Breakin' My Wand

In his 1988 Baseball Abstract, Bill James closed out the book and his long string of years of writing the annual Abstract with a wonderful essay entitled "Breakin' The Wand". It was his swansong, spelling out how he'd done all he'd hoped for with the Abstract, that it was a huge drain on him every winter, and he wanted to move on to other things. And so he has -- James continues to provide immensely entertaining and informative material about baseball and other, lesser subjects, and his direct efforts with the Boston Red Sox have helped bring about the 2004 and 2007 championships. It was sad to see the Abstract go, but he has hardly left the stage.

The time has come for me to break my own wand (though I draw no comparisons between myself and James; he's a baseball legend. I've learned a great deal from his works and could never thank him enough. I just like how he walked off that particular stage in subdued but undeniable style), that of being the Top Contributor to the Yahoo! Answers Baseball forum. I joined it nearly two years ago, and it has been a lot of fun. But all things pass in their turn, and the Y!AB forum is no longer a place I should be. I have need of some significant restructuring of my personal life, and while I still enjoy the forum, it is high atop the list of things that I need to push off my personal Cliffs of Insanity. Real baseball begins again on Sunday night, and that will be more than enough distraction, along with my fantasy team (where winning a single week will be more than fulfilling of any expectant fantasies involved).

So, I'm moving on. Probably not entirely, but mostly. I look forward to getting knocked out of the top slot on the Contributors scoreboard.

Lift high the torches, defend the faith, do not go quietly, begrudge every out given up, and lay off that outside slider.

And, play ball!