It’s been amazing to see some of the SBNation sites I’ve been around for years explode over the past year, whether it was due to the Yahoo partnership, or whatever the reason.

Some went from zero to out of control, to where they were no longer as fun to participate in regularly….frankly, on a personal level, in terms of your success, Ian, if that happened to BYB, I’d be happy for you….but I think BYB went from cruising along to great this year.

The Tigers’ success had a lot to do with it, we had decent participation in game threads last summer that fell off as the team cratered towards the end of the year. But it was more than that, I think. We really had a community vibe going through the season, which made it fun to “tune” in on a regular basis.

After all, how else to explain the 100 or so games I “watched” on MLB Gameday, viewing pitches in terms of little colored arcs, and hits and runs in the guise of words such as, “In play, no out(s)”?

I’m not…or at least I wouldn’t have previously described myself as a baseball fanatic. This year, that changed. I even found myself watching some of the action yesterday, (though, mostly, I followed along on the radio, or, as perfectly befitting the season at large, on gameday).

And that is largely attributable to Bless You Boys, to the people who come here on a regular basis, and to you, Ian, for creating and fostering this environment. For that, I thank you.

as opening day approached this past spring.

my Tiger fandom, while lifelong, has never come close to the height it reached this year and I have BYB and everyone here to thank (or blame, some of my friends would say) for that. It’s been so fun, and I’ll admit to staying home on my own to watch games so that I could participate in game threads.. hell, I posted to it from actual games on my phone!

I can certainly hope that next year will be as good for the team, but I know 2009 spoiled me for sure, what with being in first place for most of it. No matter what happens I’m glad the site is here and I will be around, as I plan to maintain my obsession much more carefully than in the past :)

Somebody else will take the names.

You’ve done an awesome job keeping this place a good, friendly environment for lively discussion about something we are passionate about.

I said it in another thread, but this place turned me from casual fan to “a man passionate about the game of baseball.” I’m gonna spend my offseason (aside from watching much basketball) learning a bit of sabremetrics.

And also I thank you my fellow visiters to this site. I believe I joined SBNation is May, and started commenting on my first gamethread in June. Since than you guys have taught me alot about the game, given me a laugh through some very hard times, and reinvigorated my passion for Futurama =). So keep up the good work all of you and I’ll see you guys around!!!

The game threads became explosive, to that I say, “tanks a lot.”

You’ve really provided me with a place that my typically insane-sounding Tigers rants in real life become something different. They’re understood, processed and actually responded to. The community you’ve fostered here really is something special.

Thank you.

Although sometimes falling asleep, we had Ali to post overflow threads. ;)
I really enjoyed meeting Tigers fans here, and I hope there will be open threads over the off season, just to chat with everyone. It makes the work day go so much faster. I also hope we will all meet up in July. That would be really special.

For maintaining such a great forum for all of us Tiger fans and for keeping it positive, even when the occasional Debbie Downer (ahem) got a bit too downbeat for the room. Thanks to all the posters as well, it was great to watch the games with you either on TV, live at the park, or on Gameday. To better days ahead!

Although my job kept me from watching a lot of games as the season progressed, like many others who have posted these past few days, I can say with much certainty that my passion for this beautiful game has increased dramatically. I’ve been reading BYB since the middle of last year and finally began posting a little during last offseason. I knew that this would be a place where I could intelligently and respectfully discuss the Tigers/baseball in general. I hope there is plenty to talk about this offseason, and I definitely look forward to another season starting where I hopefully can get on and chat a little more during the games! Thanks for making baseball more than just a sport to me and keeping me entertained every day of the season!

Ian,

What you’ve done here at BYB is beyond admirable. I remember talking with you before the season and you mentioned that you never really had an overflow thread before, and then you guys managed, what, eight of them Tuesday night? You create such a positive atmosphere that is incredibly inviting to the average fan by posing great questions time and time again, and above all, you really make people feel welcome here. That’s the idea, I know, but you do it exceptionally well.

Thanks for maintaining the site and keeping it real. I’m glad we’ve all found a friend in you and your site.

-B

I’m also another one who came in to BYB regularly around midseason or so. It was quite enjoyable sitting through the games as has been mentioned by others while watching on Gameday.

“In play, run(s)” YEAH!!!! But How MANY! Where’d it GO! AARRRGH!

I’m itching for next season to start.

Even though I wrote my own fanpost before Tuesday, it’s the last couple days that have made realize how much this game means to me and how much this community means to me, too. I can’t imagine how I could have gone through that Tuesday night game without all of you.

You run a fine establishment here, young man. I’ve looked around the SBNation sites and frankly, some of them scare me. But this place feels like home.

Oh, and just to show you what y’all have done to me, my day sponsorhip of my local NPR radio station is April 5, 2010, in honor of Opening Day.

