2015 WFNY Author Spotlight : Best of Michael Bode

WFNY is proud of our assortment of writers and are especially grateful to be blessed with its daily readership. As part of our year-end festivities, WFNY has put together an Author Spotlight series to allow the readers to get to know the writers a bit better by pulling back the curtain on their thoughts and pulling in some of their favorite pieces from the year.

We hope you enjoy a quick look back at Michael’s 2015 year and maybe find something you like that you missed the first time around. Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and we hope you continue blessing us by reading the site. Thank you.

Michael Bode Quick Biography

A year ago, I was a daily reader of WFNY and might have posted a few comments. Craig, Andrew, and Scott welcomed me into the fold in 2015, and I am grateful for the opportunity and support they have lended. As a Cleveland fan living away from The Land, WFNY always provided a place to keep tabs on the teams while engaging in friendly debates with like-minded fans. I am humbled by the ability to help keep it moving forward for the community of Cleveland fans across the globe.

Five works that best describe Michael Bode from 2015

Emotional : For Adriana — When I started writing for WFNY, I was not sure about what “voice” I would find or want to share as the site already had many great writers with distinct styles. In fact, I initially scrapped For Adriana as I felt it was too personal and emotional until reading Will Gibson’s excellent Dear Mrs. Hamilton. So, WFNY’s mini-Pos¹ inspired me to tap into my emotional side, which would wind up leading me to most of my favorite works (Echoes and Anthems, Embrace Crying in Baseball, Hail to NFL Scrubs).

Analytical : Bode Plots: The Salazar Paradox — I am most comfortable when categorically breaking down and analyzing a player. As such, the Bode Plot series was so fun to write because I would set aside all emotional context and simply research the information. The initial question was posed (often by readers) and hypothesis asserted, but I would not know the resulting conclusions until the research was completed and analyzed.

Thorough : Baseball is fine, but MLB could use some tweaks : Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 — My mind tends to be of the curious nature and need to discuss every tiny detail in order to arrive at even the simplest conclusions. The thorough nature of this approach is probably best seen when I took the simple idea of taking some steps to improve the viewing quality of MLB and ended up writing over 10,000 words about automated strike zones, pace of play, and international signings.

Mischievous : Bat Flip Heard ‘Round Baseball — I am optimistic and light-hearted enough to attempt to make the journey enjoyable. Whether adamantly siding with the pro-bat-flipping lobby, comparing Indians fans to Gilligan’s Island characters, or using movie quotes to describe a baseball game, I attempt to have some fun. I mean, what good are sports without some fun?

Reader Engagement : Always the away fan — In the end, really, I just appreciate people are willing to read what I write and have fun in the comments. I attempt to be as truthful as I can with what I write and add something worthwhile to the site. As such, having the readers respond and writing based directly based on conversations with everyone is a big part of who I am as a writer.

Merry Christmas and may your New Year be even better than your last one.

1. A nickname I have for Will Gibson due to his proclivity of being able to find the perfect emotional tone on his pieces much like Joe Posnanski. [↩]