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I Just Realized…

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This past Sunday, January 23rd, marked the second “birthday” of Pirates Prospects.  On January 23rd, 2009, I opened the site, which at the time was called B.U.C.C.O. Fans (the acronym standing for “Bring Us a Championship Caliber Organization).

Year two of the site saw a lot of changes, some of which I considered/anticipated from the beginning, and some of which I never really expected.  From the beginning I wanted to name the site Pirates Prospects, but held off, as I didn’t want to write about the farm system alone.  I made the switch this past year, mostly because I felt like the site wouldn’t be confused to have nothing but prospect coverage.

Aside from the name change, year two was great for the site in many ways, taking it from a fan site (which was the original intention for it) to a media outlet.  When I started the site, I just wanted a place to write about the Pirates (I was writing for ESPN, USA Today, and Yahoo Sports, among others, at the time, and didn’t get much of a chance to write about the Pirates).  In the last year the site has added over a dozen media credentials with various minor league teams, and broke seven draft pick signing stories, including fourth round pick Nick Kingham, and 23rd round pick Jared Lakind.

My hope is that the recent release of the 2011 Prospect Guide will continue to help this site grow.  In the next year I’d like to increase the minor league coverage, which includes accurate pitch readings for all of the pitchers in the system, reporting from more games, and hopefully breaking more stories.  If anything, when I started the site, I never thought it would lead to something like the 2011 Prospect Guide.

For all of this, I thank you, the readers.  None of this would be possible without you.  That sounds cliche, but it’s true.  When the site traffic took a jump in 2009, I decided to start covering games.  After the traffic jumped in 2010, I decided to increase the minor league coverage, going on the minor league tour at the end of the 2010 season, and planning on the book.  So when I say that none of this would have been possible without the readers, I mean that without you I would have never thought about this level of coverage, or producing the book.  So I thank you for reading the last two years, and here’s to an even better third year for the site.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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