Thank you Brewerfan Minor League Forum followers -- My note to you

[Mass Haas]

You may have noticed it's been not quite so chockfull-of daily-news in the forum here over the past month or so.

 

Normally I've always typed "we" when referring to the site's updates, meaning Brewerfan and its staff, moderators, etc., but in this post, I'll be using the first person, to give a personal big thank you to you all.

 

I informed Brian, our site's founder and webmaster, a few weeks ago, that after 11 years of linking, organizing, copying, pasting, and trying to analyze minor league minutia in the form of the Link Report, transaction news, player feature links, etc., it's time for me to "step down".

 

I believe Brian could not have been more gracious in his words to me upon hearing that, and among the many kind thoughts from him I appreciate, the one I'll take with me most is "you don't really see time spans of 11 years in anything online, let alone a complete labor of love like we've built here".

 

That really hit me. Eleven years, especially the in-season Link Report challenge, which offers not a single day off for a minimum of five solid months each spring and summer. If it was going to come together, as it began and then evolved, it needed to be thorough. It needed to be detailed and thought-provoking and hopefully entertaining. It needed to blend in with the forum in combination with the feature articles and profiles to provide a complete picture of the Brewers' organization top-to-bottom, or in the more caustic big-league days of the early decade, bottom-to-top (as to be more hopeful).

 

And it did. Although the Link Report began in the 2001 season, the full Link Report archives currently housed here begin in 2003. I think it's pretty cool that there is this day-to-day minor league history stored away that chronicles the paths that Prince, Corey, Rickie, J.J., Yovani, Ryan, and so many more took to their Brewer debuts, while also detailing the journeys of all of those who didn't quite reach their goal of big league glory, and that your comments, in many instances, discuss them along the way.

 

I must acknowledge and thank individually one gentleman for providing me the confidence and spark to really pursue this endeavor, and that's Jim Powell. Early in the decade (yes, the Allen Levrault - Ruben Quevedo era), Jim was my eyes for big league Brewer baseball -- no MLB.TV package for PC back then, no Extra Innings for cable, just the online radio feed that allowed this lifetime Brewer fan from Massachusetts (please don't ask why or how, it's been explained here somewhere) to suffer through those tough days. Jim picked up on what was going on here at Brewerfan and made sure others knew about it. We shared more emails than I can remember. What a fantastic guy. A quick transition from Brewer audio and a bit of High Desert Maverick audio allowed yours truly to stay up late and pull off the Link Report feat, but at least I had Jim's call (along with Ueck, of course) to entertain me while typing things up.

 

And things got really cool along the way. My inbox became full of really cherished communications with notes of thanks and encouragement from family members of Brewer farmhands, some of those players more highly regarded than others, but all with caring grandma's (somehow I did really well with the grandma's, who were all learning how to use email, I guess) and other family members. There would be a rare downer note, someone upset about something, but in that I normally tried to accentuate the positive, very few.

 

All those announcers beating the bushes as well -- wonderful relationships there, too. The front office staffs working with me behind the scenes to keep me posted on things in as timely a manner as the big league front office would allow, thank you to you all. Nice notes shared with the local beat writers coast-to-coast, from Charleston, West Virginia to Adelanto, California, congratulating them on a particularly well-written or well-researched piece, and in turn, their note of appreciation to me for my efforts. All special.

 

A nice part of this note is that actually, life is good. Health is solid (knock wood), the job is stable, the family is fine (and expanding in 2012, the same calendar year in which I turn a half-century, yikes). It's just going to be a critical year for me in aspects outside my love of baseball, and it will be best if my focus will be on those things, not that they were ever neglected before. My Link Report-season sleep quotient, especially in the early years -- yes, that was slightly neglected...

 

Do know that I'll still be around commenting from time to time, still a huge fan of the Milwaukee Brewers and their farm clubs. I hope others jump in, in such a way this offseason, to keep this Minor League Forum updated with news and notes. That means you, our regular readers and posters, so don't be shy.

