Some personal news: After 11+ years at NBC, @HardballTalk is officially no more and I'm out with it. I want to thank @NBCSports for a hell of a ride and HBT readers for riding along.
My ride's not over, though. Updates soon, but you're not rid of my opinions just yet.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) August 3, 2020
Hope the all find somewhere good to land…
Fan Interference 
I hope that’s the good news we’ve been waiting for. NBC took “Circling the Bases” and fucked it up royally.
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There’s a new site launching next month, defector dot com, that’s staffed with most of the best of the old Deadspin staff. Style-wise, I think Craig could fit in there, although I’m not sure a startup would be the best idea for him financially.
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He could always go back to ambulance chasing, though. Nyuknyuknyuk….
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There was a time when I really liked that blog. I enjoyed the conversations and got a lot of good information.
Of course, that was a few years ago. Hope Craig lands on his feet.
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Score another victory for corporate america coming in and brutally murdering anything that’s good all in the name of eeking out a small amount of temporary profit.
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I will really miss HBT. The conversations were great, as were the controversies. Just recently stex and I (posting as gibson45) had a great exchange.
At least one of Craig’s last official acts was banning the worthless R D. We can be grateful for that.
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Wow, that sucks. This place only got it’s start because of the way that they abused and tore that site up, not it looks like they gave it the final nail in the coffin. And with that, there’s almost zero good places to get baseball news, analysis, and discussion. Hopefully something will step up and take it’s place and become what we all miss having. Of course in the mean time, Craig and Bill are always welcome to come here and post! The pay is lousy, but so is the company!
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Hey, I resemble that remark!
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Me too
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Me three.
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Hooooly shiiiiiiit!!! It’s finally the end. Well, thanks for Paper, Craig.
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That site has been going downhill for a while. First was the redesign. Then the efforts to jam video down readers’ throats. Then the press releases “rewritten” as news items. Add on top of that trying to cover 30 teams, 24-7, with just 2-3 people. I’m kinda surprised it limped on as long as it did.
Craig is a real talent and will, I assume, land on his feet elsewhere. Bill Baer is a mediocrity, and will be lucky to find another gig.
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I just migrated here, and already I see some old, familiar, welcome names. I’m going to miss HBT–while I usually disagreed with Craig and (especially) Bill when it came to their political slants, I always enjoyed their analysis.
Craig, if you’re reading–when live baseball is back, come on down to Cincinnati, we’ll sit in the good-but-cheap seasts and talk baseball. First beers are on me.
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I enjoyed Craig’s work, and even read some of his other (non-baseball) stuff. When that site went full commercial, I looked for alternatives, and here I am.
The best part of Fan Interference versus the other place is one word: civility. We can root for opposing teams without cursing each other, we can take the occasional dig without going nuclear. I really found only a few of those who responded to Craig’s work tolerable, and many of them ended up here. Sorry Craig, but although you were smart and civil, you lived in a crappy neighborhood. I’m sure you’ll find something better.
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Sorry, guys, I was off the grid for a few days.
Considering that I met several of the best friends I’ve ever had in my life at HBT, I’m sad. Over the years I had a few fun conversations with Craig and became actual friends with Bill, so this makes me particularly upset for people that I genuinely like. They never had the autonomy we felt they did; unlike Florio for example, they didn’t own the blog, they were but hired hands. I have a feeling that Craig will do something we didn’t expect and Bill will end up at Fangraphs or something, or finally will write that book about Marvin Miller that we talked about. I wouldn’t be surprised.
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