of a sports section that a group of very cool people turned into the best in America. I deeply believe that. I have had such a blast working with the Star. People ask me all the time — ALL THE TIME — how I like working with Jason Whitlock, just as a for instance. I have loved it. Absolutely loved it. Because while our opinions sometimes may differ, our styles may differ, our voices may differ … Jason above all else believes that a column is written from inside; it comes from who you are. I believe the exact same thing.
Anyway, it isn’t like I had a tough decision to make here. You know Dan Jenkins, when he was offered his job at Sports Illustrated, went to his friends at the newspaper in Texas and basically said (I wish I had my copy of my friend Michael’s book The Franchise with me so I could quote this properly): “I’d like to stay with y’all but … the New York Yankees just called.” I never wanted to play for the Yankees, of course, but I feel the sentiment. I had one of the best jobs in the world. I was offered the best.
So, sure, I took the job. It’s like Arthur says at the end of the movie: “I kept the money, I’m not crazy.”
But we’re also staying in Kansas City, which is home. The Star people have asked me to still write for the paper, and I, of course, will do that. And, I will still write this blog … which just naturally leans toward Yuni and Banny. Kansas City, somehow, got inside me. The place is special like that.
In a way, none of this has sunk in yet. And by that I mean I cannot believe that Yuni has had four hits in the last two days. But, with time, I think, it will all make sense again.
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You deserve it, Joe. Congrats.
Congrats
Wow – congrats, Joe. I have loved reading your columns in the KC Star (and the blog, obvi), so I hope to keep seeing you around those parts. And it sounds like it might be time to renew my subscription to SI.
Keep up the good work!
Wow, Joe. Way to go! It inspires me to keep trying for my dream job.
Congratulations.
I love your work.
Way to go! How much more stuff will we see from you in SI? I may have to renew my subscription as an off-again, on-again, off-again subscriber since about 1973.
I really hate reading, but I will always take the time to read pretty much anything you have written. I suppose I will have to renew my SI subscription, now.
Congratulations, Joe. I’m glad you got your dream job (even if you didn’t dare dream it)… SI will be better with your presence and contributions.
This sucks. I mean, congrats to you, but this really sucks for us Kansas City fans.
I load the Kansas City Star sports page every single day waiting for a new article from you. I know where to get your articles at SI, but they’ll be distant. They won’t talk about Gates or Arthur Bryant’s. They won’t address the flaws in the Royals’ organization. They won’t talk about playing chess with Priest Holmes — SI won’t care about that for more than one column.
You’re the reason I kept reading The Star from 2,000 miles away. I probably will keep reading, but it won’t be the same.
–
In some ways I think of you like that minor leaguer who has graduated to the majors. Yes, I ‘ve read all your work from Kansas City and I’m proud of you, but I can’t help but feel a sense of loss.
Congratulations, Joe! I am so happy for you! My favorite writer, my favorite magazine, my favorite blog–I feel fortunate, as well.
I’m incredibly relieved that you, Margo, and the girls will be staying in Kansas City. I completely understand your statement, “Kansas City, somehow, got inside me. The place is special like that.” I lived in San Diego for 3 1/2 years, but I couldn’t wait to come home to KC.
I live in Missouri, but too far south of KC to subscribe to the Star (at the normal rate, anyway). Seriously, I inquired about it when I first moved here— and your writing was the sole reason.
Now that you’re at SI I will undoubtedly renew my five-year-dormant subscription.
How often do you think your stuff will be in? Please say every week…
Congrats, Joe! I think you should immediately get the back page of SI, in place of the rotation that took over after Reilly left.
Congratulations, Joe!
…just try to keep Cleveland off the cover until LBJ seals the deal next year, mmkay?
Three cheers to Joe! Congrats sir, you undoubtedly deserve it.
I just recently came upon your work, mainly your blog, and I do not live near KC but congratulations are obviously in order. Great job with the witty and insightful reporting! Hopefully your expanded national voice will be an inspiration and a stepping stone for many young readers.
Godspeed, Joe.
Congrats Big Guy. You’ve rapidly become one of my favorite writers and as long as you throw in an Albert Pujols story every now and then, it’ll stay that way.
Joe,
Congratulations. I couldn’t think of a more deserving writer.
From a selfish point of view, I am sad you will not be in the Star as often. Secondly, I hope someday to be able to write or say those magical words that you wrote, “I was offered my dream job”.
Thirdly, I was at the game tonight with my 2 boys. We watched the last inning at home and even my 6 year old knew that John Buck would swing at the first pitch after a 5 pitch walk. I know that is not the only reason that they lost by far but…
Anyway, Congratulations on the dream job.
Joe
Joe,
Congratulations. I couldn’t think of a more deserving writer.
From a selfish point of view, I am sad you will not be in the Star as often. Secondly, I hope someday to be able to write or say those magical words that you wrote, “I was offered my dream job”.
Thirdly, I was at the game tonight with my 2 boys. We watched the last inning at home and even my 6 year old knew that John Buck would swing at the first pitch after a 5 pitch walk. I know that is not the only reason that they lost by far but…
Anyway, Congratulations on the dream job.
