I’m rooting for you, Tim. You provided me as well as others with outstanding content throughout the years. I genuinely hope you come out of this and make it a success.
I believe at this point in time transparency is the key…tell your story, my friend. If that story becomes a novel, I’d buy it.
Threat level midnight. Believe in your talent and make it happen
Shout out to Anthony for the consistent publishing! I love knowing there is a new article at 6 AM daily, automatically, and some days I enjoy reading the discussions. I very rarely read the articles. In this case, there were people hyping up Shim when I was doing my coverage. I hadn't seen him, so I didn't write, but I'm glad to hear the praise is still going.
Old pal Tim decided to come after me on reddit, “Has it met its end? I'm the only one who can say that. Don't overestimate your power. You specifically are a weak follower who lacks personal confidence. My chaotic attitude the last three years has partially been to investigate what I call "The Pittsburgh Baseball Network", and that includes you.”
Not worth your time. P2 has shut down due to him not paying the server. Tim is living out of his car. He’s seriously delusional, seeing all sorts of conspiracies.
It’s been obvious for some time that Tim has serious psychological issues. I’m not really sure how he can be the Pirates correspondent for Baseball America, much less run a website. The guy definitely needs help.
Major Depressive Disorder is what I was labeled with in 2020. I've since been trying to reduce my depression, which involves getting away from the old daily baseball arguments. I feel great today, though I don't trust anyone. The latter is justified in a way.
Sorry Tim, I struggle with that too. Sometimes, if they add a mild mood stabilizer to antidepressant it helps, one called Lamictal thats doesn't typically have bunch of side effects. Something to ask about if you have the opportunity. Maybe you're struggling on own strength and could use a little more help. Just a thought, may not be relevant- take it or leave it.
Sorry this season is so rough. You've been through rough seasons before and come out on the other end. Praying things will get better my friend. Keep listening to your music, do what you know how to keep spirits up. I probably checked P2 everyday multiple times for at least 10 years - thanks for all the good work, it made my life better.
We haven't spoken in half a year, but you know a lot about my life.
P2 was hit with a charge recently, and I'm investigating that tomorrow. I wouldn't be living out of my car if I hadn't paid my servers. Plus, I gave John Dreker my last $4,000 in the budget.
I am living out of my car. The cost of not writing for months. Also, family issues.
Delusional? Conspiracies?
I told you that I saw a Pirates employee following me in 2022 in three cities. This man was in Altoona when I was there, which isn't uncommon. I saw him twice on the streets of downtown Pittsburgh, both within 500 yards of me when I rarely left my hotel during a personal trip. That's a weird coincidence. Then, on short notice, I went to Greensboro. This guy showed up, as I expected by that point. The guy isn't even a full-time employee. He's a consultant, hired by Kyle Stark. When I left the final Greensboro game early, I looked up in my cars' rear view mirror and saw this guy searching the outfield area. I've never seen anyone working for the team walking in the outfield concourse during the game, and it happened right when I disappeared from stadium view. You've called me crazy since telling you this in a P2 group email.
Maybe it is a coincidence. Maybe your instant "Oh no everyone, Tim has gone crazy" reaction made it so that I didn't feel comfortable sharing the evidence I have that several of my accounts have been hacked in the last decade. And there is worse than that.
But I'm still here. Homeless, but very sane. In pain right now, because I'm off all drugs, because boomers like you gaslight anyone going through a mental health struggle with the assistance of drugs.
Call me what you want, but I'm not the one talking shit about the other person online, and spreading lies to diminish the other person's name and reputation.
Tim, I can’t go into details because I do not know you personally and to do so would be unethical and unprofessional, but as a long time member and avid reader of PP and one of many who have been concerned since well before the sight closed, I hope you’ll trust me when I say that the problems you report and a diagnosis like the one you described are not things to be taken lightly. If you’ve been prescribed medication, please do not stop taking it without professional medical supervision regardless of what you believe anyone else might think. Take care of yourself.
Let us not forget when you told us you didn't feel you were mentally capable of maintaining consistency with the site after changing the "vision" every other month. Going weeks without editing, letting articles just sit to the point they'd become outdated. Majority of the writers expressed concern, saying take a step back and take care of yourself first. The site is secondary, and we would cover things so you could focus on yourself.
But then you almost took it as an insult, and turned on everyone. Saying you were having each of us essentially under surveillance for being a "mole". You were "researching" us. You diminished everyone's input. You attacked writer's character.
You basically wanted people to give up their entire lives for the site cause, "that's what it takes". Apparently the threshold was we had to be willing to lose our families and homes for the sake of the site. We have individual jobs, and families.
