- Everything happens to everybody sooner or later if there is time enough. —George Bernard Shaw
—
The last couple of weeks have had me on my seat's edge. The season has arrived, and for all sorts of reasons I've been stoked with anticipation. Admittedly, I already got to enjoy a long trip to the Cactus League, which left me even more interested in the Cubs and Sox in a year that already figures to provide exciting races in every division.
But the other thing that I've been waiting on has been the latest development in my career. The last couple of weeks have been a pregnant pause, at a time when I'm usually busy trying to write up every move I can lay my hands on. But that time has now come to an end.
When ESPN chose David Schoenfield to step into Rob Neyer's shoes at the Sweet Spot, I was genuinely pleased, for what that meant for sabermetrics in general, but also because this was a great guy to put out there, up front—David was johnny-on-the-spot at the foundation of online sports coverage at ESPN.com, back during the wild, wide-open internet of the '90s. He's a canny stathead who understands the challenge of trying to communicate sabermetrics' most useful lessons to a mainstream audience. He was also an early patron of Baseball Prospectus back in the day, and the person those of us on the BP team at the time got to work with on our initial ESPN columns, like writing up the expansion drafts for the Rays and Snakes. It's a case of a good guy, a good job, and a good fit.
However, what followed was even more surprising. Shortly after ESPN selected David, they asked me if I'd be interested in joining ESPN.com's baseball team, working on the editorial side of things as well as playing second fiddle to David on the Sweet Spot. I immediately said yes. However, I also made sure that I would nevertheless be in a position to continue to contribute to BaseballProspectus.com, albeit on a reduced schedule.
I've always been something of the “accidental sportswriter.” Even after helping found Baseball Prospectus, I have considered eventually returning to school for a PhD in history, perhaps in some appropriately obscure field. But the fates seem to find a way of conspiring to keep me from it, as I've moved from an opportunity in sports publishing to the privilege of becoming a BBWAA member—a development I thank John Perrotto above all others for—to this new, latest development. However accidental this chain of events might seem in the broad strokes, I have to confess to a bit of ambition for myself in the face of it, to take advantage of this opportunity and recognize that maybe, just maybe, after 15 years this sports thing really is who and what I am about.
In saying as much, I also recognize how it might come across as ingratitude in the face of an immense debt, both professional and personal. I owe Baseball Prospectus everything I am, and everything I have achieved thus far—far beyond my own good fortune as a result, it is the finest thing I have ever been a part of. “It” is my group of guys, past and present, from the four other members of the original founding five to "sixth Beatle" Dave Pease; to the current crew, most especially Steven Goldman and Kevin Goldstein, and Jay Jaffe and David Laurila but also to my compadres on the editorial crew, old and new, with favorite former intern Steph Bee foremost among them. Confronted with the possibilities of the present, it comes home to me how much it has been my honor to be numbered among the dozens of people who have been here since that first conference call back in December of 1995.
That goes beyond just baseball, of course. My own narrative has not been especially mysterious, and in the early days back in 2003, we didn't have all the answers for how my career would work out, or even if it could work out. But in the face of that unknown, my guys and gals stood up for a teammate, and then as now, it has been a collective act of everyday civic courage that I have never taken for granted. That has come with the occasional sacrifice, such as when one television station invited us to promote the print edition of BP2K10, stating that they'd love to have any of BP's primary contributors “except Christina Kahrl,” to which my guys said thanks, but no thanks. I may have never asked for that kind of support, but it speaks volumes about my immense good fortune that, among my folks here, there was apparently never any other choice.
So I'm going to be moving along to ESPN, contributing to the Sweet Spot, and editing elements of the site, while also still traveling to the ballpark as a member of the BBWAA, developing a few feature articles, and generally joining David Schoenfield, providing sabermetrically informed perspective for the benefit of a wider audience. This action reflects my conviction that the victories of sabermetrics get won to the right side of the proverbial decimal point, but risk losing sight of the actual imperative: the need to focus on everything to the left of that point. Sabermetrics will only become rooted in mainstream baseball coverage through personal action and direct engagement with the mainstream audience. That means that the conversation needs to be expanded to include millions of people, some of whom might need some convincing. ESPN.com wants that element of the game in their wider conversation, and they honor me with the privilege of contributing to it.
