Wikipedia:WikiProject Baseball/Outreach/Newsletter/Volume 02 issue 03

 The Inside Corner

What's new with WikiProject Baseball: Volume, issue – May 31, 2014 Subscribe · archives · newsletter desk



Around the horn
Contributors:, 
 * Derek Jeter notched his 1,889th career run on May 23, passing Lou Gehrig for 10th all-time.
 * Jeff Samardzija had a league-leading 1.46 earned run average without any wins in his first ten games, a record-setting streak of bad luck. He struck out ten Giants in his eleventh start, on the way to his first victory of the season.
 * Dee Gordon has 32 stolen bases in fifty-one games, about two-thirds more than his closest competition, and on a pace to exceed 100 steals for the season.
 * Jose Abreu, the White Sox rookie who began the season on a tear at the plate, was placed on the disabled list with tendinitis in his left ankle.
 * For the first time ever, according to Baseball Reference, a pitcher and hitter both wearing number 99 faced each other when James Jones stepped up to the plate against Rudy Owens in the latter's big-league debut.
 * Josh Beckett threw the first no-hitter of the 2014 season on May 25 against the Phillies.
 * Selected reading - Is MLB in the midst of a Tommy John epidemic: an examination of the number of Tommy John surgeries so far in the 2014 season.

Featured image


An image of recently-retired pitcher Andy Pettitte, who won 256 games during his 18-season career. The photo, originally captured by Keith Allison, was uploaded and cropped by.

Contributor: 

About
The Inside Corner is brought to you by WikiProject Baseball's Outreach department. If you have an update to share, or an article to contribute, please sign up at the newsletter desk.

This issue's contributors: ·  ·  ·

Project news
Discussion on the project talk page this month centered around questions about formatting and linking, and standards for inclusion, including: should team names in articles link to the team page or a team season article, a slight change in retired number template formatting, and which players should have brief blurbs on the list articles for a team's minor league rosters. The project accepted an offer to have a leaflet created for Wikimania 2014, which led to a discussion on having a WikiProject Baseball twitter account—consensus was against it. Is any one from the project planning to attend [//wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/ Wikimania 2014]?

In article promotion news, only a few items were promoted in May. Congratulations on promotions to Featured Article initiated by for Orel Hershiser's scoreless innings streak, and  for Babe Ruth. Also congratulations to on the promotion of Brien Taylor to Good Article, and to  on the promotion of Luis Aparicio Award to Featured List. At present there are two Featured Article candidates, five Featured List candidates, and nine Good Article nominations, so help reviewing them would undoubtedly be greatly appreciated by nominators, a few of whom remain alive in the WikiCup. Thanks to everyone who contributed to baseball-related articles—every productive edit, whether large or small, is appreciated!

Contributor: 

Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth is Major League Baseball's most iconic player, who reshaped the sport into a higher-scoring game with home runs in the forefront. His fame transcended baseball and his name became synonymous with someone of colossal achievements, in any field. Ruth was skilled on the mound as well as at the plate; he chose to become an everyday player and as a result, tallied many batting records.

The article has travelled a long road to Featured Article status: first nominated in 2005, which failed, achieving Good Article status in 2006 briefly before being reassessed and losing that status, and finally brought up to the level of a Featured Article this month. Many thanks to and everyone else who contributed over the years to bring this vital article to the quality level it deserves!

Contributor: 

Major League Baseball logo
The Major League Baseball logo (image) is a distinct, recognizable symbol that easily identifies the organization. Unveiled in 1969, the logo was designed to universally represent the sport. Its appearance has been mimicked by other leagues, such as the National Basketball Association. Authorship of the emblem had been disputed for 40 years, with claims by James Sherman, known for his comic illustrations, and Jerry Dior, a graphic designer. In an investigative piece for ESPN, writer Paul Lukas continued an earlier investigation by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed that Dior created the image during his tenure at the marketing firm Sandgren & Murtha.

Rated "B-class", the Major League Baseball logo article has room for improvement; its last edit was in [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Major_League_Baseball_logo&action=history November 2013]. With a few committed hours, an editor can easily mold the page to good article status. WikiProject Baseball thanks all for their contributions to any baseball-related articles.