Joe
Congrats, Joe!
I always felt that Buck O’Neil was KC’s treasure. He was ours. We just lent him to the rest of the world and they were lucky to have him.
I feel the same way about you. You may not have grown up here, but we love you as our own. I always felt we had one of the best WRITERS in the world in our quiet, little midwestern city. The rest of the world is about to find this out. Please contribute to the paper and this Blog when you can and keep going to The K.
Congratulations Joe, I am very happy for you.
Congrats, Joe. I’ve always loved reading your work, and it’s awesome that you get to take it to an even bigger stage. Go get em’!
congratulations, joe. but it’s less broadway than the chance to work with the best directors going (which aren’t on broadway so much, these days…). you deserve it!
I’ll admit, this really hit me hard when I first read it on the Star’s website. The Star is when I first began reading your columns.
As a sports editor for a local Kansas City High School newspaper, I would like to say Congratulations. I love your columns, and now I have a reason to read SI more often. I will continue to read your blogs and will be looking forward to your occassional columns in the Star.
I am going to Mizzou in a few years to major in journalism, and I hope someday I can follow a simliar career path that you have taken. I can only imagine right now what it is like to finally get that “Dream Job”.
Congrats, Joe. You’ve earned it!
Joe:
I’m 36 and a life-long Kansas Citian. I took the requisite time out of town for college and grad school. I was nearly wooed by the growth of other cities. But my family and home are here.
You see, my creator ground into my soul the patience to root for the Royals. My bowels thrive on the gritty spices slathered on Bryant’s ribs. My backside endures 30 minute jaunts across our highway miles. My internal alarm rings anew at noon on autumn Sundays, awakening the optimism of kickoff.
Might other pastures have been greener? Perhaps. I could read a thicker newspaper, drive smoother streets, and endure milder winters and summers. But when I drive West on I-70 late in the day, I see the stadiums to my left, and the endless western horizon punctuated by downtown – the sum of Kansas City glowing golden in the sunset. I smile, sigh, and all is well.
I am proud of you, Joe. I always knew you’d go places. I just never knew we’d get to keep you too!
This is truly wonderful news, Joe.
I am thrilled that you got your dream job. Similar to Wes (#24), I am a journalism student at Missouri State and your news has given me a new determination to achieve my dreams.
Thank you for everything and best wishes!
Congrats, Joe
I’ve been outside of KC for, gosh, 11 of your 13 years now, but I keep reading the KC star and hoping to see a new column. Reading your column helps me keep an emotional connection to teams that play at 2 in the morning where I live, in sports that nobody here follows.
So don’t forget KC when you move on to bigger and better things, huh? There’s an awful lot of us who wish we could be rooting for Banny and Yuni and Greinke more than our opportunities allow.
” Way to go, Dude. If you will it, it is no dream.”
congrats joe!
I will subscribe to SI immediately. Congratulations, sir. Nice guys do finish first.
Wow, I’m sad. But of course, I’m thrilled for you Joe, congrats!
congratulations. i can think of no writer who more deserves to land their ‘dream’ job. i hope it will not cut into the time you spend contributing to this wonderful blog of yours, which i suspect you could not stay away from if you tried (in fact, you HAVE tried, to no avail!).
Congratulations, Joe. It is certainly fitting that one of America’s finest sportswriters work at Sports Illustrated. I’d say I can’t wait to see what you do there, but I expect you’ll simply maintain the excellent standard you’ve already established for yourself. It would be hard to top it.
Congratulations, Joe – they hired the best sportswriter alive today. Nobody deservs it more.
You say it wasn’t a tough decision for you – well, I bet you it wasn’t a tough decision for them either.
I look forward to reading more of you in SI – and, of course, on this blog.
Congratulations, Joe! This is terrific news!
“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is liking what you get.”
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Congratulations to you, Joe.
Congratulations Joe! This may be getting repetitive, but you really do deserve it. You’re the best sportswriter in the game today.
Congrats, Joe. It’s a fantastic job – I’ve been an SI subscriber for more than 30 years. You’ll make it better. But the Star is my hometown paper, and I know the sports page won’t be the same without you.
I hope to God that you didn’t just jinx yourself by attaching yourself to Yuni.
Congrats and all!!
Congratulations, Joe!!!
Congratulations, Joe. I have always looked forward to reading your words, wherever they’re printed.
Congrats from those of us still adrift in your wake.
Congratulations!
Congratulations, Joe! That’s great news. By the way, your card trick has motivated at least one early book purchase.
I’m not from Kansas City (hence the moniker), but I mourn the city’s loss while congratulating Joe on a career move for which none can fault him. A great writer in a local paper matters in ways I cannot quantify.
Congratulations Joe, I am very happy for you. I have said for a number of years how lucky we in KC are to have had you here. I am also glad to hear that you and your family are staying in KC and you will continue to write for the Star and this blog. There are so many choices in this day and age but you remain for me a can’t miss read irregardless of subject matter or venue.