That said, I'll also be making continued contributions to BaseballProspectus.com and to the annual. Since I will only be writing here every two weeks, that necessarily means I need to walk away from writing about transactions. After 15 years of moves big and—much more often—small, and trying to use that churn as a vehicle for talking about baseball in general, and the odd archduke now and again, it is time for a change. Happily, with people like Ben Lindbergh and Jay Jaffe and R.J. Anderson, I don't think transactions coverage will suffer in my absence. It will be different than it has been in the last 15 years, but should still be excellent, because it will reflect the quality of the guys already on board. Instead, you can look forward to my writing more generally about sabermetrics and big-picture questions, perhaps the odd historical essay, and whatever else Steven Goldman—or you, the audience—may want of me.
Which brings me to the truly important point as far as my writing about baseball: I am not gone, but I am moving into another incarnation. As Shaw stated, “Progress is impossible without change.” This is not just the shape of things to come, it is quite simply progress: progress for me, progress for Baseball Prospectus, and, if I do not flatter myself overmuch by saying so, hopefully a small part of progress at ESPN.com as well. Glory to us all, that we might make it so.
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(hugs and handshakes)
Congratulations, Christina!
Thanks for everything CK.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/01/deep-thought-internet-paywall-edition/
But on a selfish level, the one constant on this site, for me, has been you. In particular, the Transaction Analysis. It has been the major reason that I subscribe to BP, along with the coverage of the minor leagues.
As my subscription to BP is up in 2 days, this news gives me pause. I've handled, or at least justified, the leaving of some of my other favorite writers on this site (Carroll, Sheehan, et al.), but I'm not sure this news I can justify.
Will there be transaction analysis on a consistent basis? Or will it be sporadic? This just leaves me with many questions that I apparently can't even put into words. I guess I must be looking for assurances. I've not loved the direction the site has taken. For me, it's been the narrative of baseball combined with statistical analysis that I've enjoyed, not statistical analysis with some narrative included that's engaged me. With your departure, this seems to have tipped the scales far more to pure statistical analysis, a minus for this subscriber.
I'm sure Steve will have more to say once he's done appearing on a live Japanese middle-of-the-night TV quiz show (also not an April Fools joke), but consider this your first official "Don't Panic!" notice.
I loved Joe Sheehan, put up with Will Carroll because occasionally he wrote well and originally, and occasionally was just an ass in an entertaining way however, what these writers seem to have done is create a collective around an idea of baseball that we all subscribe to: that we can understand the game of baseball better by understanding what it is players do that actually contributes to victory and what just looks cool or is a cliche of the sport, often one of laziness and too often one of self-aggrandizement. It seems that a natural evolution of this community is to grow beyond an original core of amazingly talented writers and nurture new writers who want to extend the vision and go in new directions.
I was down on BP to be honest, a couple years ago, but I actually think it's been really good reading as of late. I guess I'm just trying to convince you that something that reinvigorated my own interest in the game a bit more than a decade ago still deserves a chance.
All the best, Christina. Damn.
best of luck, go teach those bozos a thing or two. About baseball and the Revolutions of the 1840s.
Plus the RJ guy isn't too bad either. ;-)
Our organization has lost multiple coaching staff members who graduated to managerial positions elsewhere and in each case I had the same sentiment which applies to Christina today--I'm ecstatic for the professional advancement, but woefully sorry the person won't be "here" anymore.
And now, despite it being not quite 9AM on the West Coast, I shall mix myself a rum-and-soda and drink lamentingly to the death of the late, great Transactions Analysis. I've always said if I could read just one thing on the entire Internet it would be that column as written by CK. Alas, poor Yorick is dead. Truly a gray day, regardless of the beautiful weather here.
