IBWAA's Co-Director Looks Back On His First Year At The Helm
Today, Daniel Epstein shares some special insight and perspectives on the IBWAA.
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Leading Off
My Year Running The IBWAA
By Daniel R. Epstein
A year ago, my friend and Strat-O-Matic rival Jonathan Becker called me with an absolutely ludicrous idea. “Let’s buy the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America.” Howard Cole, founding director of the IBWAA, had been searching for a replacement to buy him out and take over management. We had no idea how large an undertaking this would become, how much time or effort it would require, or if we would ever make our money back. We didn’t care. Undoubtedly delirious from two months of quarantine, we jumped in headfirst.
Howard handed us the keys on May 18, 2020. Over the course of the ensuing year, we started this newsletter, began a podcast, initiated a series of Zoom meetings for members, hired staff, updated our website and mass email capacity, modernized and increased voting opportunities, developed partnerships with SABR and the Anti-Old Boys Network, and commenced the Women in the IBWAA Hall of Fame Committee. We also attempted a few other endeavors that didn’t work out, but we’ve had more hits than misses.
Running the IBWAA is an immense privilege. I’ve learned a ton, often through making mistakes that are laughable in retrospect. Here are four takeaways from the past year.
1. Baseball Is Big And Beautiful
Baseball is an interplanetary body, too vast and magnificent for any one person to comprehend. Each of us has our own lens that affords us a unique vantage. Your area of focus may be the Detroit Tigers, the Cape Cod League, fantasy baseball, the Mariners’ minor league system, MLB labor and finance, Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana, baseball analytics, New Jersey baseball history, your local high school conference, the Melbourne Aces, baseball cards and memorabilia, the Japanese Women's Baseball League, ballplayers making silly faces, Big Twelve Conference prospects, the Kansas City Monarchs, ballpark food, Hoyt Wilhelm, gloves and mitts, the intersection of baseball and politics, Vassar College baseball, or any number of other specialities.
Each of the above is a real IBWAA member’s subject of focus; I didn’t make any of them up. There are nearly infinite ways to appreciate baseball, and I learn more every day about how much I still don’t know. I’m exceedingly pleased that I’ll never understand more than a small fraction of the game I’ve loved my entire life.
2. We’ve Outgrown Our Name
The IBWAA name was originally selected to counterbalance the BBWAA, an organization so venerable that “Base Ball” was two words when they formed. Howard Cole founded our association in 2009 because baseball (one word) coverage had expanded with the growth of the internet. 12 years later, our name no longer does justice to all that we represent. To wit:
Internet: Most of our members publish content on the internet, but not all of them! Our ranks include several authors of traditional books.
Baseball: No problems here.
Writers: Yes, we are writers, but this includes bloggers, reporters, podcasters, authors, video producers, YouTubers, Twitch streamers, baseball apparel designers, and masters of other mediums I don’t even know about. Our members cover baseball in many more ways than printed words.
Association: No problems here, either.
(of) America: ...and Canada, Asia, Central America, South America, Europe, Australia, and everywhere baseball is beloved.
To be clear, we don’t intend to change the IBWAA name. Besides, a web address like ibwaa.com is like a mint-condition Mickey Mantle rookie card. Still, it bothers me that people think they’re excluded from the IBWAA because they don’t fit the assumed interpretation of our name. When people ask if they “qualify for membership,” I respond with, “The IBWAA is open to everyone. If you think you belong, then so do we.”
3. Bill And Ted Were Wise Beyond Their Years
The thesis of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is, “Be excellent to each other.” The 1989 film about two Van Halen-obsessed high school time travelers isn’t a baseball movie or an intellectual pursuit whatsoever, but this lesson resonates today nevertheless. We certainly didn’t expect to have to intervene in internet harassment involving IBWAA members, but shortly after we took over, people asked us for help. Everyone should feel comfortable participating in the IBWAA community, and they can’t do that if their harasser is making life difficult.
We developed a code of conduct within a few weeks after taking over the association, which is published on our “Join” page. This was a matter of necessity, and we’ve had to remind people of it more times than I would like to admit. It’s important to note that the targets of harassment have been women almost exclusively. Having a robust social media presence is important to many of us, but it’s impossible to ignore the vast gender difference in what people experience online. This can be a significant hindrance to women advancing in baseball media, which is frankly unacceptable.
Cyberbullying is all too real, and there should be no place for it in the baseball community. There’s certainly nothing wrong with disagreement, even if spirited, but there’s a clear line that shouldn’t be crossed. We didn’t get into this expecting to have to remind people to be cognizant of that line, but if it helps improve the lives of people experiencing harassment, we’re glad to do our part.
4. The Baseball Community Has Gravity
I’m not too modest to admit that I’m very proud of what we've accomplished over the past year. We’ve put way more hours into building the IBWAA than I’d like to count, doing everything we can to promote and uplift the baseball content community. The response has been outstanding, and the larger we grow, the more people we attract. Our membership inflated from 581 to 719. This 24 percent annual increase far exceeds the 5-10 percent we were hoping for. More importantly, the human connections I’ve made have been invaluable. I’ve gotten to know so many wonderful people who love baseball as much as I do, many of whom have become my friends.
The past year has been incredibly gratifying. It’s truly an honor to be a part of such a wonderful community of people who love baseball. I’m fortunate to be in this position working with you all, and I can’t wait to see where Year Two takes us.
Daniel R. Epstein’s work can be found at Baseball Prospectus, Off the Bench Baseball, Bronx Pinstripes, and several other publications. He is also co-director of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, in case that wasn’t clear from the above article. Tweets @depstein1983.
Extra Innings
“So glad that you are the top dog and hope you keep barking without too much biting. Wishing you continued success, and grateful to be one of the newsletter editors.”
- Dan Schlossberg, co-editor of the IBWAA’s Here’s The Pitch newsletter, to Dan Epstein on his leadership of the IBWAA
“Dan has been a fantastic leader of this organization since the day he took it over, and his enthusiasm is one of the reasons I decided to join in the first place. I feel so fortunate to play a small role in making this group as vibrant, impactful, and present in the baseball community as it can be.”
- Elizabeth Muratore, co-editor of IBWAA’s Here’s The Pitch newsletter
“I am so thankful to be a part of the IBWAA and to experience the Association’s growth and evolution since becoming a member in 2014. I love how the IBWAA has been breaking down the walls of exclusivity and is embracing and championing an environment of diversity and inclusion. Here’s to many, many more years of success and growth as the IBWAA keeps batting around.”
- Brian Harl, co-editor of the IBWAA’s Here’s The Pitch newsletter
Kudos for the outstanding job you've done with the IBWAA and the direction you are taking it.