Then there's the passive aggressive comments. Like saying no one put in the effort, at least until we "started this site." Having to make it a point to say that you rarely read the articles.
We get it, the delusions of grandeur. There's no one like Tim (sorry, artist formerly known as Tim). In fact, not only is there no one like Tim, every single Pittsburgh baseball writer in the entire spectrum of Pittsburgh baseball writing is a product of Tim. Tim made everyone. Pittsburgh baseball coverage only exists because of Tim.
When it fell apart, I kind of hoped that was that, and even that you'd find your peace. But clearly you haven't, and instead have decided to go on the attack. There is no need for it. At this point, it looks more like you're just fishing for sympathy and trying to stay in the limelight by sticking to a "Well, I made those guys. They didn't want to put in the work till the went on their own".
Oh man, I’m sorry to hear that. I knew from his interactions with readers in the dying days of PP, things were seriously off. Hopefully he gets some help.
Maybe I'm the only one, but I'll go out on a limb and deny that the talent that Cherington has brought in is "incredible" ;). Instead, it might be about what you'd expect or slightly worse for an organization that went through their worst three-year stretch in '20-'22 since the '50s and who traded stars like Marte, Musgrove, and Taillon.
At this point, Cherington has shown he's not exceptional (or we'd have better projections in year 5) and I'm just hoping he's better than average. But watching what the Brewers, Reds, and Cubs have done in recent years, do we even think he's above average in our division?
Bringing in talent and developing talent are two distinctly different things. I think jury is out on the former and struggling (mightily?)in the latter.
Good stuff AM. The crew of cheng, chen, and shim all are very interesting to me and a key support as to why we should keep up our efforts in scouting in Asia. Disappointed that we don't have anyone in this international class but maybe there is more to come
What can't be denied is that scout/analyst types have been quick to place hefty grades on kids a thousand miles away before inevitably searching for blame when the reality of prospect matriculation sets in. Eddie Yean was called one of the best teenage arms in baseball. Eddie Yean!
Shim might be the next great, but what's certain is that these same scout/analyst types show no sign of any shred of self-reflection on whether or not they're actually any good at this.
These scouts/analyst types focus solely on the tangible evidence to make their assertions. But as we all know, the intangibles are at least equally important. How will the prospect deal with adversity? How determined is he to succeed? How receptive are they to coaching? Etc…
The proverbial dumpster of failed highly touted prospects is filled to the brim because professional baseball shines a bright light that few can survive, let alone thrive in.
There’s probably too much segmentation between scouts and coaches in some orgs. That seemed to be an especially big problem under NH. One time they acquired a pitcher, I think on waivers from Toronto, and according to the stories the coaches were appalled when they saw the guy throw. Didn’t last long. Not far from my reaction when I first saw Yean.
Some of this, though, is inevitable due to the skill element in baseball being so dominant. Also, the structure of the prospect pipeline, with the need to project the development of teenage arms, guarantees rampant failure. Prospects will always have very high attrition.
And then there’s the low pay and heavy travel load for scouts. How good would you expect any job structured that way to be at attracting talented people? One guy at FG who’d worked in MLB, I think Kiley, once said only about 10% of scouts were worth listening to, and it took many years to figure out which ones.
Our middle school gym teacher was a scout for a pro team. He knew so little about baseball that he didn't even coach the junior high school team. It was a part-time gig for him that paid the bills in summer when school was out, and I think that he got the job because he was friends with the head scout.
That's hilarious. Reminds me of when a kid I knew in school would ask me about baseball players because he worked on MLB arbitration cases as his internship. Never watched baseball in his life lol.
I would go to this guy and ask him about grips and stuff on pitches. This was long before Youtube and learn it yourself videos. He knew less than my grandfather who had taught me the fastballs, a curve, and a changeup. Of course, my grandfather was a minor league pitcher and shortstop before being drafted at 19 for WWII.
I’m rooting for you, Tim. You provided me as well as others with outstanding content throughout the years. I genuinely hope you come out of this and make it a success.
I believe at this point in time transparency is the key…tell your story, my friend. If that story becomes a novel, I’d buy it.
Threat level midnight. Believe in your talent and make it happen
Shout out to Anthony for the consistent publishing! I love knowing there is a new article at 6 AM daily, automatically, and some days I enjoy reading the discussions. I very rarely read the articles. In this case, there were people hyping up Shim when I was doing my coverage. I hadn't seen him, so I didn't write, but I'm glad to hear the praise is still going.
Old pal Tim decided to come after me on reddit, “Has it met its end? I'm the only one who can say that. Don't overestimate your power. You specifically are a weak follower who lacks personal confidence. My chaotic attitude the last three years has partially been to investigate what I call "The Pittsburgh Baseball Network", and that includes you.”
