Call to the Pen

Blaine Blontz: Senior Editor (4/30/11-Present)

Blaine joined the crew in April of 2011. He covers current news and notes from around the baseball world for Call to the Pen.

Sports have always been an integral part of Blaine’s life, he was fortunate enough to play three at the varsity level in high school. His love of baseball (specifically the Orioles) was developed through his parents and especially his father, a Baltimore native.

Blaine currently resides outside of Philadelphia, PA, where he works as a financial aid counselor. Aside from writing about baseball, Blaine enjoys a good book or movie as well as spending as much time as he can with his wife and family.

Follow him on Twitter @blaineblontz or email him at [email protected]

Lew Freedman: Editor (9/30/11-Present)

Lew Freedman is a veteran sports writer who has been on the staff of the Chicago Tribune and Philadelphia Inquirer and served as sports editor of the Anchorage Daily News in Alaska and The Republic in Columbus, Indiana where he lives.

The author of 54 books, Freeman’s baseball books include a biography with Juan Marichal, a biography with Ferguson Jenkins, and several works of baseball history, including Going Yard: The Everything Home Run book in cooperation with Frank Thomas, and Hard-Luck Harvey Haddix and the Greatest Game Ever Lost.

Justin Klugh: Staff Writer (3/28/10-Present)

Justin is responsible for a collection of messes across the internet. He is the lead writer for FanSided’s Phillies blog, That Balls Outta Here, as well as the sports lead for Philthy Blog: The Unofficial blog of Philadelphia. In the past, he has written for Sports Talk Soup, nonpretentious, Tango Echo, and a bunch of video game sites that don’t exist anymore. Currently, he is a drifter, traveling with his German shepherd, Big Piece, finding work as it comes, and sleeping in train graveyards until the sheriff chases him out of town.

Justin’s weekly column, Balls to the Wall (literally the first title he came up with), will appear every Monday and focus on the more ridiculous or asinine aspects of the game he loves. From Jayson Werth’s beard to Ozzie Guillen’s Twitter account, he’ll have it covered; after all, baseball is like waiting for a bus, but when it finally arrives, it explodes.

He is available for weddings and bar mitzvahs.

Follow Justin on Twitter @TBOHblog.

Joe Soriano: Staff Writer (9/17/11-Present)

Joe is a huge Yankees fan who focuses on statistical analysis, and owns his a blog at www.prosportswrap.com. Joe is an aspiring sportswriter who is currently in high school. He is currently writing books for Black Mesa and Sports by the Numbers, and rock music floods his brain as he types his articles. Not only does Joe have a love for sports, but he’s also seen every Seinfeld and Psych episode at least three times. Joe currently lives in Tampa, so he get a lot of jeers for being a Panthers and Yankees fan.

Follow Joe on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

Justin Hunter: Staff Writer (11/14/11-Present)

Justin was dealt a debilitating blow at a young age when he was introduced to the San Diego Padres. He has grown to love (read: obsess over) the sport of baseball as a whole, but has never been able to shake the painful and self-deprecating title of Padres fan.

Justin holds a BS in Business Administration, works as a claims adjuster by day, and loves writing. He is married to a wonderful woman who has learned to love the Padres and his incessant baseball-related stories. He has an infant son who will either hate baseball or be the greatest player who ever lived. Definitely one of those two.

Follow Justin on Twitter @the5_5hole or email him at [email protected]. Justin is also the editor for FanSided MLB’s Padres site, Chicken Friars.

Doug Wachter: Staff Writer (12/20/11-Present)

Doug Wachter is a Junior studying Sport Management at the University of Michigan, hoping to work in baseball operations with an MLB team. He roots for his hometown Giants, his former employers, the Mets, and his adopted AL team, the Tigers. Though he loves pretty much all aspects of the game, he’s specifically interested in sabermetrics and studying the draft.

Follow him on Twitter @saberbythebay or shoot him an email at [email protected].