Contributor: 

Editor spotlight
This month, The Inside Corner interviews, a regular contributor to baseball-related articles:
 * What is your favorite part of contributing to Wikipedia, and specifically WikiProject Baseball?
 * My favourite part of contributing to WikiProject Baseball is expanding and improving lists to featured status. I specifically focus on the records and statistics of individual players: the sheer volume of lists in this area is mind-blowing, and there are still many more that have yet to be created (e.g. players with 6 hits in a game). It's a great testament to how America's national pastime is unique and unlike any other sport. While it is still a team sport at the end of the day, there is an unmatched emphasis on individual performance, and these statistical lists are a direct result of this.


 * What is the best article or list on which you have worked?
 * The best article I've worked on so far is the Core Four page. I've been adding to it since 2011 and it was my first good article nomination (albeit unsuccessful).  It's one of the few articles that has compelled me to do constant updating, because a lot has changed since I first edited the article – namely, the retirements of Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera.  I will finally re-nominate it for GA (three years after my first attempt) when Derek Jeter retires after this season.


 * After four years and 12,000 edits, what keeps you coming back?
 * The friendly, strong collaborative spirit of our baseball community is very encouraging and is a huge driving force for me to keep returning. I've worked on several featured lists and co-nominated a few DYKs with, improved Jack Warhop to GA with  back in November, and took Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award to FL after you  and  laid out the foundations for the list. Nearly all my interactions with members of our baseball community has been positive and pleasant, and this gives me every reason to keep coming back. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for making this happen.

Interviewer: 

Welcoming new editors
A lot of good work is done on baseball-related articles; a great big "Thank you!" to all of you investing your valuable time! It's always gratifying to see content in Wikipedia grow and improve.

In order to keep the project thriving, though, new editors interested in contributing are key. How can you welcome additional editors to the WikiProject Baseball community? The first step is to identify potential contributors. Perhaps you see someone new editing one of the articles on your watchlist. You can take a look at their contributions and get a feel for their work: Are they only making an edit or two every year? Do they generally make small corrections such as fixing spelling errors to a wide variety of articles? Are they making small factual corrections, and do they seem to have a general interest in editing baseball-related or sports-related articles? Although prolific writers do arise from all sorts of initial editing patterns, the most fruitful ground for recruitment is probably among those who edit semi-frequently and who correct or add additional information to Wikipedia. Nonetheless, let your gut feeling be your guide: if you feel good about someone, go ahead and welcome them!

Once you've spotted someone who you think might be interested in becoming a regular contributor, write a personalized note on their talk page, inviting them to participate in editing baseball-related content. Provide a link to the WikiProject Baseball discussion page, so the editor can engage with the community (you can use WikiProject Baseball invitation, or just include the link manually). Consider placing a summary of the current issue of the WikiProject Baseball newsletter in your note (see the instructions at the bottom of the newsletter). Please don't subscribe them for regular notifications, though—most people prefer to sign up for notifications themselves. If they have an specific area of interest and there is a relevant task force, or some regulars who also share that interest, let the newcomers know about these available resources for help.

When you see someone new post a question at the WikiProject Baseball discussion page, or the talk page for any baseball-related article, be friendly and warm. Recall how you were when you first started editing Wikipedia: unsure of how things worked, and uncertain how to phrase your questions. Then remember that in the meantime, procedures have become more detailed, more legacy consensus decisions have been made (and unfortunately often not well-recorded except in the memories of the long-time editors), and fitting into the community has become more challenging. So do your best to orient the new participant into the world of Wikipedia, and give them as much leeway and encouragement as you can. Allow time for new ideas to be examined and evaluated; often we become accustomed to the way things "are always done" and forget that just because something is different doesn't mean it is necessarily bad.

Keep an eye out for potential new contributors, and do your best to make them feel welcome and appreciated—write them a thank-you note, encourage their work, and invite them to help out. If they aren't interested, respect their wishes and let them find their own way. What are your ideas for ways to find new editors? Discuss them at the project discussion page and help the community flourish!

Contributor:  To hand-deliver a summary of The Inside Corner, place the following on the user talk page of the intended recipient:

The Inside Corner&thinsp;: May 31, 2014
What's in the latest edition of WikiProject Baseball's newsletter: Read the newsletter · subscribe
 * Project news: article-writing questions, Wikimania 2014, article promotions
 * Around the horn: Terrible luck, Jeter's latest record, first no-hitter, (more)
 * Showcase: Babe Ruth, Major League Baseball logo
 * Featured image: Andy Pettitte
 * Editor spotlight: Bloom6132
 * Opinion: Welcoming new editors