So you’re going to be writing for Sports Illustrated, the KC Star, this blog and still be living in Kansas City? What exactly is changing?
Either way, congrats.
Congrats!
U da man!
Congratulations Joe. I’m glad to see great work get rewarded. I’m also glad, selfishly, to see that you’ll keep writing about KC.
As a fellow newspaper writer, I’ve always looked up to you as one of the gold standards of journalism done right.
Congrats on landing your dream job. You deserve it.
Congratulations Joe!
Congrats Joe!!
….for being the first Royals blogger all year to share some great news! I think you’re an awesome writer & totally deserve this.
Congrats Joe! You are the best. I hope we will be getting your columns in the KC star more often than not. With you leaving, I can’t help but feeling the same way I felt when Damon, Dye, Beltran, etc. left KC. The big stars also seem destined to leave KC for greener pastures. Regardless, I wish you the absolute best and that KC will still get your yearly, “This is the year the Royals will win the division”, column. Also, does this mean you won’t be “held hostage” at the K during the next 15 game losing streak? In a sick way, I always loved those columns.
Congrats Joe. And congrats to SI, they are getting one heck of a writer.
Joe,
I have long told my wife you are my favorite writer in the world….period. Some day, some guy from some paper, if they are still around, willl run to is twitter, facebook, blog, whatever it is in the near future writing, “I just got offered a job my dream job at S.I. My god my favorites have written there”, and your name will be one of the one’s listed. your ‘glass half full’ look at sports, and the world for that matter, is refreshing. Good luck.
I think when your OPS+ is below a certain threshhold, maybe it is 50, maybe it is 25, that you should get two games to complete a cycle and still have official recognition.
So, congratulations to our newest Royal for completing the Yuni-cycle this week!!
Also, I used to think of Royals fans as being a cut above the average fan. Maybe it is the fact that we moved away from KC when I was 14 in 1986, when baseball was at its romantic peak in my life and the skepticism and cycnicism of later years hadn’t begun creeping in yet. Regardless, I thought as a fan base, we were tortured, but intelligent.
And then I am watching the game last night, and they put on the silly poll question to get people to text in, which last night was “Which former Mariner has helped the Royals the most?” with the choices of Bloomquist, Guillen, Betancourt, and Meche. And I thought this may be the first unanimous question in the poll’s history. And then I thought, nah, there would be a few people text in for Yuni just to be silly. And a few people may submit write in votes for Floyd Bannister just for his sperm. But everyone taking the question seriously would have to vote for Meche, right? I mean, is it debatable?
Not only did Meche not win in a landslide, he didn’t even win. I am stunned.
Congrats on the new gig!
I second the notion of Bobby (#12) – Joe will be on the back page of SI in six months, tops.
Long live the Banny Log and Yuni Watch either way!
Congrats… Any chance you could hook any of us up who renew our subscriptions with a shoe phone??
I already have a windbreaker of my favorite team, and an SI golf towel, and figured that bringing back the shoe phone offer was part of the deal with you coming on board full-time at SI…
I work for MillerCoors, so to an extent, I already have my dream job… But can I tell you my dream??
It’s to crack open a “special leather-bound commemorative edition” of Sports Illustrated with the Royals on the cover and the lead story writen by Joe Posnanski detailing how a small-market club could use a combination of scouting acumen and detailed statistical analysis to put together a roster that could compete with the big boys… Maybe the picture on the front could be Yuni telling Banny with his hands to wait until the final out is caught before jumping into his arms to celebrate their World Series victory…
Hey, you’re dream came true, why can’t mine??? LOL
Congrats Joe!! You know, even though Bill Simmons writes for a national website/magazine (formerly), he still writes about/refers to the Sox/Pats/Celts constantly…. I’m just sayin.
Congratulations, Joe. Well deserved.
You describe SI as a “dream job” – well, they should be as excited to have you as you are to be working there. It’s a perfect fit.
Thank you for the many hours of enjoyment I’ve received from your work over the last *gasp* 13 years.
(And did you know your wikipedia page has already been updated with this news?)
You are one talented writer, and I’ll join the throngs of fans in wishing you luck in “the show”.
Congratulations! Well deserved.
Please, please, please do not turn into an East Coast person. You can live wherever you want. Just don’t morph into that world-revolves-around-New-York person that has ruined SI.
SI – Reilly + Poz = new subscription
Wow, Joe–congratulations of the highest order! Your work at SI has already bumped the magazine up higher on my radar, and this will only increase that.
Best of luck with the change–I’m sure you’ll do a great job!
Joe,
One thing to remember as you embark on this new gig – Deford, Jenkins, Plimpton, Reilly, Price, Blount….they are the best, but they have nothing on you. You have an ability to make us laugh out loud or to choke up, often both in the same column. You are our voice, Joe.
Awesome, congratulations Joe. You’ve made me look forward to my weekly SI even more now.
You deserve it. Congrats, Joe!
Joe, you seem surprised. You must be aware that you have all the talent SI could ever want, right? As I said when you first hooked up with them months ago, they are the lucky ones here. Congratulations.
