Isn’t that a great photo? I’ve been sitting on it since last August waiting for the right post.
This post has been more than 12 years in the making and I still don’t know how to start it, so I’m just going to come out and say it: We’ve decided it’s time to shut down RAB. More accurately, I’ve decided it’s time to shut down RAB, since I’ve been running the show the last few years.
RAB is not shutting down right away. The final day will be Monday, April 29th, so we’re going to keep going through the end of the month. It will be business as usual until then, with analysis and game stories and minor league updates and all that. It’ll be the same old RAB the next 24 days.
Believe me, this was not a rash decision. I’ve been year-to-year for a few years now, and two years ago I was leaning toward calling it quits. Then the Yankees started socking dingers and got good and fun in a hurry, so I decided to go another year. I’d been waiting nearly a decade to blog about a young and exciting team.
Sometime last summer I indicated to Ben that I’d close up shop after the season. I changed my mind shortly after the season and decided to stick it out another year, but I realized that was a mistake about two days into Spring Training this year. My heart is not in it anymore. Careless mistakes are piling up and everything I write feels forced. It’s time to do something else with my time.
RAB celebrated its 12th birthday in February and 12 years for an independent team blog is about 1,200 years in internet time. I’m just some dope with an internet connection. I never imagined RAB would become as popular as it did, but I’m proud of what we’ve built and I sincerely hope you’ve all enjoyed it.
I’m still with CBS (my archive) and in all likelihood some RAB-style Yankees content will wind up there once we close the doors here. It’s not like I’m going to avoid the team completely. Also, I think we’re going to keep the @RiverAveBlues Twitter account active because it’s easy enough, so we’ll have thoughts and GIFs and other things there.
I am considering a newsletter/mailing list with a weekly “thoughts” post. I’m not certain if I’m up for it yet. There will probably be a mailing list signup post at some point just so people can sign up should I decide to give it a go. If it’s something I’m up to doing, I’ll probably turn it into a $3 per month Patreon or something like that. Nothing set in stone yet but that’s something I’m considering.
The last 12 years have been a lot of fun. A lot of work, but also a lot of fun, and these days the work outweighs the fun. There will be some sentimental farewell posts (maybe even a podcast!) in the coming days and weeks. For now, this is just an announcement that RAB will soon be no more.
I thank you all for reading and I thank everyone who’s contributed to site the last few years, because without them, RAB would’ve closed up shop a long time ago.