Interview with Erik Schullstrom

Well, wait. It's in the interviews section. That's kind of where they've always ended up when any of us have done them -- is it more that you feel that part of the site should be moved higher up? (Should I have been pimping the interviews I did this summer more? I didn't feel it was my place on here to do so.)

Also, you never mentioned, but was this an e-mail interview or in person?

I think he only noticed that it was on the top page as it was the last one I hit last night. I've noticed that some people only check the Pro Yakyu News and MLB News feed-like forums, which is where most off-site links go. So this turns out to be a great time to remind people that it'd be good to check some of the other, more relevant forums every now and then.

Also, I often move posts from the feed-like forums to Open Talk or another more appropriate forum when someone leaves a comment in one. I'm sure that confuses people, and I really need to work this winter on usability. It's the difficulty of finding things that is why I don't mind such cross postings every now and then. (Besides, I really owe him for taking all of those "who's going to be posted in 2010?" questioners away from here.)

Tried to comment this morning, couldn't get it to go through. Kept getting connection interrupted errors on submit.

Anyway, in response...

1. I think that all of Deanna's interviews are phenomenal. I don't think there's anything wrong with drawing attention to them. I think the interviews forum is ranked appropriately, as it gets updated less frequently. Maybe a digg/web 2.0-style page where the most popular threads are listed would work, kind of like the old homepage (not that this would have made it).
   
   Anyway, this was a case where I really wanted people to look at something I posted, because it's a rare occasion where I'm putting something new out there. My typical media regurgitation attracts more traffic, but I think this is by far the more interesting content.


2. The interview was via e-mail. I edited the content slightly, but I thought Erik's writing was pretty good. A little wordy, but so am I.


3. The site's pretty usable as it is. Maybe I'm just used to it. I'd love to see something that draws more attention to the conversations.


4. I'll take a beer from you next time I'm in Tokyo.

Patrick, the problem is that way too many people only care about the NPB as far as MLB prospects and nothing else. So scouting for guys going TO Japan? Bo-ring

And I'll buy you a bag of age-sembei to go with the beer from Westbay...

Well, I thought it was interesting.

Interesting interview. And I enjoy your blog very much.

One thing I disagree with Erik Schullstrom on was his saying that you should not run away after hitting a batter but rather stay on the mound. Well, sometimes it is better to run from trouble, as there is a saying in Japanese, "Nigeru no kachi." All this macho talk is what results in ugly episodes and wars. Be cool and mellow. That goes especially for the countless hot headed non Japanese in NPB.