Dreams come true. You can look it up.
congratulatns i couldn’t think of a better person for the job
Congratulations Joe! So you get your dream job but will still write the blog and in the paper. So we all win!
Congratulations… to you and SI.
Joe
congratulations…I just signed up for a Sport Illustration subscription
thanks
Couldn’t have happened to a better writer Joe, you deserve the platform. Congratulations!
Congrats, Joe — very, very cool.
Congrats Joe. Now go tell Peter King he’s a jackass for me. Thanks
I think it says something good about you and Margo that you will be
staying in Kansas City. And no, I don’t live there (although my wife
did when we were dating) so I am somewhat objective. Having traveled
extensively, there just seems to be something about people who live in
the Midwest. Authenticity or transparency, maybe? Certainly a
friendliness that some places (yes, I’m looking at you, Pittsburgh)
could certainly use.
Staying in KC and working the dream job. The Dude abides.
Joe, you are not just one of the best sportswriters in America, you’re one of the best writers, period. Congratulations.
You are my favorite sports writer. I’m glad the Great Midwest is not losing you.
Joe:
You are now playing in a much tougher park. However:
You are in the peak of your career.
You are a multi-time All Star at your position.
Your skills are perfectly suited to the game your new team plays.
Your performance raises that of your fellow players.
The GM of your new team was smart to pick up your option.
I predict OPS+ of over 1.100
great job Joe. You’ve deserved this for a long time.
Congrats Joe. Big loss for the Star. Now, if SI jettisons Jon Heyman (or he pays me the $60k he owes me), I’d consider subscribing to SI once again (after a 10+ year hiatus). And yes, I am still well within the age group that advertisers covet.
Congratulations, Joe!
Awesome job, Joe. In the sea of awful journalistic hacks, it’s good to see the real good ones emerge.
Long overdue. Big congrats. Just promise to write something, somewhere, positive or negative, about the Royals at least once a year. For a KC kid like me, that’s simply quintessential sports writing.
Congratulations Joe, can’t add much more than what’s been said by all. Do the town proud but more importantly yourself and family. Now how do I get that subscription to SI?
Joe,
Ever since you moved here, when i was in kindergarten, I have been reading your article. Your brilliant writing has made my mornings before school and during the summer so much better.
You have truly made me appreciate what is good about sports, and life.
Your endless optimism in your columns have given me goosebumps. Your witty inside jokes you share with the rest of this great town has made me laugh out loud. And your column this morning, like a few before, made me cry.
I will continue reading the star each morning, as I have my whole childhood, but it wont be the same except on those few days a month when you remind us of what we had come to take for granted… the best sportswriter in the world.
I cant thank you enough for all the joy your columns have given me. All i can say is good luck Joe, and i hope you use this stage to show the nation all about good barbeque, warm nights at the K, a packed Arrowhead Stadium, Carlos Beltran gliding through CF, Mendy Lopez on opening day, WE BELIEVE!, milk and cookies, taking off the diaper, Priest Holmes, Zack Greinke infront of a sold out new K, Derrick Thomas coming around the end, the Banny Log, Mike Sweeney in his prime (and stealing home), DOS CARLOS, a young Johnny Damon, Angel Berroa, yuni, Tommy Watson, kansas city traffic, AND THE HOOMMEEEE, OFFF THEEEEE, CHIIIEEEFFFFSS!!!
I have thought for several years that The Star has the best sports section in America. I really believe that. I moved away from KC a couple years ago and still turn to The Star for my sports news. You and Jason have to be the best duo anywhere. Your styles are so completely different it really makes it interesting. I think a lot of readers have the perception that the two of you must not get along.
Anyway I’m rambling. Congratulations and keep writing about KC.
Tampa Mike @ 88
You’re 100% right. Boston’s sports writers are notoriously egocentric jerks, some of which still inexpicably hate Theo Epstein and Danny Ainge thanks to their flat earth leanings. I had to look halfway across the country to find a sportswriter worth reading.
After my good friend Paul (Dr. Z) Zimmerman had the stroke that so far has silenced him, SI desperately needed another writer of his caliber; a tip o’ the Kangol to them for finding one.
Congrats Joe. If this is what you want, then I am happy for you.
I’m excited to read that you will continue to write on this blog and in the Star about our local teams. As someone who no longer lives in the area, you really help make it easier to continue to be so engrossed in the KC sports scene, as many others have mentioned. You are the best.
I must also ask if this means that SI is maybe going in a new direction. Because frankly Joe, I don’t think the SI of my youth (I’m a little younger than you), is the SI of today. Honestly, other than the columns you have written recently there and sometimes I’ve picked it up in the dentist’s office, I don’t think I’ve gone thru the magazine since the ’90s. Hopefully your edition means SI is headed towards more of a format that focuses on the writing, with nice long feature articles. As opposed to the ESPN lite/People magazine format that it has become. Because if it continues in its current format, I’m still probably not going to pick one up, even with my favorite writer inside.
Man, I remember how giddy you were when you first got published in SI, I can’t imagine the feeling now.