In your honor, a pair of possibly eclectic and/or obscure and/or amusing quotes:
"There are but two things worth living for: To do what is worthy of being written, and to write what is worthy of being read; and the greater of these is the doing." From "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry" by Albert Pike.
"Excelsior!"
The sign-off tag on every letter Stan Lee would write, in the earlier days of Marvel Comics.
We salute you!
Some years ago, I got into a friendly e-mail discussion with Christina about diacritical marks. She likes accents, umlauts, tildes and other markings from other languages. I hate them.
She accused me (in all good humor) of being her arch-enemy, a comic-book style villain opposing all that is good, or at least all that is Christina.
(An umlaut looks a horizontal semi-colon, and a tilde is ~.
So, we're talking about a package involving marks that look like :~.)
Christina argued (approximately) that we have a long-standing tradition involving this package, and that since this is what we started with, we should keep it no matter what changes in typefaces, use of computers, or other societal issues occur.
I averred that we had moved past 1955 into a new and different era, and that those who wanted to shed this unnecessary junk should be saluted. At the very least, the disapprobation of those who choose to embrace the new culture was deeply misguided.
There is no longer a credible argument to hold onto the old ways when such a hold makes life harder for so many. I don't want to type Alt-0223; I just want to get rid of things that look wrong and feel wrong and replace them with an appropriately cleaner look.
I did not convince her.
Still, Christina, from your arch-enemy: Congratulations and good luck. Your writing has been a joy these many years at BP.
--JRM, who concedes that some of the exact language in this comment was not present in our actual conversation, though the punctuation content is accurate to my recollection.
For the record, I won't be canceling my subscription.
Sigh ...
From from me, because I can't stop playing it lately:
Regina Spektor's "The Genius Next Door".
Damn contradictory emotions.
Try to chip in here as much as you can. In the meantime, I think paying for the ESPN Insider subscription is becoming a more appealing idea than it was a few years ago.
Thank you. Congratulations.
That being said, the Sweet Spot ruined Rob Neyer (some of which he has commented about on SB Nation). You might no longer have the liberty to bring in tangents from history as you so often do in your Transaction Analysis. The few Sweet Spot articles I've read since Neyer (apologies to Schoenfield) were also subpar and had little sabremetrics or any real analysis beyond Wins and batting average. On top of that, you'll have a readership base more interested in swearing at each other than actually commenting about your article. All of that, of course, assumes you'd write for the Sweet Spot.
I guess, in other words, I'm quite a bit heartbroken and would've preferred you stayed here full-time to make this site better than ESPN. Maybe it's a smaller pond, but at least you won't have anyone drowning out your voice.
Sorry if I sound a bit harsh (and I rarely am harsh). And for the record, I'm not cancelling my subscription either. Still, even though I might've seen it coming, it's still a bit of a shock... which shows how much I care about the work you've put into BP.
Let me put it another way. ESPN had Rob Neyer, who people say was the gateway to Bill James and sabremetrics. I know Neyer introduced me to BaseballProspectus and SABR. He'd written at ESPN for years yet, from what he has written at SB, apparently had constraints. His Sweet Spot blogs became more and more watered down from the original, insightful articles he used to write some 5-odd years ago.
Go right now and do a flipthrough of the Sweet Spot's last 15 postings. Aside from the occasional post of links to another website, it's just one big opinion blog with little in the way of facts and almost no sabremetrics. There's more talk about statistics in one Transaction Analysis than there is in a day's worth of Sweet Spot posts going back to 3/31/11 3:29pm EST "Will Verlander finally have that big season?" Take a look. Maybe three instances of slash stats and two or three mentions of ERA.
I hope Christina fixes all that. But the way I see it, if ESPN was that serious about sabremetrics, they would've given Neyer more freedom and brought in Christina before he left.
That being said, the +/- system is silly and this isn't the first thread to say that. Also, every so often, every post by a particular commentator gets a bunch of minuses. It's happened to me and others. Don't take it personally.