Not worth your time. P2 has shut down due to him not paying the server. Tim is living out of his car. He’s seriously delusional, seeing all sorts of conspiracies.
It’s been obvious for some time that Tim has serious psychological issues. I’m not really sure how he can be the Pirates correspondent for Baseball America, much less run a website. The guy definitely needs help.
Major Depressive Disorder is what I was labeled with in 2020. I've since been trying to reduce my depression, which involves getting away from the old daily baseball arguments. I feel great today, though I don't trust anyone. The latter is justified in a way.
Sorry Tim, I struggle with that too. Sometimes, if they add a mild mood stabilizer to antidepressant it helps, one called Lamictal thats doesn't typically have bunch of side effects. Something to ask about if you have the opportunity. Maybe you're struggling on own strength and could use a little more help. Just a thought, may not be relevant- take it or leave it.
Sorry this season is so rough. You've been through rough seasons before and come out on the other end. Praying things will get better my friend. Keep listening to your music, do what you know how to keep spirits up. I probably checked P2 everyday multiple times for at least 10 years - thanks for all the good work, it made my life better.
Hello, old friend.
We haven't spoken in half a year, but you know a lot about my life.
P2 was hit with a charge recently, and I'm investigating that tomorrow. I wouldn't be living out of my car if I hadn't paid my servers. Plus, I gave John Dreker my last $4,000 in the budget.
I am living out of my car. The cost of not writing for months. Also, family issues.
Delusional? Conspiracies?
I told you that I saw a Pirates employee following me in 2022 in three cities. This man was in Altoona when I was there, which isn't uncommon. I saw him twice on the streets of downtown Pittsburgh, both within 500 yards of me when I rarely left my hotel during a personal trip. That's a weird coincidence. Then, on short notice, I went to Greensboro. This guy showed up, as I expected by that point. The guy isn't even a full-time employee. He's a consultant, hired by Kyle Stark. When I left the final Greensboro game early, I looked up in my cars' rear view mirror and saw this guy searching the outfield area. I've never seen anyone working for the team walking in the outfield concourse during the game, and it happened right when I disappeared from stadium view. You've called me crazy since telling you this in a P2 group email.
Maybe it is a coincidence. Maybe your instant "Oh no everyone, Tim has gone crazy" reaction made it so that I didn't feel comfortable sharing the evidence I have that several of my accounts have been hacked in the last decade. And there is worse than that.
But I'm still here. Homeless, but very sane. In pain right now, because I'm off all drugs, because boomers like you gaslight anyone going through a mental health struggle with the assistance of drugs.
Call me what you want, but I'm not the one talking shit about the other person online, and spreading lies to diminish the other person's name and reputation.
-Tim
Tim, I can’t go into details because I do not know you personally and to do so would be unethical and unprofessional, but as a long time member and avid reader of PP and one of many who have been concerned since well before the sight closed, I hope you’ll trust me when I say that the problems you report and a diagnosis like the one you described are not things to be taken lightly. If you’ve been prescribed medication, please do not stop taking it without professional medical supervision regardless of what you believe anyone else might think. Take care of yourself.
Let us not forget when you told us you didn't feel you were mentally capable of maintaining consistency with the site after changing the "vision" every other month. Going weeks without editing, letting articles just sit to the point they'd become outdated. Majority of the writers expressed concern, saying take a step back and take care of yourself first. The site is secondary, and we would cover things so you could focus on yourself.
But then you almost took it as an insult, and turned on everyone. Saying you were having each of us essentially under surveillance for being a "mole". You were "researching" us. You diminished everyone's input. You attacked writer's character.
You basically wanted people to give up their entire lives for the site cause, "that's what it takes". Apparently the threshold was we had to be willing to lose our families and homes for the sake of the site. We have individual jobs, and families.
Then there's the passive aggressive comments. Like saying no one put in the effort, at least until we "started this site." Having to make it a point to say that you rarely read the articles.
We get it, the delusions of grandeur. There's no one like Tim (sorry, artist formerly known as Tim). In fact, not only is there no one like Tim, every single Pittsburgh baseball writer in the entire spectrum of Pittsburgh baseball writing is a product of Tim. Tim made everyone. Pittsburgh baseball coverage only exists because of Tim.
When it fell apart, I kind of hoped that was that, and even that you'd find your peace. But clearly you haven't, and instead have decided to go on the attack. There is no need for it. At this point, it looks more like you're just fishing for sympathy and trying to stay in the limelight by sticking to a "Well, I made those guys. They didn't want to put in the work till the went on their own".
my goodness.