Seriously, as a young writer midway through my second year in professional journalism, you are a huge inspiration and influence in my writing. I have read your blog for almost a year and a half now, and I have picked up so many little techniques and tricks just from things like the Banny Log. As a long-time, off-and-on subscriber to Sports Illustrated, I’m happy I get yet another outlet to read you regularly.
Congratulations, Joe.
Congrats, Joe. Well, well deserved.
I had been on the fence about renewing my subscription to the KC Star. Now, with this news, I am calling this morning to cancel my subscription. Joe, you were the only reason I paid ever increasing prices for diminishing content. Good luck to ya!
Congrats!
Congrats Joe!
Thank God you didn’t go to ESPN, or we’d lose this blog…..
It’s well deserved. Even if you are wrong about Gardy, I come here every day to see what new insight, humor, and joy you’ve brought to the world through your writing.
Congratulations Joe!
Does this mean that you’rer going to put the link to your archive page on si.com back up?
Sounds like a snuggie toga party is in order…
Joe,
Congratulations, and best wishes to you. I’ve been reading your blog since Rob Neyer first started linking to it, and I’m happy that my SI subscription means that at least one great writer will be there.
Congratulations. Great news.
I guess I can see why some of your fans want you on the back page but I hope you get to do the kind of long profiles that Frank Deford did when we were kids and SI was SI.
For a second I thought you would be moving to New York and got kind of excited but I guess we can’t have everything.
Congrats Joe!
You are a wonderful writer and everything a sports jouranlist should aspire to be (but so many are not).
You truly deserve this!
I can’t think of a more deserving candidate — sometimes the good guys do finish first! Good luck up in the majors, meat — remember, the rose goes in the front.
Congrats, Joe. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving writer.
Congratulations, Joe!
Congratulations Joe. You have made the people of South Euclid very proud!
Are you going to be keeping the blog, because if you don’t, I’ll have to admit I’m going to be pissed off.
congratulations!
Couldn’t happen to a better writer, Joe. Congratulations.
Of course, this might mean that I will have to start reading Sports Illustrated, but that’s a small sacrifice.
Congratulations to you and to SI! I’m a lifelong Boston-area resident, and have read your blog religiously since discovering it. It’s cheering to hear you’re not abandoning the newspaper. Peter Gammons left the Boston Globe to go write for SI some time in the mid-to-late 1970s; we Globe readers were happy for him but very sad at our loss. (Gammons later returned to the Globe for a short stay, but then left again.) So congratulations to everyone in the KC area for getting to share in the best of several Joe worlds!
Joe, you’re excellent every day, but today, you get a blog comment saying so.
SI is finally wising up, congratulations Joe.
Let me be the first to congratulate you, Joe. Well deserved.
OK, the 111th.
You rock Joe, and somewhere in suburban KC right now, Yuni is tearing up at your big announcement today
Thanks, Joe. Just thanks.
Congrats, Joe!
I was young when you came to KC and I read the sports page every day, both you and Whitlock. Your insight into baseball and particularly the Royals is truely loved and appreciated. You bring a perspective that is unique and amazing. I echo someone else’s post about checking to see if you have an updated post in there from 2k miles away. All I hope is that your analysis of the royals remains at least in the blog. Its tough to get my fix on my terrible team, a team so painful to love that your analysis gives me something to laugh about, as you mentioned the other day, when the routine is comical. Betanorpse is dead. At least his obp is higher than his avg now.
Congratulations Joe. To paraphrase the pitcher to his manager after getting rocked-”what took SI so long?” Now I can keep my subscription, pass it to my kids, and not worry that they won’t be exposed to the great writing you and I grew up on. You will continue the tradition…again, good job, and thanks for all the great work.
the more people read joewords the better
Congratulations, Joe! Couldn’t happen to a more deserving, or better, writer…
Mazel Tov!!!
Congrats, very well deserved.
Certainly well deserved, Joe.
Congrats, Joe. You’re the best writer who has blog posts longer than some books I’ve ever dared reading. Well deserved.
Joe, Congratulations. Your columns in the Star are some of my favorite reading, and I’ve loved this blog. I’m happy to hear you get the best of both worlds – staying the city you want to live in while working the job you’ve dreamed of. You deserve it.
Congratulations on a well-deserved reward. I hope any changes it brings to your life are what you want them to be.
Joe – Congratulations! I am extremely happy for you and your family.
I guess that I’m a bit like your daughter, Elizabeth in that change is usually difficult for me. As a 45+ year subscriber to SI (not consecutive, but mighty close) I just last month decided not to renew my subscription for a variety of reasons. That change was a difficult decision but after some lengthy thoughts on the matter I was fine with it. The magazine should quit coming any week now. And now, the bastards at SI offer you a senior writing position. Damn! I’m in a quandry.
Echoing all the above, congratulations on this well earned honour. We all look forward to continued excellence.
Congratulations, Joe!
Joe-
Congrats – I still remember my Pounding Poz T-shirt from the Augusta Chronicle. Terrible Picks.
