This is pretty cool, you guys.
You may have read I met Charlie a few years back at PirateFest, when he was working on his book. What didn't get into print was how geeked I was at meeting him, a guy I'd followed from a distance for some time. That he was patient enough to listen to me go on for an hour or so about my thoughts on Pirates fandom, about the 2013 season and what that meant to me, was incredibly neat. I'm pretty sure I sent a couple giddy texts to my friends after that conversation. To even just join him on Bucs Dugout later on meant a lot to me. Trying to "replace" him here is something I never thought I'd be qualified for.
And Wilbur Miller, I was back in high school when I discovered him, with his extremely in-depth, informative minor-league player capsules at OnlyBucs. He was a crucial find back in 2004, when the Pirates had few prospects worth most people's time to write about.
These are guys I've been informed and entertained by for years. Really, they're rock stars in our little community. To be able to work with them is something I've appreciated more than I can put into words. To take this next step, to work with Wilbur managing the site and to take over for Charlie is truly an honor.
The other part to all of this is you, the readers, the commenters, the fanposters, everyone who makes this community such a great place to write, read and talk about the Pirates.
Before I started writing here, I wasn't terribly active in the comments -- heck, I'm still not as active as I'd like to be, and I hope to change that. What I learned when I started was that Bucs Dugout is very much the exception to the Don't Read the Comments rule on the internet. This site belongs more to the readers than anyone else, and I take that seriously.
As Wilbur has already said, we're very much looking to keep doing what's been done well in this little corner of the internet for years. With that in mind, please give me your feedback. Leave a comment, e-mail me, tweet me, send me a postcard. Whatever. I want to know what people think -- what you like, what you don't like, what you want more of. The last thing I want to do is flip this site on its lid, but if there's something we can add, by all means, I want to know that.
Whatever happens on the field, having a place to read and talk about the team keeps my batteries charged. Here's to keeping a good thing going.