 

You won't see me as a major "contributor" on other sites -- I didn't hire Scott Boras, it's not as if I head to free agency like Prince. I'll probably try to keep Brewerfan's Player Index and Transaction Database up-to-date, since I've invested so much time and effort to maintain its accuracy over the years. And I've been tweeting Brewerfan-related updates since last spring (most of you didn't notice http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif), but should you choose, you can follow me @Mass_Haas, as I hope to be active there.

 

There are some folks out there doing some really nice things in the Brewer interwebs. Keep it up, I enjoy reading. Keep it up for 11 years, and I'll wink an acknowledgement your way! I'm truly hopeful that this forum will continue to maintain a loyal following in whatever form it will take. I'm confident it will.

 

Thanks Brian, for allowing me the chance to run with this. Thanks Patrick (colbyjack), Toby (And That), and Eric (Sessile Fielder). Thanks to all the staffers and mods and others I've worked with here who are so diligent behind the scenes. As I started this post with, thanks to you, readers and posters. And yes, my wife's been a saint -- thanks, honey.

[TheCrew07]

Mass,

 

I normally get pretty wordy, but I'm somewhat shocked by this revelation. I'd like to thank you for everything you've done since I found this site back in 2003 or 2004 (I don't even remember anymore, I'd have to go back and look at the teams), I've been reading and enjoying your work for a very long time. The Link Report was exactly what I was looking for in an era of Brewer's MLB futility, it provided hope for the future when there wasn't much to be excited about otherwise.

 

I wish you and your family the best in whatever challenges await, and once again thank you very much for everything that you've done for me and everyone who has participated here on the Minor League forum over the years. I wish I was more articulate and able to provide the send off that you deserve, thank you sir, and job well done.

 

Seth

[heresrobin]

Wow. Thank you Mass.

I had always been a lifelong Brewers fan, but when I moved to Milwaukee about 7 years ago, my fandom really amped up mostly due to the Minor League forum. I really didn't know anything about the Minor Leagues at that point, and I was (and still am) blown away by all the content made available on this site. And I've checked every single link from that day forward. Fantastic work, professionalism, consistency, dedication, etc.

Thank you Mass and best wishes to you, your family, and your future.

[ramssuperbowl99]

I haven't been around as long on this forum - I started following the link report sometime in 2010. That said, I really appreciated everything you did bringing all of this information together each and every day.

Thank you. I wouldn't know half as much about Brewers minor leaguers if not for you. Best of luck moving forward.

[JJHardy7]

Thanks Mass. Your work is what led me to check out bf.net. Good luck to you!

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm somewhat shocked by this revelation

 

Same here. Thanks for all you've done, Jim. I can say that I probably contributed about 1/10th - 1/20th this season of what you did for 11 years, & found it a little taxing by, oh, August or so http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif So I made it maybe three months on 1/10th or so the workload & 'felt the burn'. I have no idea how you've kept that fire burning so bright for so long.

 

Best wishes to you, congrats on the expanding family, and don't be too much of a stranger.

[sveumrules]

Infinite thanks, Mass. The minor league coverage was definitely what got me started as a near daily reader of Brewerfan 8 or 9 years ago.

[endaround]

Now who can I point to show I'm an amateur when people accuse me of spending too much time thinking about the Brewers?

 

Thanks for everything you've done.

[colbyjack]

I've already thanked and congratulated Mass privately, but I just wanted to add that when I learned Tommy Tanous became the new scouting director of the New York Mets, the first person/thought that immediately popped in my head was Jim. That's just one quick and recent example of the strong impression he has had on my life, and my new career, as I have always admired his tireless work and dedication to this site, we the fans, and the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

A tip of the cap to you my friend, best wishes moving forward.

[craigharmann]

Jim,

Wow! You've done such great work in gathering the details that have greatly benefitted my Brewer fandom. Thank you for all of your hard work and good luck in all future endeavors!!

[WV Brew]

Thanks for all your work Mass, always enjoyed it. Best of luck in whatever you do.

[CheezWizHed]

I'm disappointed and surprised, but at the same time, seeing all the work you put into this site, I don't blame you! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Salute to you sir and all the good work you have done.