Joe,
Now that you have this high-profile position at SI, do you think you could hook me up with an internship for the swimsuit issue? I’m great at judging true talent! Congrats though…
Congratulations Joe. It could not have happened to a more deserving writer. SI is lucky to have you.
Congrats Joe. I’m so happy you’re staying in KC, though and writing for the Star.
I never had a “favorite writer” until you began writing for The Star. I wish you ALL the best! Thanks for the tear-jerking as well as the funny stuff. I look forward to reading you wherever you go. God bless!!!
I guess this makes not getting the Star at Notre Dame this fall much less of a problem. Now to finding a way to get my parents to pick up the tab for an SI subscription. Congrats Joe, and I think a celebratory Banny Log is in order for his next start. Can’t wait for your first story as an official SI writer.
Joe, you have now become the Carlos Beltran of the KC Star. We’ve always watched you with the utmost passion, seen how you effortlessly spin tales of sporting lore that grab our hearts and imaginations every time. Now you’ve graduated from ol’ Kansas City, and though we hate the fact that we can’t keep you, you’ll always be in our thoughts as we admire you from afar. It won’t be the same: sure you’ll have a semi cameo story every once and awhile, and it will stink for us. But you’ll always be our guy. Godspeed Joe, and just promise us that you’ll at least keep writing your Thanksgiving articles!!!
One more reason to steal my brother’s copies of SI! Or maybe a reason to break down and re-subscribe myself (tell that to the boys in sales).
I am thrilled for you, Joe. I really enjoy reading your Star columns and blog – half the time I don’t understand the baseball stuff – but I enjoy your style. I get Margo’s columns better! Best of luck to you and your family.
I have always been a big fan of your blog Joe and I am so happy to hear that you have landed your dream job!
Too often I cite your blog or articles to friends and family, and not being from KC, the response more often than not is who? I am sure that this job will bring your work to the broader audience its quality deserves.
Long time reader, first time commenter. Anyway, as everyone else has said, congrats. As someone who is considering a career in sports journalism, writing for SI is a possible goal of mine. Looking forward to more of your brilliant writing.
There’s an old saying about writing, something to the effect of: write about what you know, and if you’re passionate about it, no matter how arcane the subject, people will respond.
I think of you when I think of that quote. I live nowhere near KC. The Chiefs are perhaps the least interesting team in the NFL. The Royals are somehow even less interesting than the Chiefs. Yet your blogs about them are fascinating.
Now that you will be forced to write about teams that, on the interesting/charismatic scale, are in positive territory (like Yuni’s OPS+ finally is) it should be even more interesting.
(btw, this is certainly not a slam on KC sports. I loved watching the Royals (Brett, every-other-year Saberhagen, the Quiz) as a kid. But the front offices of the current teams have let things slide in a pretty deep abyss.)
Well, you’re literally the best in the business, so it makes sense for you to get the call to SI. Congratulations.
Joe, congrats man. I can’t wait for you to write about LeBron and the Cavs bringing home the 2010 NBA championship to Cleveland. But, as stated above, do everything you can to keep them off the cover until they seal the deal!
Congratulations! I’ve lived in KC for the past eight years and have been an intense Royals fan for the past five. I enjoy your writing not only because of the topics you cover, but also because you are just a skilled writer. I believe you are especially skilled at putting together fluent sentences, and I sometimes use your work as examples in the high school English classes I teach. Anyway, when I saw this post I worried you wouldn’t be sharing your musings on our heartbreaking baseball team anymore, but it looks like we’ll just be able to read more of your writing period. Yippee for us and congratulations to you!
Looks like SI just sold me a subscription.
FWIW, for google to suggest “Joe Posnanski” as the first choice you only need to type in “joe po.”
Congrats, Joe!
Congratualtions, Joe. You’re an excellent writer and will be a valued asset to SI.
Hey Joe. I’ve been a fan for many years. Just started my own blog and was looking for a little inspiration for my first post. Thank you.
And good luck! Very proud of you and your fine work.
Joe,
Write some long stories, my issues of SI are too thin! Maybe I just subscribe to SI as a habit at this point, but lately the magazine feels stale. Same story over and over again(although I guess most sports stories are the same). Superstar struggles to be discovered, has initial success, succumbs to alcohol/drugs or domestic violence(always a misunderstanding where the woman overreacted and didn’t mean to call the police), friction with the coach or other players is explained away, superstar creates a foundation in his name and is redeemed in life and on the field as well. Although I have to admit that the profile on Corey Dillon a few years ago using that format was highly entertaining…wow, you could only shine that turd up to a certain point but SI gave it a helluva try (“Many eyewitnesses blame his girlfriend for running her face into his fist several times. To atone for her act, he has founded the ‘Dillon Keepyourfaceoffmyfist Foundation’ although he overslept and missed the ribbon cutting ceremony…doctors suspect narcolepsy. Apropos of nothing, Dillon has pledged tentative partial sponsorhip of a football camp for ugly children). Shine it up SI!
Come back to your glory SI. Amazingly enough, I prefer “The Sporting News” these days(gasp!). I know as Senior Writer you can only affect so much change(ok, I don’t really know what a senior writer does, but I digress), at the very least make Gary Smith write more stories. Congrats Joe on every accomplishment at SI: first story, first cover, senior writer, you’ve earned it.
