El Birdos Están Muertos; Viva El Birdos!

Previously on VEB:

• A new site manager debuted.
• I left the site.
• Azruavatar left the site.
• A piece...about Winter Warmup autograph prices was posted.
• Joe debuted with a look at Yadier Molina's hitting profile.
• RB posted his first 2014 draft preview.
• Craig debuted with a look at the Cardinals' HR/FB rate.
• An open letter was posted.
• VEBers were adrift on a pontoon boat which caught fire in the Indian Ocean. Fritz ate Fink, whose skinny vegetarian body did not sate his hunger.

At SBN headquarters, deep in Vox Cave, a plan was hatched. VEB, adrift on a flaming pontoon boat that somehow got from the internet to the Indian Ocean, would be saved not by the Indonesian Navy but a re-pilot. A revamp, a do-over. Like Season 9 of Scrubs, when Zach Braff came back as a professor. Except I could come back as site manager (and for longer than six episodes).

The call came from SBN. I answered. The offer to run VEB was made. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. Why? Because VEB. I had to pinch myself when SBN offered me the keys to Larry Borowski's creation, taking over from Dan Moore. (I'm the overlord now and I'm already whitewashing history.)

I first registered at VEB in 2006, back when Larry Borowski was in charge of the site he created. After the transition to Dan Moore as manager and lead writer, I become a VEB writer. The following chart contains my career VEB stats.

BGH VIVA EL BIRDOS STATS

By now you know that I'm blunt. I hate googly-eyed jerseys, love Lance Berkman, and love VEB even more than Berk. There will be more posts here. A lot more from me. But I want them to come from the VEB community, too. I got my start writing Fanposts. Over 50, as you can see from the chart. And I want to restore the Fanposts to what they were in the days of lboros. I want them to rival the main posts in quality. The best Fanposts will be promoted to the front page.

If you want to be 100% accurate, you could say that I actually got my writing start on FutureRedbirds.net. Not in any sort of official capacity, but from me keeping score and taking notes during Memphis Redbirds games and then emailing my summary and impressions to Azru, who would publish them on FutureRedbirds.net (which was the site at the time, before it became a hockey site). You see, I'm a kid who grew up in a minor-league town in the middle of the Middle West (in the lyrics of Alabama). There's nothing like the view from the cheap seats. So VEB will have daily farm system coverage during the season and will carry more prospects analysis from here on out.

What else lies ahead? Cartoons. Infographics. Legos, perhaps. Joe staying. Craig, too. RB will continue to write for the site. We might even get a non-googly VEB logo. We're still fleshing out the specifics.

Here's what to expect on Monday: a good ol' fashioned bgh post.

Your regularly scheduled VEB will be along at 11:00 a.m., with Joe's post on Holliday (as inspired by Lil' Scoot). Bravo, Bravo, El Birdos!