To the readers of Maximizing Playoff Odds: thank you for an incredible first year

It's still hard to believe there's an audience for this newsletter. I'm so thankful that there is, and hope to continue to grow along with the audience in Year Two.

There’s no way to start other than deep, deep gratitude. If this email landed in your inbox this morning, I quite simply can’t thank you enough for subscribing and sticking with me over the last year.

Leaving the Sun a year ago tomorrow made sense. I loved the work I did, but found a job that provided a better schedule for a father of a young child and the potential to grow in ways covering baseball full-time didn’t. The tough thing to do was convince myself that anyone would care if I kept writing about the Orioles.

Eagle-eyed readers might have noticed right after the launch that the kickoff post wasn’t the first one — there was a test post some time in June 2021, around the time the Sun was offering buyouts and I thought it worth at least exploring this platform. I thought about this as an alternative before I even needed one. It’s crazy to think it’s been a year of writing here, and there’s no end in sight.

I’m so, so glad I followed through on it, albeit months later and under quite different circumstances. And the extent that an audience has grown and sustained over these 12 months for the particular brand of Orioles content found here — the player development deep-dives, the behind-the-scenes profiles, the in-the-moment analysis and the more-than-occasional front office scolding — has been humbling.

The resulting 165 posts — some good, a few really good, probably a handful downright bad — are something I’m really proud of. I loved telling the stories what were available to tell during the lockout, like shining a light on the work of holdovers like Di Zou in the analytics department and former player Brandon Becker, who is now an impactful hitting coach in the organization.

Meet Di Zou, the Orioles' bridge between the past and future of their burgeoning analytics department

I remember talking to Justin Ramsey for an early-season Felix Bautista story because it felt like something interesting was happening — it did. Same goes for the Logan Gillaspie origin story, which I had to write much sooner than I thought I would. On the farm, early stories on the project down in Delmarva and Gunnar Henderson’s offseason leap and the 2021 draft hitters were points of pride. I was out at the affiliates as often as possible, and was often rewarded with insightful conversations and high-level performances once I got there. (However, if your favorite prospect went on the injured list at some point this year, it probably happened shortly after I talked to him. Sorry, everyone.)

Gun show: A look at all the little factors behind Gunnar Henderson's breakout in Bowie

Then, the Orioles got good. I didn’t really know what I should do about that, to be honest. There were plenty of people telling those stories well, but I felt the equilibrium of all this got knocked off course a bit trying to live in that world when the beat writers who are there daily have every angle covered. But, I recovered and feel like the end of the season was as good as the beginning — the Dylan Beavers and Jackson Holliday stories stick out, as does the Connor Norby one — and appreciate all the paid subscribers who have stuck around through the winter as we gear up for another season.

New Orioles prospect Dylan Beavers knew his swing needed work. The changes he's already made are unlocking his potential at Delmarva.

Whenever anyone asks how this newsletter is going, I tell them I didn’t really have any expectations for it but that it’s going better than I could have ever thought. I’m not going to quit my day job, but I’m incredibly fulfilled by the work I got to do over the last year and hope it can continue going forward. I’m not sure what access will look like for me in 2023, but I’m confident I’ll be able to tell the stories I want to as the year unfolds.

I say that because the first year of this really worked out, and probably shouldn’t have, so there’s no reason to change up a good thing. But I also say that because of how grateful I am for the opportunity to continue this work in the capacity I have at all. My daughter is now a full-blown two-year-old; she talks, she understands, she plays, she tells me I’m funny, and she knows when I’m at baseball games. It’s not as often as it would have been as a full-time beat writer, thankfully. But it was often enough that it became her go-to explanation for any time I wasn’t home in the summer and into the fall.

Those FaceTimes from behind home plate in Bowie or Aberdeen during bath time were only once or twice a week, thankfully, and even better, they were with a purpose. I was doing work that I enjoyed on my own terms, and never once regretted the choice to keep at it. Part of it is out of passion, for sure, and there’s probably a little vanity mixed in. But somewhere in that equation is a feeling of owing it to anyone who wanted to read it, who cared enough to put their email in when prompted or enjoyed it enough to pay for a subscription. I hope it’s been worth it on your end, because it has been for me. And I can’t wait to do it all again next year.