In closing, if that Dillon story appeared in ESPN the magazine, I’d feel awfully silly and imagine my ABR status will be revoked.
Congratulations, Joe, from me and your many fans in the Lumpe League and up in Chillicothe in the Zack Wheat League! We’re happy for you, and happy for you that you’ll stay within reach of Bryant’s and Gov. Stumpy’s.
joe, just curious if you will be doing long human interest type pieces a la gary smith or will you be doing more short-and-to-the-point stuff?
also, will the bill james coeds continue? i enjoy those, however they are always way too short and never really seem to come to any conclusion. i think they’d be a lot more effective if they were twice as long.
Good for you and the family and KC (and for us)!
Congrats Pos, and congrats to SI for getting a first class sports writer.
Congratulations to Sports Illustrated. Oh, and to Joe I guess.
By the way, if a player hits for exactly one single, one double, one triple, and one homerun … over two games, is that the “Yuniesky Cycle?”
Congrats Joe, although it does feel a little bittersweet for us KC fans. As a long-suffering Royals fan, these days when it comes to Royals, the only things that I really get any consistent pleasure from are Greinke outings and your writing. That’s pretty much it. Glad that you have reached your dream job, but here’s hoping that you continue to provide us Royals fan the silver lining of your writing…
Joe:
Congrats, of course. Glad you’re staying in KC. But be careful with the loyalty thing at the paper. It can be a one-way street.
Congratulations, Joe. To your family as well. And to Elizabeth for not having to up and move.
Congrats Joe, glad for the world that your words will reach a wider audience.
Joe, congratulations! I started getting SI after you started showing up in it, and this makes it even better. I’m glad, too, that you’ll be keeping up with the blog and staying in the Midwest.
Congratulations, Joe. I will now take SI more seriously.
corn field county salute “saaaaaaaaaalute”
I herewith break a personal oath and interrupt my family vacation to offer you a heartfelt congratulations, Joe. It has been a privilege to have you writing for the local paper over the years.
Congratulations Joe!
I’ve been reading you ever since Tony Pena Jr. first stepped foot on a major league mound, and it’s always such good stuff, never disappointing. I can’t really think of a writer who deserves more readers more than you…so best of luck with it, guess I’ll have to subscribe to SI as well!
Congrats Joe.
I really wish I could get my stuff published. Nice to see you’re excelling to the top of the heap!!
Joe, I’m so happy for you. This is the perfect job for the perfect guy, although like everyone else I feel a sense of loss. I’ve always admired your writing and I’m pleased that more people will get the joy of reading you. You are truly one of the best. Good Luck.
I just read your moneyball article on SI and I just gotta say: That was Awesome! It was so awesome I just wanted to email you and say it was awesome. Or post a response on some blog-response-thing underneath the article.
(On the NY Daily News website you can either write or respond, or at least you used to be able to. I guess crazies did away with that).
But I couldn’t respond, so I didn’t. So like a crazy, I googled your name and it led me here. And I was just going to respond and say, “Hey Joe, that article on moneyball for SI was awesome”. But before I could even find a place to say that, I found this blog entry and read it. Now I have to say: “Joe this blog entry is even more awesome and I can’t remember why I even came here.”
I’ve read you before on SI and thought you were good. I expect nothing less from the future and I look forward to reading you there. Good luck and congratulations!
You may be the only writer that can bring that magazine back prominence…good luck
Joe,
In a conversation with Bill James, he said that “everything that lives…changes.” Congratulations on your change. It is well deserved. You do more than write and tell stories. You make us think and you make us feel. If they haven’t already, a national audience is about to discover that.
Warmest regards from a fan.
Joe –
I never, ever, leave blog comments. Even as an avid reader of this one, I’ve never commented. This post warranted my first.
Your articles have made me laugh (the slap chop!), think, reflect, and, oh yeah, appreciate how baseball both enriches and analogizes our lives. You’ve inspired me with every column, blog post, musing, etc. to think…differently. Myself, and everyone else here I’m sure, appreciates how hard you work and how much love you put into it all. It’s a rare ability to move pass gut reactions. You write with a focus on why those reactions exist.
It’s a beautiful life we lead, and it’s wonderful to see good work rewarded.
Congratulations, and I’d say don’t forget about us all here…but I know you never would. There’s a captive audience (really) that cares what you think (really) and too much to write about.
That’s right. 4 hits in 2 days. Can you feel it?
Congrats Joe.
I told you that on Twitter to my 50k+ followers… you are awesome and have been a great golden nugget of bad-assness in KC for a long time.
You make the complete sucktitude of KC sports not quite so sucky.
Thanks for rockin’ Casbahs. Good luck at SI
Joe,
Congrats, Man! You’ve earned it. I love reading your articles in The Star and in this blog. I’m glad to hear you’re staying, we KC Natives need you. You’re all we have to be proud of in the sports world. Anyway, thank you for spending your thoughts/words/and times with us. I speak for all of Kansas City when I say “You’re the best there is and you deserve it!”
