Good night, funnyman

I realize it's been a long time since I posted. I've been busy with non-internet writing and other work, and have had little energy to devote to this blog, which I'm still not sure about.

I was going to post some exalting, heraldic spring content, but I just found out one of my favorite baseball writers has died. His name was John Brattain, and I loved him.

John was a contributing writer to The Hardball Times, a sabermetric-oriented baseball site, which has deepened my understanding and appreciation for the game that has been an inexorable part of my consciousness since I was a kid.

Brattain was my favorite writer on THT. His humor, insight, statistical savvy, and bittersweet love for the Blue Jays were so endearing to me. His writing exuded a humanity that is too often absent in a field full of shrill, talentless, misguided, reactionary typists.

John was a regular poster on Baseball Think Factory, which is also a part of my daily internet life. He was sort of an elder presence on BBTF, and though I don't remember ever "talking" to him directly, I did submit an article of his on Barry Bonds, which I thought was one of the most calm, well-reasoned, thoughtful perspectives on the steroid issue at the time (which was the height of the towering moral lynch-mob fad) and articulated my point of view precisely. It is of course always a very special thing for me when a writer does that.

As for how he died, from what I know it was due to complications during surgery, which he'd had a number of times in his young life.

Rest in peace, John. Every time JP Ricciardi makes an ill-advised move miring the Jays in mediocrity for another year, and Bud Selig commits an unchecked act of arch villainy, I'll picture you slapping your forehead by the light of your laptop.