The Newest TPA Member: Unveiled

Personally, I'm sad to see Mark Smith leave the Platoon Advantage. He's a good guy, but mostly I am jealous that he is leaving the annals of the Internet to live-out the fantasy of every pant-less blogger living in their parents' basement.

While Mark is living the dream as a pie-eating southern gentlemen, the rest of us are stuck here on the Internet. The only saving grace is that perhaps my plan of kidnapping Brian McCann so I can keep him in a jar in my basement and ask him questions about pitch-calling might be one step closer to the reality, the truth is: Smith is gone, we have to move on.

And today, I got an email from The Common Man, which surprised me for two reasons.

1. I had no idea that The Common Man had my email address. In fact, I was never really sure if The Common Man knew who I was, other than someone who occasionally RT'd his stories and asked him questions about baseball cards.

2. The content of the email itself was surprising: The Platoon Advantage wanted me. Upon receipt, I sent a message making sure that I was the intended recipient, and was delighted to find that it was indeed me that they wanted.

When someone takes the opportunity to say they admire your work, it is flattering. But when the whole staff at TPA echoed that sentiment and encouraged me to join the band of misfits, I could not say yes fast enough.

So here I am: Mark Smith's replacement. And that's a huge pie-tin to fill.

In case you don't know me, I'm Cee Angi. I'm a long time reader, first time contributor here at TPA, but I am no stranger to the Internet or the world of baseball writing.

For as long as I can remember, I have been writing. I think I was inspired by Nancy Drew and Harriet the Spy, who were always armed with a notebook and ready to investigate or write at a moments' notice. Writing became a welcome distraction for an awkward kid who bounced around the country from school to school, as my family relocated constantly.

I started the Internet writing by piecing together columns of anything baseball related and shopping them around to strangers. I joined Twitter, followed a lot of people, and I was in awe of those who could write and run their own sites successfully. There was a great deal of envy and jealousy towards people who were living the dream as paid writers, or just bloggers with well-respected sites that generated a lot of traffic.

After a short time, I started to get noticed as I covered the Chicago White Sox for a publication while I attended grad school there. In conjunction, I started my own site: Essence of Baseball, which focused mostly on AL East, specifically the Boston Red Sox. Because of that site's success, and perhaps my prolific and erratic Twitter account, I was asked to join a team of tremendous writers at Over the Monster, the Red Sox site on SB Nation.

My strong suit, beyond the typical baseball analysis, has been a side project: Baseball-Prose. What started as a frustration for not having a place to write narratives and short stories has spiraled into a site that houses reflections of my childhood, adult-hood, and my dating life, as they relate to baseball. This year has been fun with contributions from other writers frustrated that there are limited outlets for narratives and prose, including TPA's own Jason Wdhjwhateverhislastnamereallyis.

If it's not already evident, I'm a lady. More specifically, a 20-something living in Washington, DC after a three-year stint in the best city around: Chicago. Even though I'm a chick, I can bro out with the best of you. I have an affinity for statistics (not just baseball ones... they also consume my professional life). I am an avid bourbon drinker, and my two loves other than baseball are ice hockey and my cavalier spaniel, Lola.

Being a minority in the baseball world is a blast and I have worked hard to establish some legitimacy, even though I got awkward stares last weekend for showing up to Sabr Day in high heels and lip-gloss. One man actually asked me, "Are you sure you're supposed to be here?" Awkward.

The bottom line? I'm happy to be here, I'm honored by the opportunity, and I will do my damnest to provide you all with entertaining and informative content the best way I know how. Until the next post, follow me on Twitter: @CeeAngi.

And perhaps the most important part of my introduction: Cake.