Although I’ve been a BYB stalker for the past few years, I finally was nudged into signing up (thanks allikazoo!) and this season has been a wild ride. I look forward to following along (and participating) in 2010! Thanks Ian.

the BYB community has become just that, and I am thankful that I found it. The level of intelligent discussion that takes place here is fantastic, it is always the first place I go to see the reactions when news breaks. It was this site that served as inspiration for my own, and the feeling of satisfaction that I get when people read what I write is amazing. Thank you to Ian and the community as a whole for making the 2009 season the most enjoyable I have seen.

I used to come here on occasion in 2007, but I never ventured into the comments, and I didn’t come here at all in 2008. This year, I had just moved my own blog and I wanted some other Tigers fans to talk to. So one night in a game against the Angels I just kinda showed up and attempted to jump into the conversation. And as the season went on the Game Threads became more and more fun. Thanks for putting up with my quirkiness, my tendency to be level-headed to a fault, and the occasional oversized image (yes, I know I was a repeat offender there). You guys are awesome. We rejoiced together and we despaired together. It was one hell of a ride. I’ll certainly be around during the off-season, but it won’t be as fun as the game/postgame thread wackiness. I’m already starting to count down the days till next April 5th.

Now it happens on the morning round-up post. Which is awesome, because down south if it aint SEC it aint news, and its nice to be able to talk Tigers even though I’m several states away
I was a bit leery about the Yahoo partnership, fearing the comment section would resemble those you find on the Freep and Det News sites, but its good to know we can in fact have nice things. Group high-five.

The BYB area is much more of a community than a blog and I look forward to it every day, even if there isn’t time to post it is part of my routine. The discussion is well thought out and civil (not something you always associate with the interwebs). This season was amazing for a Tigers’ fan and BYB made it even better. My throat is STILL horse from Tuesday night.

I’m looking forward to next year very much. If they were this close in 2009 then DD can find a piece or two that pushes them over the top, and I’ll check here first for the news of it.

Thank again!

reading your articles, Ian. The best Tigers Blog, no question about that. I always enjoy my daily visit here. Although I am not leaving comments here on a daily basis you should know that at least one German is here every other day. ;). For many of my friends Baseball is a “book with seven seals” but my love affair with this club is now in its 19th year (and with BYB 3 years, I think) and I am happy to have such a friendly place here. I look forward to all the articles, infos here in the offseason. Keep up the good work

This year was awesome. The gamethreads were lively and hilarious. I loved picking up on some of everyone’s traits For instance: allikazoo’s crush on seemingly every pitcher, rook34’s cautious pessimism, Ian’s sleepiness, Baroque’s IQ, NCDee’s and Detroitchik’s wisdom, Boney’s pantsless love for Zumaya and Perry, madpoopz’ mad poops, demondeacon’s crazy minor league knowledge, Kurt’s dry sense of humor, and all the rest of you insane people. Thank you all for making the games that much more fun to watch.

I can’t wait for next spring!

this forum has meant a lot to me over the course of the summer. you all have given me a place to come and feel welcome while expressing my love for the tigers. it’s refreshing to see a place where calm people can talk about things and not have “OMG Detroit suxxors” or other low jokes ruin the conversation. you guys seriously made my summer incredible, even if the tigers didn’t make the playoffs.

i hope to see everyone next year on here, and hopefully on July 4th as well! THANK YOU EVERYBODY!

To Ian, thanks to you for managing this blog as well as you do. I will say without question that while the pace and feeling may be set by the posters on a Game Thread, the tone of the posts comes from the way you have deleted unnecessary posts. When I first started trying to get on the same page as everyone, I noticed that a few of my seemingly quirky and honest posts were deleted. Small price to pay to learn the value of a good blog!!

To the rest of you, I’m thrilled to be sharing this space with everyone – you’ve all changed the nature of my baseball participation. I’ve been a roto-playing, minors-digging, season-ticket-holding baseball junkie… but this has brought me to another level of fanaticism. THANKS TO ALL!

I first stumbled on this site from a sidebar on one of Rob Neyer’s articles on espn.com, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

It really means a lot to me, as someone who lives a fair distance from Detroit and can’t really “talk shop” about the Tigers with too many people who share my passion for this team, to be able to come in and really get nerdy about these Olde Engslish D-wearers. For the last couple months of the season, I’d set up with Gameday Audio in one window and the BYB in another, and have myself a great ol’ time, living and dying along with the rest of every other Tiger fanatic here.

A million thanks to Ian for maintaining all this — without his dedication, this forum wouldn’t exist, and that would be a right shame. I’m already stoked about July 3, 2010 — the day we can all get together, get loud, and get screamy for our team. And, obviously, if anyone ever makes it up to Toronto and needs a hot tip on Thai food or stupendous wings, let me know.

Go get ’em, Tigers.