Early Season Beat Writer Change at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette?

"He had one, two, three, four, five ... six ... seven ... seven strikeouts, and one, two, three ... three walks. No, wait, eight strikeouts. He kept the ball down, did a nice job. Wait, it was two walks and then he hit a guy."

And congratulations Colin ... you're making the choice I think a lot of us decide to make eventually. And some of us are ready to make it and just need to kick-start ourselves.

 

Good luck, Colin. You will be happy with your choice.

There is a very good writer, very well known in your area who would be a no brainer to take this spot.

 

Ace could so work for the Post-Gazette ... ;D

 

Any chance Dejan goes back to the Pirates beat?

 

The commute would kill him...

 

Willingly??? No.

 

only an absolute. bitter loser would question the path you've chosen. i'd have taken the same path if i'd been on an mlb beat, too -- if i was clear to me that was the only gig i could have for the foreseeable future. that lifestyle is a killer for anyone whose top priorities are love, their marriage/kids. imo, you can realistically aspire to kick ass BOTH professionally and personally (once children have entered the equation) in many professions. 'MLB beat writer' isn't among them. show me someone who claims you they've mastered that trick and i'll show you a self-delusional liar.

if i was the lead beat person for a newspaper's local mlb team, when my kids were born i would've first tried to land any other gig at the paper. failing that, with a working spouse whose income we could squeeze by on, 'mr. mom' would have absolutely become my career choice.

hey, it's not as if it's a life sentence. if you truly have the 'newspaper jones,' it's not like you have to disappear. it won't be all that long before the twins are in pre-school and you can do any one of a number of things for the post-gazette, or wherever. don't burn bridges. offer up freelance pieces you can work into your 'new hours,' if you'd like. whatever. you know the drill.

the pleasure, sheer joy and fulfillment, you'll get over these next few years will never give you pause to second-guess your choice. anyone who wonders, 'wtf?!' does so only out of envy for your priorities and ability to put them into action.

 

I wish there were more people who have such a good outlook on their families and the journalism business.

I respect the hell out of your decision. How anyone with a family can cover baseball, I'll never know...

 

I believe the second comment on Chico Harlan is correct. I remember a very good last-game-of-the-season article from him. And I remember that job being posted in the winter.

 

Well, I will be the absolute bitter loser here and...

Oh, who am I kidding. No one. I'm just joking. Colin, you're a brave man and although I have no wife and kids at the current time, I can imagine there will be a day when I may be in your shoes. You did the right thing.

 

Lesson here for those who might want an MLB beat one day is that if you really want one, plan on staying single. If you have a family, it's natural and a good choice to want to dedicate more of your time to them, which really can't happen if you're following a team that plays every day for six months.

If you really want a family, don't cover baseball. Take another beat that you can manage without sacrificing relationships, or just don't start a family if that's the beat you want. Trying to do both will likely end in disaster, which Colin avoided by making a choice while he still could.