Carson Cistulli

Some heroes wear capes. Others of them wear sweatshirts with chenille lettering and a stitched logo near the bottom hem.

Societal decay, expedited.

. The Gift of Parenthood

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I read the site nearly everyday. I am grateful for and impressed by the people who make it a thing. And I am always so happy to see them when I see them.

A clear-eyed survey of the world suggests that much of it is disappointing. FanGraphs is an exception. It provides a model of how not to be awful. Ask questions. Attempt to answer them in good faith, at the top of your intelligence. Recognize your shortcomings as a human with a brain. Repeat.

It surprises me that there aren't a million-billion outlets for work that is simultaneously rigorous and playful. But a lot of things surprise me. This is the consequence of being an idiot.

Four-ish years later, I wrote my first post for FanGraphs -- and, over the nine subsequent years, it became wildly clear that the dream was NOT doomed.

During grad school, I sent actual letters through the actual mail to five GMs, asking how a 25-year-old with an MFA in poetry and no other credentials could get involved in baseball. Only one responded, and the answer was some (polite) version of, "I regret to inform you that your dream is doomed."