In this instance, though, I made a point of plussing everybody who commented, because I'm grateful to all of you for your well wishes and consideration in saying as much. I hope you all enjoy what I am and will be doing on the Sweet Spot, as well as get a kick out of Ben Lindbergh's work on TA. It's my conviction that you'll get plenty of reading value out both spots on the web as a result.
Congratulations to you on your move to the "Evil Empire". I truly have enjoyed reading your writing on baseball, history, the dingo, and your observations. Losing Nate, Joe, and Will over the last few years has been a bit of a blow, losing you will hurt as much as the others. I just re-upped for another year with BP before you announced your departure. Had this been posted before I re-upped I may have thought twice before signing on again. I rarely look at the ESPN site and outside of the games they broadcast, I rarely watch the station. Your inclusion at ESPN may make me a bit more open to go to their sites.
Best of luck to you in your new position. You will be missed around these parts...
Take care, Brian
Go make some waves over there.
I have enjoyed your writing, I ma a big , big fan and I wish you the best of luck.
Jim Masteralexis
I'm also fascinated to see what you do with the more long-form pieces. BP will be an even better place for it.
I've read you since '98. You will be sorely missed. I always thought of you as a combination of Uatu, Cassandra and Dante's Virgil -- observant, possessing foresight and guiding us all through the inept (and competent) transactions of the baseball world.
I'm thrilled that you were able to dig up a Shaw quote as a way of saying goodbye. That was cool.
Hopefully you'll still do a few BP events. Your brilliance, wit and enthusiasm have always been a bright spot.
If you want to teach (even part-time), you should do the PhD. It sucks that it takes that to be recognized by other academics, but so it goes...
Despite our loss, I am happy for you. Thrilled. I think talent should be recognized, rewarded and given wider audience. This is a good thing for you, baseball and society.
All the best,
Frank Greenagel
Looking forward to your ESPN contributions.
Congratulations on a big move, your writing deserves as wide an audience as it is about to get and your pragmatic and nuanced view of the roster construction and transactional analysis will be something I seek out wherever it is.
Your courage and directness deserve every respect, your willingness and seeming desire to share your success and accolades with your colleagues and collaborators says all that one needs to know about you. Happy trails.
On a personal note, I hope you get to work some with James Quintong at ESPN, a friend of mine from way back. He's great and knows more trivia than any 3 people I've ever known. You should get him a few times on the Austro-Hungarian Empire though...
Jeff Manto references forever!
And a TV station rep actually said that in 2010? Shame them with continued greatness, and good luck...
But I'm glad I re-upped. I do love what's been going on here.
Christina, fare thee well.
need it, hope you get yours, too. You are however a pro and it shows.....thanks
CK you will be missed, and I wish you the best wherever your professional career takes you. I am not sure now if I'm going to renew my BP subscription. I have loved BP for many years, but for whatever reason find myself reading it less and less despite the higher volume of content. The site's decision to focus on fantasy content may be a sound business decision, but that is not BP to me. There are plenty of outlets for users seeking that kind of content, this place used to offer great writers and great analysis of the real game on the field. Prospectus today, UTK, TA, and the chats (oh how i miss the good chats) were always required reading for me, but few of the newer columns have really captured my loyalty.
BP's differentiation from the rest of the available baseball web content made it a special place. It was bad enough that BP content was appearing on the ESPN site, but now they're poaching talent as well.
The more fundamental issue is that the subject matter (largely insignificant transactions) does not warrant such a high level of attention/resources, whether in the form of run-on sentences or not. I happen to like Lindbergh's work thus far, but feel that his talents would be better used in generating new analysis. Let's allow TA to die a peaceful death, and focus resources on innovative work.
I still miss going to games with you at Camden Yards, which stopped when you moved to Chicago. Personally, this feels like one more step away.
Now you're moving to ESPN. Certainly it is a more commercially accepted site than BP, and it is likely to expose your writing to a larger audience. It is very unlikely, however, that your ESPN writing will give full flower to your unusual and entertaining style. I assume you will continue to give your style full flower in your less frequent contributions to BP.
Of course I give you my best wishes, and confidence in your continued success
Thank you, Christina.