I hope this comments section doesn't become Tim Williams' narcissism outlet v 2.0
Was taking a look in the mirror to see if I had been more toxic or negative than necessary, but I think youre probably right here WTM
Oh man, I’m sorry to hear that. I knew from his interactions with readers in the dying days of PP, things were seriously off. Hopefully he gets some help.
Heavy lies the head, Ark... I hope you are well.
I am, take care of yourself, Tim.
I wish you well Tim and always enjoyed your work as well as those who worked with you. I hope whatever your path it leads you to a good place.
Thanks man, I've already arrived, fortunately.
I always appreciated your comments.
8 innings. Probably enough information for me to be hopeful along with the ratings, but not excited.
You’re right, AM.
I’m amending my list from earlier this week by adding a healthy 2024 for Shim.
I want to see how he handles the challenge of taking the mound every week for an extended period of time vs full season professional baseball players.
I'm really excited to see Shim pitch this season. Yea it will be interesting to see how he adjusts seeing he pitched so little last year
My list normally starts and end with Carlos Jimenez. But this should be the last year his name will appear on that list.
Man if Jimenez puts it together, at least somewhat, that will be fun to watch
That article you did over at P2 put him on my radar, this kid has a chance to have 3 really good pitches if he ever is able to have a little command.
Maybe I'm the only one, but I'll go out on a limb and deny that the talent that Cherington has brought in is "incredible" ;). Instead, it might be about what you'd expect or slightly worse for an organization that went through their worst three-year stretch in '20-'22 since the '50s and who traded stars like Marte, Musgrove, and Taillon.
At this point, Cherington has shown he's not exceptional (or we'd have better projections in year 5) and I'm just hoping he's better than average. But watching what the Brewers, Reds, and Cubs have done in recent years, do we even think he's above average in our division?
No, I think he’s below average. Possibly the worst GM in the division.
Substitute “easily” for “possibly.”
Bringing in talent and developing talent are two distinctly different things. I think jury is out on the former and struggling (mightily?)in the latter.
Good stuff AM. The crew of cheng, chen, and shim all are very interesting to me and a key support as to why we should keep up our efforts in scouting in Asia. Disappointed that we don't have anyone in this international class but maybe there is more to come
What can't be denied is that scout/analyst types have been quick to place hefty grades on kids a thousand miles away before inevitably searching for blame when the reality of prospect matriculation sets in. Eddie Yean was called one of the best teenage arms in baseball. Eddie Yean!
Shim might be the next great, but what's certain is that these same scout/analyst types show no sign of any shred of self-reflection on whether or not they're actually any good at this.
Was banging this drum last week when I saw this Shim stuff and FG prospect lists stuffing a kid who is still in the DSL as a 50.
It’s a rush to be “first” on a kid. If you do that enough times, you’re bound to be right eventually.
These scouts/analyst types focus solely on the tangible evidence to make their assertions. But as we all know, the intangibles are at least equally important. How will the prospect deal with adversity? How determined is he to succeed? How receptive are they to coaching? Etc…
The proverbial dumpster of failed highly touted prospects is filled to the brim because professional baseball shines a bright light that few can survive, let alone thrive in.
There’s probably too much segmentation between scouts and coaches in some orgs. That seemed to be an especially big problem under NH. One time they acquired a pitcher, I think on waivers from Toronto, and according to the stories the coaches were appalled when they saw the guy throw. Didn’t last long. Not far from my reaction when I first saw Yean.
Some of this, though, is inevitable due to the skill element in baseball being so dominant. Also, the structure of the prospect pipeline, with the need to project the development of teenage arms, guarantees rampant failure. Prospects will always have very high attrition.
And then there’s the low pay and heavy travel load for scouts. How good would you expect any job structured that way to be at attracting talented people? One guy at FG who’d worked in MLB, I think Kiley, once said only about 10% of scouts were worth listening to, and it took many years to figure out which ones.
It’s a badly designed system.
Our middle school gym teacher was a scout for a pro team. He knew so little about baseball that he didn't even coach the junior high school team. It was a part-time gig for him that paid the bills in summer when school was out, and I think that he got the job because he was friends with the head scout.
That's hilarious. Reminds me of when a kid I knew in school would ask me about baseball players because he worked on MLB arbitration cases as his internship. Never watched baseball in his life lol.
I would go to this guy and ask him about grips and stuff on pitches. This was long before Youtube and learn it yourself videos. He knew less than my grandfather who had taught me the fastballs, a curve, and a changeup. Of course, my grandfather was a minor league pitcher and shortstop before being drafted at 19 for WWII.
How cool, heck of a man!