Early next year will be the 10th anniversary for Mets360. When it was my 10th wedding anniversary, a former colleague of mine, an older fellow, congratulated me and said, “The first 10 are the hardest.” Does the same thing apply to baseball blogs? Maybe it does.

While there’s been continuity, there have certainly been plenty of changes along the way for the site. Perhaps you’ve noticed the latest change. If you’ve been looking at the bylines for the articles since Monday, you’ll notice only one – mine.


This past year was a surprisingly difficult one for me running the blog. Things had to be changed and several different scenarios were considered, including shutting down the site altogether. But at the end of the day, my passion for the Mets and interest in writing were too strong for that to be the choice.

It’s always been my belief that there should be multiple voices available at the site. No one has a monopoly on truth and the more people who contributed, the more universal the appeal of Mes360 would be. Unfortunately, it seemed like too many articles at the site were being mailed in. Not enough care, in my mind at least, was being given to the columns. My impression was that too many articles were depending on the readers to supply the interesting points in the comments section.

So, instead of having other people contribute on a weekly basis, from now on they will contribute a monthly piece. The hope is that we trade quantity for quality. In the past, authors were required to write a weekly piece of at least 500 words, with the goal of producing an in-depth piece that readers would enjoy. Now, their monthly columns will be a minimum of 750 words.

It’s never been the goal to have writers count how many words are in their articles. Instead the hope is that by having these minimums, it will force the writers to pick topics that lend themselves to a piece of that length. And if you’re writing a piece that long, you should tell the readers something they didn’t already know or organize the facts in a way to support a conclusion that perhaps hadn’t been considered previously.

We’ve always aimed for an intelligent, engaged audience. My belief is that it’s better to have 1,000 informed readers rather than 10,000 idiots. And part of being an informed reader is recognizing your own biases and shortcomings. My favorite commenters at the site are the ones who have strong opinions but who are able to change their minds if and when the facts dictate that it’s wise to do so.

Longtime reader Chris F. and I have disagreed on many things throughout the years. Sometimes in those disagreements, he’s been right and sometimes he’s been wrong. But on the rare occasions where he’s been wrong, he doesn’t deny it or try to rationalize it away. Instead when new information comes along, he alters his opinions accordingly. My goal is to have an audience where everyone is like that.

Prior to the start of the 2019 season, two readers who commented virtually every day – the kind every site wants to have – were banned from commenting here because they were so inflexible on their opinions. These people are worse to deal with than little children. If you’re eight years old and bring something to the table, you’re welcome here. If you’re any age, lack reading comprehension, know the answer to everything and you’re a pompous jerk about it, go somewhere else.

To me, it’s a wonderful thing to learn something new about the Mets, regardless of how or where it happens.

So, here’s hoping that we’re able to show you something new or different on a consistent basis with our new structure. While there won’t be as many overall submissions from other writers besides me, we will have more people contributing than ever before. Five of the six writers who contributed during the 2019 season will be back. There will also be some writers who contributed in the past returning. Additionally, two guys who were only heard from in the comments section will be writing full-length pieces. And one completely new writer will be contributing as well.

You will see these other bylines appearing soon at the site, as early as next week. Some won’t be joining until next year. Regardless, my hope is that you’ll enjoy what these people write and that you’ll read every piece with the goal to comprehend the points being made rather than just to shoot off a reply. That being said, we love comments! There’s nothing wrong with agreeing with an author and telling him you enjoyed his work. But there’s nothing wrong with disagreeing or pointing out errors, either. Just remember to disagree without being disagreeable.

Thanks for your support throughout the years and my hope is that these latest changes make you want to continue to visit Mets360 in the years to come.

10 comments on “Site update for Mets360

  • Bob P

    Although I don’t comment every day I absolutely come to the site and read the articles every day. To me this is the best site out there and it is because of a couple of things in my opinion. There are generally only one or two articles a day which to me has always been a good thing. Some of the blogs out there have a dozen articles a day, most of which don’t say anything. While some articles here may be have been mailed in as Brian mentioned I think that is a small number. I think the best part of Mets360 is the fact that the comments are generally from true Mets fans who have strong feelings. Often I disagree but I love reading the different perspectives and seeing the same folks commenting makes me feel kind of like I’m walking into Cheers for a beer!

    Keep the site going Brian. I can guarantee you I will be here every day.

    • Brian Joura

      Thanks Bob! That Cheers comment made my day. That’s exactly what I’d like this place to be. Let’s go ahead and cast it.

      Brian – Sam
      Metsense – Norm

      Uh-oh, I’m afraid to go any further.

      • Metsense

        Norm appeared in every episode of Cheers. I guess I am Norm because I read this site every day. But let’s be fair about this, when we are together Brian, I usually buy the first one round and I don’t have a running tab. I guess you could say that I always put my two cents in. In fact, I put in my Metsense.

  • TJ

    Rock on 360!

  • IDRAFT

    Good luck. There is a lot of work involved, I hope you find a way to maintain a site that brings you overall enjoyment.

    • Brian Joura

      Thanks MG – gotta get you back on the podcast soon.

  • Mike W

    Brian – thank you for everything that you do for Mets360. I love the articles and analysis that goes into them.

    It is much appreciated. A wonderful respite from life.

    Thanks

    Mike

    • Brian Joura

      Thanks for the kind words, Mike!

  • Paul F

    Thank you for carrying on with Mets360, Brian. This is my favorite Mets blog because of the quality of writing that you rightly demand. I’m glad you haven’t fallen into the trap of becoming a click farm, like so many other blogs.

    Keep up your diligent work.

    • Brian Joura

      Thanks Paul – I really appreciate it!

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