[DHonks]

Mass/Jim,

 

thanks for keeping me busy all those days and nights reading through your thoughts and linked articles/box scores. I remember being amazed late in high school (graduated '99) to find that I could learn more about the Brewers farmhands than the weekly notes blurb in the journal sentinel. At first I was hooked on USATODAY.com for boxscores (in college I'd wait to see how High Desert did), Baseball America for statistics, and AOL's message boards. After a while, I discovered Brewerfan.com. I'm not sure if it's because of Jim Powell, an internet search (google wasn't around yet), or a comment somewhere else, but I found brewerfan.com and immediately was drawn to the minor league forum. I could discuss the Brewers--and their prospects--with so many knowledgeable fans. I wasn't alone with my insane love of the continually crappy Brewers!! The minor leagues gave us reason for hope. We all found prospects we loved to follow. I recently reminisced with a former Brewers farmhand--Mark Erster--how wonderful it was to follow those guys with such promise. Eventually my love of the minor leagues took me to work for a friend in the Arizona Fall League. Much of my love of the minor leagues is because of the work that you did on the minor league forums. You were a spark that made possible the saber vs scouting arguments and debates over Kade Johnson or Jason Belcher. Some of us loved guys like Jose Mieses, Ryan Poe, or Jeff Pickler. I like to think that your work on this site is what helped the Brewers host minor league games at Miller Park. People actually cared about the future of the organization in part because they had information--you put it all conveniently in this one place. Thanks again Mass/Jim!

[foamboy1]

Great work.

 

For many years now, I begin my day for almost six months a year with your reports. You will be missed.

[TooLiveBrew]

This thread definitely warrants being pinned atop the forum's main page imho

[thevaccinator27]

Thanks Mass for all your work over the years from this mostly anonymous reader.

[Tedaldtada]

Thank you so much, Mass.

 

So are you retired? Or retired like Favre retires?

 

(holding out hope that this isn't true)

 

Edit: Shameful spelling failure.

[puntblock]

From this lurker since the brewerfan.com days, thanks! Heck, I even remember when you started doing this on the espn.com boards, including getting replies from Nick Neugebauer. (Man, did that guy love ellipses!)

The amount of work you've put in over the years is incredible. Not only did you provide all the "official" information, your blurbs were insightful and informative, and when in a hurry I would hastily skim everything else but read your commentary. Brewers fans have been lucky to have you doing all that legwork all these years. Thanks for everything.

[CheezWizHed]

Or retired like Favre retires?

 

Quick! Someone take away his camera phone!

[Invader3K]

Mass, thanks for all your hard work here over the years. Even though I've never been a die hard MiLB follower like some on the site, I've always appreciated your work here and devotion to what was probably sometimes a rather thankless job.

[reillymcshane]

Thanks Mass. I've read thousands of your posts, and appreciate all you've done. Its been great.

[pogokat]

cheers, mate

[brewers4eric]

Thanks for all of your efforts, MH. You have made me a better and more knowledgeable fan of the Brewers.

[joshua502000]

Mass thank you! I am my circle of friends go to person on all things Brewers minor leagues, it was because of your efforts (along with many others) that gave me the info to be that person. Never have I been to another baseball site with this much passion and knowledge about the game. Your talents will be sorely missed, although I am happy to hear that you will still be somewhat active! With Colbyjack cutting back on his duties and now you we have some huge holes to fill and I know personally that I am no where near either of your guys standards to do so. Best of luck in all your future endeavours.

[LouisEly]

My interest in Brewers minor league prospects began in the mid-80s with the minor league section of my "What's Brewing" official Brewers magazine subscription as a kid. (I believe somewhere I still have the autographed cover I sent to Robb Deer.) I had such high hopes for Todd Brown after he hit .447 in Helena in 1985...

 

After moving out of Wisconsin in 2004 was when I really appreciated the value of this site. I'm sure those who live outside of WI would agree that any type of Brewers news is hard to come by. Having it all together - majors, minors, draft, etc. - in one website is invaluable. But it would be nothing if not for the contributors like yourself Mass.

 

We can't thank you enough for what you've done. The only favor I ask is that you don't ride off into the sunset like Geno or Batman, and still drop by here every once in a while to say hello. Just like in my avatar, I am standing and applauding you Mass.