As in next week: baseball. Our man Chad Jennings with some thoughts about the state of the Yanks.
And here’s more from River Ave Blues.
This is the 13th season we’ve covered here at the Banter. For many years, this was a Yankee and baseball site. I wrote and wrote and had some terrific contributors. Now, the site is more a culture blog with a dose of baseball. It’s also become far more visual. I don’t write about baseball as much. Somewhere along the line I exhausted everything I had to say. As I began to get freelance work as a writer I moved away from giving away all my thoughts on the blog, preferring to save some stuff for longer pieces.
But I still love following the game, and, especially, the Yanks. I love hosting the Banter. The vibe of the place may have changed but just because I write less, doesn’t mean I’m not present. I just share myself more with links and pictures.
The Banter is still my home and my heart. Thanks for hanging out with me.
[Photo Credit: Lynne Sladky/AP]
Cheers, Alex. I've been checking in all winter. I'm looking forward to Opening Day. This is going to be a life changing season for me. The wife is expecting our first child in about 3 weeks. The young lady, thanks to family and friends, already has some Yankee gear to sport after she rounds third and comes home. : )
Life changing indeed! Is her name going to be CC? Or maybe Ruth?
Anyhow, congrats, my friend!
congrats Ara!
[1] Congratulations.
[2] Still hit the site virtually every day, even in the off season.
4) Means a lot, man.
Now that I've got the Stacks blog I do for Deadspin and the weekly Stacks reprint that I do for the Daily Beast I'm stretched a little thin and don't update the Banter as regularly as I have in the past. But hell, I was updating this blog 350 someodd days a year for close to a decade so I allowed myself to be cool cutting back some.
I mean, if I had to just blog about the Yankees or baseball I would have folded up shop seven or eight years ago. I just didn't have enough drive to sustain my interest in writing about that subject. (Not to mention there are so many good Yankee and baseball alternatives out there.)
Now, I just let myself do what I can and be content with that.
AB - congrats on such internet longevity. Kinda cool to have seen it grow from what you and Cliff started to where it is now. Proud of you guys - all youse guys. Like rbj - it's a rare day that goes by without a couple pop-ins to see what's up. When something happens in Yankee-verse, this is the place I go to see what people are thinking. I tend to be quiet - but I know there'd be an empty spot in my day if this place ceased to exist. Thanks again for all your collective efforts at keeping it alive, vibrant, and relevant.
[1] And a big whoo hoo to that!
[5] I dunno man, Banter's one of a kind; with all the different topics you touch up on and especially being so NY culture-centric, there's still a lot of baseball going on around here. Maybe that's in large part to the regulars who have been a part of this community for years, but that's a testament to the heart and soul you infused into this from day one. Not to mention the folks who got their jump-off from here as well. Keep doing what you do with no regrets, B!
[1] Congrats, Pops!
[1] It's great to be young and a Yankee.
[5] Civilized sports discussion. What a concept!
I've been here since the beginning. It's funny, when I checked the banter on my phone today, I thought "movies, photography, art, music, food, human interest, and, oh yeah, that there's gonna be a baseball post."
The Banter is full of class and I visit it multiple times each day of the year. I consider this place to be my online family; we've been through a lot together over the years and I've forged friendships outside the site from being here. Hell, I've spent over a quarter of my life here!
[1] Congrats, man!!!
Thanks, all. Much appreciated. I read the Banter for a year or two but never thought of commenting. Now years later I can't imagine watching a game without adding my 2 cents. : ). Thanks again to AB and the gang.
Took me a few years to start commenting as well. I've been reading since the All-Baseball days...
Yes, what everyone else said.
And Mazel Tov, Ara!
[1] Great news! I vote for 'Balboni' as her middle name :)
AB, you and the Banter are the best. Nowhere else like it, we are all appreciative!
Still the first (and sometimes only) place I come to read about the Yanks. The added culture is just icing on the cake.
Yeah, what Weeping said.
I think it's partly the non-baseball stuff sets the tone that attracts, you know, us. And as much as Alex's blog entries, it's the people they appeal to that appeal to me.
So, here's to opening day; and here's to the soon-to-be daughter of Ara: may she be both Just and Fair!
You guys are the best. Can't tell you how humbling it is to have created something that attracts such cool, good people.
Whoa - when I started reading this entry, I had a sinking, drop-of-the-stomach feeling that you were going to say that you were shutting down the blog. Whew! Very relieved that you're not, and more than content that the blog has morphed into more of a cultural blog. The Banter, along with the NY Times and the New Yorker, remains one of the most important ways I still keep close ties to NYC. Enormously grateful to you, Alex, and to all the contributors and commentators. Thanks.
18) My pleasure. Funny, but one feature I write less is the "New York Minutes". My instagram feed has become my regular NY Minute: https://instagram.com/alexbelth/
[0] Love hanging out with you and the rest of the community you've created from the ground up. There's a lot of pride in that alone!
The only constant in life is change. The fact that the banter has evolved just means you have matured, and everyone else who stayed around has as well.
Peace out, Yo!
19)Thanks, dude. And it's funny, some of the regulars here I just know from reading their comments here on the site. Others, I've exchanged emails with, and others still have become close friends. How cool is that?
[0] Congrats. My go-to site for those times when nothing else seems to satisfy (and also most any time at all).
May I be so bold and say Alex Belth's Bronx Banter is one of the things that makes life worth living.
(18) Now a follower - nice pix! Do you take them with a smartphone?
22) Yeah, I wish I had a better camera to use but the damn smart phones are so easy.
Alex, this is far and away the best blog on the entire internet. Where else can you find people commenting on individual spring training at bats? I can practically guarantee that every member immediately turns to the Banter for any significant in-game moment. Ara, if Gregorious gets off to a really hot start, any thoughts about naming your daughter DeeDee?