Thanks again and congratulations,
Matt
Joaldo,
I have LOVED your columns in the KC Star, and hope you keep writing a lot of columns in it. PLEASE keep covering the Royals in detail. I grew up in KC, so though it is excruciatingly painful I will always be a Royals fan. Your writing about them really helps.
And congratulations on your new dream job. You deserve it. I may have to subscript to Sports Illustrated now.
Congratulations Joe! This may actually bring me to subscribe to a print magazine for the first ime in a long time.
Less about working with Whitlock, more about working with McCollough.
I grew up in KC and now live out in Virginia. Every time you wrote a new column my dad would tell me all about it… I finally explaiend to him that I read them every morning on-line, usually at about the same time he read them in the paper. But I’m glad you’ve given us so many things to talk about over the years, even if I didn’t need him to recap your writing for me.
Congratulations Joe, you deserve it.
Congratulations. I am glad you will be staying in the area and keeping the blog. As an alum and die-hard Mizzou fan, reading your columns after something good happens at Mizzou (which, prior to the last 2-3 years was a rare occurrence) is almost as good as watching the event itself.
I’m glad to know that “flyover territory” won’t be forgotten at SI for the foreseeable future.
What a sad day for KC but what a great day for you Joe. I have considered you the best sportswriter in the nation for a long time so I knew it was just a matter of time until you got called up to the big leagues. I was amazed it took this long for someone to snatch you up.
Looking forward to seeing your stuff in SI, you are giving me a good reason to keep renewing it.
Congrats Joe!
I’ll add my voice to the chorus of congratulations. Great news!
Just please, PLEASE keep the blog posts flowing.
I am so happy for you and a little afraid we’ll lose your more personal ramblings here on the blog. We love it when you talk about your family and the midwest and the fundamentally different way the midwest lives and experiences sports.
Another reason I love you as a writer and this site especially is illustrated by how many kids have posted that you are an inspiration to them. I can’t imagine a higher honor. Congratulations.
Congrats, as long as you continue to write ill be happy
There is no reason to keep subscribing to the Star anymore. This could be the saddest day of my sporting life. It is like the day Roy left, except I don’t hold it against you Joe. I still can’t stand Roy, hope he loses every game, and gets beat by 30 when they play Duke. You became one of us, even though you were a transplant. You shared our passions and heartbreaks, our frustrations and joy what little there has been. You sure deserve it. I think we all knew you were too good to stay here in cowtown. I have refered to you as our Jim Murray, our Joe McGuff. I lived in LA for a number of years and got to read Jim every day. In the days before the internet he was the thing I always looked forward to. You are that good, that insightful. I was going to let my subscription to SI lapse but not now. Thanks Joe, we love ya.
Joe — You buried the lede!
“I just called this my dream job but to be perfectly honest, I would never have dared to dream up this job”
- nice. I think a person typically day-dreams while they are plugging away at one thing, and then the surprise that a daydream scenario has actually occurred presents itself. Or there is the phrase “but, I never would have dreamed that this/that etc…”
-Walt Whitman’s beard is also full of dreams; and he just gives them to people.
i feel like your daughter feels.
Like many here, I’m both thrilled for you and disappointed for your Star readers. I guess this will make seeing your column in the Star feel even more special, which is hard to imagine. I remember right before you were going to start at the Star and (for some bizarre reason I never understood) they offered to let you write a column before you were “officially” the columnist as “The Unknown Columnist” with a picture of you with a bag over your head. I’m glad that wasn’t as bad of an omen as I thought it might be.
I can’t wait to see what ballplayer’s career Joe compares John Hughes to.
So it seems like everything is going to change, and at the same time little is going to change. Well, congratulations all the same. And only a little bit more than a month until 9/9/09.
We’ve had the best double play combo in the majors for over a decade with you and Jason. Sorry to see it breaking up.
Isn’t it something to hear from all these people you’ve touched? And especially the kids.
Finally, I’ve often wondered, do you ever sleep?
Be well.
…and you can buy his book on amazon!!!
I enjoyed your work here in KC and look forward to your columns in SI.
Congratulations Joe, well deserved indeed!
Well deserved. Best of luck.
Is it too early to ask what it’s like to work with Peter King?
Congratulations Joe. You’re well deserving and a joy to read. You’re good news is our good news.
Sports Illustrated loses Rick Reilly but gets Dan Patrick and Joe Po? Sounds like a huge gain for SI to me.
PS–Not a Reilly fan.
[...] lots of top reporters. Hell, just this week Sports Illusrated hired away another favorite of mine, Joe Posnanski. And while they don’t do so yet, you could see national media like that add beat reporters as [...]
[...] lots of top reporters. Hell, just this week Sports Illusrated hired away another favorite of mine, Joe Posnanski. And while they don’t do so yet, you could see national media like that add beat reporters as [...]
Congrats Joe!! Im so excited for you! You totally deserve it.
Congratulations to you. You’re right about SI, dream job. You’ve earned it. Enjoy.