Here at Fire Brand, we’re kicking off our 10th season by bringing in some new writers into the fold. All in all, we’ve added seven to the writing staff. This means that you will have an article each day, every day moving forward, and some days you will be lucky enough to get two! We’re very excited about the additions, and you will start seeing their work soon. So soon in fact, that the first one will be up later today. In alphabetical order, let’s learn about the new writers (and you’ll see that quite a few are J.D. Drew defenders):
Timothy Brooks: Thinks Pedro deserved the MVP and that Justin Verlander did not, that Dwight Evans was better than Jim Rice, that Marty Barrett was a worthy choice as favorite Red Sox player when I was a child, that J.D. Drew was very good for the Olde Towne Team, that Fenway Sports group owning Liverpool is not a proper reason to support that loathsome soccer club, that Peter Gammons needs a key lock on his cell phone, still thinks that Nomar Garciaparra is better than Derek Jeter, and that, finally, there is no such thing as being completely bias-free. When not writing about or watching the Red Sox, I moonlight as a father, a husband, a pastor, a doctoral candidate, an infielder and #2 hitter on the church softball team, soccer fan, Disney pass holder, snark manufacturer, and pizza connoisseur. Free-time free since 2001.
Ben Carsley: Ben is a recent graduate of Boston University with a degree in journalism and a love of all things Red Sox and minor league baseball. He has experience writing for NESN, RotoExperts, BU Today and other sites, and typically serves as an in-house MiLB writer. An editor for a business website by day, Ben likes to grill, sample IPAs and re-read Faulkner novels by night. He is an unabashed J.D. Drew apologist with a deep-seated fear of middle relievers.
Josh Cookson: I’ve been a Red Sox fan since before birth, as my mom was watching the ’75 World Series while pregnant with me. 1986 was a major life trauma, but I have always been a fan who believed that “next year” was the year. That faith was finally rewarded in 2004, and again in 2007, coincidentally the last 2 years that I have seen games in Fenway Park. I now follow the Sox from Texas, and love that I will see them in person in Houston this season.
Jack Keller: A native Mainer and life-long Red Sox fan living among way too many Yankees fans in New York. I spent most of my childhood convinced that Spike Owen was going to be awesome, sooner or later. The last time I punched a wall was October 16, 2003. My bucket list included personally thanking a Red Sox player for 2004, something I was finally able to check off when I met Trot Nixon.
Dan Poarch: I’m currently an undergraduate Multimedia Journalism major at Virginia Tech and I watch far too much baseball, basketball and football for my own good. I’m a fan of the Red Sox, Celtics, and (regrettably) the Dallas Cowboys. Jose Canseco’s Twitter page provides 90% of my daily entertainment. I’m terrible at writing biographies.
Dan Podheiser: As the resident non-Red Sox fan of this blog — my allegiance lies 300 miles South in Philadelphia — I aim to provide completely objective analysis without letting my heart or any of my other organs get in the way. Yes, I’m the guy who will tell you that J.D. Drew was one of the best outfielders the Sox have had in the past 30 years. Deal with it.
Joe Reilly: I’m a 2011 college graduate from Sewanee: The University of the South where I played Division III baseball for four years. I have lived in Atlanta, Georgia for my entire life, but, thankfully, was raised a Sox, Pats, and Celtics fan. As my friends and family can attest, I have obsessed over sports for the duration of my life so I am justifiably excited to write about my favorite team. The highlight of my childhood was when John Smoltz delivered a Pizza Hut pizza to my house when I was 10.
Of course, you will continue to see the writings of Evan Brunell, Hunter Golden, Brett Cowett and Scott Candage on these pages — we haven’t gone away just yet!