Kyle Davis: Staff Writer (1/21/12-Present)

Kyle is a Seattle Mariners fan who celebrates baseball and its many happenings as a vehicle for critical and creative thinking, as well as a microcosm of humanity in a much less terrifying and palatable form. He is the author and curator of the baseball blog The Trance of Waiting, where he makes jokes about Adam Kennedy and pretends to know what he’s talking about. Kyle is a graduate of the University of Washington where he studied English and Creative Writing. He currently lives in Seattle with his wife, their two cats, and their television set.

Follow him on Twitter @AgainstKyle.

Mickey Brignall: Social Media Manager (2/14/12-Present)

Mickey is entering his second year covering baseball and currently resides in Suburban Detroit. You can read his work here at Call to the Pen every Saturday. In his spare time the author enjoys going to college, watching Michigan basketball, wearing blazers, and chilling with his boyz.

Follow him on Twitter @mickey_baseball, or contact him via email [email protected]

Kenneth Matinale: Staff Writer (4/7/12-Present)

Born in a year the Yankees did not win the pennant, Musial missed the triple crown by one home run and DiMaggio led AL in homers for the second and final time. First two MLB games attended were at Ebbets Field. First Yankee game was September 3, 1958; Mickey and Yogi homered. Graduated Xavier H.S. in Manhattan and St. John’s University in Queens. Did computer stuff for AT&T until very early retirement. Since then attempted to be a scholar/athlete, dabbling in baseball research. Produced the Baseball Database for Windows, which thankfully has been superseded by much better stuff on the web like my favorite baseball-reference.com. I’ve been writing my own baseball blog for a few years: radicalbaseball.blogspot.com. I also tried blogtalkradio.com/radicalbaseball.

Follow him on Twitter @radicalbaseball, or contact him via email [email protected].

John J Parent: Staff Writer (5/7/12-Present)

I am the NL Editorial Director for FanSided MLB. I have been at FanSided since early 2010 and have written over 700 pieces for the network. My love of baseball was fostered by my grandfather, my father, and the voice of Ernie Harwell. I like Comerica Park, but I still miss Tiger Stadium. I think Barry Bonds is the greatest player I have ever seen, regardless of steroids. I am an alumnus of Bowling Green State University where I studied English. My wife, Valerie, and I have been married since 2008 and together we have five wonderful children.

You can follow John on Twitter @JohnJParent, or contact him via email [email protected].

Glenn DuPaul: Staff Writer (5/14/12-Present)

Glenn is a self-proclaimed sabermetrician whose writing focuses on the statistical and economical aspects of the game. He writes about the Yankees for Bugs&Cranks as well as about statistics for Beyond the Boxscore. He also runs his own site, Baseball’s Economist.

He is currently an Economics major at Lehigh University, and he hopes to someday turn his Econ degree and blogging experience into a job in baseball operations.

You can follow him on Twitter @Baseballs_Econ.

Brian Vaughan: Staff Writer (5/15/12-Present)

Brian Vaughan has been a baseball lover since he started forming useful memories and a writer since shortly after that point. Brian is a staff writer for FanSided’s Call to the Pen and also co-operates the Cardinal-centered blog StanGraphs.com with Spencer Hendricks. He lives in Springfield, Missouri with his wife and a wide assortment of animals. Aside from always being correct about baseball, Brian is also never wrong about music, film, or television shows.

You can follow him on Twitter @vaughanbasepct.

Spencer Hendricks: Staff Writer (5/15/12-Present)

Spencer Hendricks first fell in love with baseball as a small lad when he witnessed Ray Lankford and Milt Thompson go back-to-back during some random regular season game in 1992. Ever since, he’s been obsessed with the Cardinals as well as the sport in general. When he isn’t glossing over baseball statistics, he can usually be found at a desk hidden in the back of his town’s local library, where he is employed. In addition to his work as a staff writer at Call to the Pen, he also writes for StanGraphs, a Cardinal themed blog.

You can follow him on Twitter @shendricks221.