Top 10 Sports Blogs/Sites

I've been meaning to do this for some time, but I'm finally getting around to listing and reviewing my 10 favorite sports related sites. Many of them are traditional blogs and a few other are just plain old sports related sites. I tried to pick a mix of different types of sites/blogs, but I tend to enjoy reading statistically oriented sites.

1) Dodger Thoughts Jon Weisman is the creative genius behind Dodger Thoughts. He created it as his "outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers and baseball". Jon is able to combine his proselike writing style with a statistical approach in postulating his thoughts. The hidden (not so much anymore) highlight of the site is the witty, friendly and intelligent community of Dodgers and baseball fans that post almost non-stop at DT (as it is called). A day game chat thread can easily have upwards of 500 to 600 posts. The comment thread from the epic 4+1 2006 game vs the San Diego Padres had quotes that made the bold print of the Sports Illustrated Year in Review edition (yours truly was quoted).

2) FanGraphs FanGraphs is my favorite baseball statistical site. At FanGraphs you can find wide range of statistics and projections for every player current or retired. The specialize in their graphical representation of stats along with the more sabermetric stats that are difficult to find. My favorite feature is the Live Scoreboard, which allows you to view a game in real-time and keep track of things like the leverage index and win probability.

3) Tango Tiger Tango Tiger (Tom Tango) has done some great research in the sabermetric community and has co-written a very good book called The Book, Playing The Percentages In Baseball. There are three different sites I am going to recommend for Tango. First off his is wonderful Message Board, where Tango and others discuss many state of the art sabermetric issues at Baseball Fever. Secondly, is The Book Blog where Tango and MGL (co-author) discuss in great detail more cutting edge baseball statistics. Thirdly, is TangoTiger.Net where Tom stores many of his wonderfully researched work in the sabermetric field.

4) Baseball Think Factory The Baseball Think Factory is where you will find some wonderful articles written by a talented staff of writers often covering the latest transactions in major league baseball. The best part of the site is the pre-season ZIPS Projections that are put out by Dan Szymborski. Each article and list of projections has a comment section that is always worth reading.

5) The Hardball Times The Hardball Times is a site that draws upon some of the best baseball blog writers and offers a series of daily articles which usually draw upon sabermetrically oriented statistics and a historical perspective. The crew over at Hardball Times also puts out a Baseball Annual that is a must read.

6) Vegas Watch If you love sports and you love numbers and you like to dabble in gambling a little bit then you will love Vegas Watch just like I do. Vegas Watch often takes a look at how the Vegas Odds Makers see the sports world we live in, whether it be the odds on the Patriots of going undefeated or college basketball or football poll. You can gaurantee that Vegas Watch will have a couple of very interesting articles to read each week.

7) USS Mariner The USS Mariner is one of the more popular baseball team blogs out there. Blog entries are shared by Dave and DMZ. They have excellent baseball statistical knowledge along the lines of Tango Tiger. I enjoy the way they break down player transactions/trades by taking an indepth look at salaries, service time, wins above replacement etc... It's definitely a viewpoint that you won't get from the mainstream media. One drawback to the site is that the blog owners of USSM can be a little on the snarky side in their comments section. If you don't agree with them or offer a differing opinion or just ask a pertinent question that isn't toeing their line, you will likely get a snarky response, so keep that in mind if you feel like joining one of their discussions in the comment thread.

8) Fantasy Baseball Cafe If you are the least bit serious about Fantasy Baseball, then the Cafe is a must read. At the Cafe you will be able to keep up on the impact that various baseball transactions/injuries may have on the fantasy value of various baseball players. There are forums to ask specific questions, have your team rated, or participate in a pre-season mock draft. If you are looking for a fantasy baseball advantage this is a site you will need to frequent.

9) Baseball Nooz The highlight of Baseball Nooz is it's wonderful Blog Jams, where you are basically bombarded with all of the recent blog entries from some of the best baseball blogs on the internet. It's a great way to see what some of these wonderful bloggers are writing about their favorite teams.

10) Jinaz Reds Justin Jinaz has put together a wonderful Cincinnati Reds blog. Jinaz puts a heavy emphasis on sabermetrics at his site, even offering a wonderful series of articles/primers on sabermetric topics. I am not sure why this site doesn't get more comments, but I know I am a frequent visitor to this site. Keep up the great work!

Special Awards

Best sense of humors
Fire Joe Morgan
Sons of Steve Garvey