Update: Tonight's line: Minnesota -168, Chicago +153.

A while back, I celebrated the one year anniversay of this website. Most of what I did the first month or so was unread. Just about the only person that knew about this site was my Dad.

A year ago, I put a counter on my page. You will see it on the left hand column. I have professed that Billions of people read this site. Friends, I have to come clean. That's not really true (although how can I be sure? Perhaps it is printed out and distributed by hand to hundreds of millions of people who don't have computers).

Here's how my readership looked the first few days.

Aug 23, 2004: 0
Aug 24, 2004: 0
Aug 25, 2004: 3 (An infinite increase!!!)
Aug 26, 2004: 2 (Big Drop Off!!!)
Aug 27, 2004: 3 (Plateau)
Aug 28, 2004: 1 (Weekends are always a little lower)
Aug 29, 2004: 3
Aug 30, 2004: 3
Aug 31, 2004: 4
Sep 1, 2004: 7
Sep 2, 2004: 7
Sep 3, 2004: 44

I was absolutely ecstatic on Sep 3! Forty-four people had dropped by to check out my site! The reason? I had asked Seth Stohs for a link and he obliged. Here's what Seth had to say about this site on that fateful day.

Stick and Ball Guy - An excellent site with a good balance between statistics and opinion. OK, lots of numbers, but it is a well put together site!

Seth's plug was good for me for two reasons. One, he introduced my site to a lot of people who hadn't know that I existed. Two, he provided a plug with a little evaluation of my site. I started out with the idea that I would really do a lot of number crunching. Seth gently suggested that I should back off on the numbers a little. I appreciated that advice. I've tried to give others advice, sometimes via e-mail, and sometimes famously (or infamously) right here on the front page.

Aaron Gleeman, the guy who really inspired me to start (although it took me almost two years to actually start, more on him later) refers to people who have been friendly to him as a "friend of AG.COM". Seth was the first friend of SBG, The Mag (back when it was a humble blog and looked nothing like it does now). When Seth gives me a prominent plug, my readership spikes up, and it's a lot more than that first 44 that come now. A plug there is like a stamp of approval and people come. I've corresponded with Seth more than any other blogger. I got the chance to meet him last weekend. Thank you, Seth for supporting this site. It's meant a lot to me.

I also asked Aaron Gleeman for a link. I'd had contact with Aaron via e-mail many times when he had a blog and I didn't. I absolutely love his site. I cannot believe how good it is. On Sep 10, 2004, Aaron linked to me. Here's what he wrote:

There's a new Twins blog started by a long-time reader and frequent e-mailer of this blog and it's really good. Go head over to the Stick and Ball Guy and tell him I said hello. Also, notice how it is yet another blog that is far more aesthetically pleasing than this one.

Friends, Aaron's got some drawing power. I had 309 visitors that day, which was my record total for a long time. Between Aaron and Seth, I was on my way. These two are the only people that I ever sent an e-mail to and said, hey, I've got a new site, will you link to me? Both of them have been extremely generous to SBG, The Mag. I've had the opportunity to meet Aaron in person a handful of times. He's a very nice guy and someone I'm happy to call a friend of SBG, The Mag. Thanks, Aaron.

A week later, the Twins Geek linked to me. Another big day. The Geek's new site, Twins Territory has really brought a lot of good writing together. Somehow I stumbled onto his site over three years ago. He introduced me to Aaron's site. The Geek's writing is great. He's not afraid to take positions and argue about the game. Thanks, Geek, for your unsolicited help. I appreciate that.

Boy, it got tough after that. I had established an audience and the Star Tribune's feature on blogs during the 2004 playoffs boosted readership, but after the playoffs ended, things started to slide. From October 9, 2004 to January 24, 2005, I had one day with more than 100 readers. Friends, this is when you determine whether you are going to be a blogger or not. You may wonder why I'm talking about these numbers. Well, bloggers spend a lot of time writing and thinking and obsessing about their sites. I don't have to have a huge readership, but when no one is reading it gets tough.

I sat down and thought about what I wanted from this site and what pleased me about writing it. The best thing, I determined, was that blogging has enabled me to develop camraderie with a number of like minded individuals. So, I thought, hey, those are the people that I am going to write this thing for -- other bloggers. So, I started my Pepper! column as an opportunity to interact with other bloggers. That was a lot of fun and I promise to bring that back when you least expect it. I read other people's sites, linked to them on mine and commented frequently.

The idea of writing to, about and for other bloggers has really made this site enjoyable for me. There's no doubt that many of my columns have been directed directly at other bloggers. Clearly, I've written several columns right to Frightwig, and he's done the same. I got a chance to meet FW and he's a very nice guy. Oh, and I love his page -- he's smart, funny, takes great pictures and his cat blogging is very good -- and he provides a lot of traffic over my way. Thank you Frightwig for making my experience more enjoyable. You are a friend of SBG, The Mag.

Incidentally, I read a column over at AMR's the other day. He wrote this:

I haven't died or anything. I've had a bad virus attack at work, a long game, and a nite out with friends (structured around watching the second half of last night's game). Maybe I have some thoughts other than "winning is good" and "So is not losing 18 straight."

I laughed out loud! Why? Because I had posted two columns the night before that essentially said "winning is good" and "so is not losing 18 straight." Believe me, I enjoyed that little dig. I'd been in a little bit of a slump, not knowing what to write. I pumped those two out and thought, hey, I'm coming out of it. Um, no. Back to the drawing board. I thought, hey, that's something I would have wrote. I've been known to take a jab or two or three at my fellow bloggers. Some of them take the ribbing better than others. That's an understatement, folks. Now, AMR is debating whether blue is black. Whether or not blue is black, I still hate the Yanks, AMR. Welcome back to the world of bloggers -- and thank you for your kind words over on your site.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention a post I saw last year during the playoffs against the Yanks. I was trying to make a cold hearted prediction about the next night's game. I was thinking the Yanks would win Game 3 and then I wrote this:

You know what? I am not writing for a newspaper and I never will be. I don't have to be objective. Who really cares if I'm right or wrong? When it comes to the Twins, I am first and foremost a supporter. I love this team. I love that they make between a quarter and a third of the Yankees salaries but are still competitive. I like that they play hard. I like that Torii Hunter has seemingly taken over the leadership of this team after What's His Face got traded away. I'll pull my hair out, I swear, if Lew Ford isn't in the lineup on Friday night, but what the heck, I'm here to pull for these guys. So forget that earlier prediction. The Twins are gonna rough up Brown and Silva's gonna give 'em enough. Twins win game 3. Good. I feel better.

Look at that quote. I'm praising Hunter's leadership. By the way, what's his face was Doug Mientkiewicz. What I like about that quote was this, written over at the Greet Machine:

Stick and Ball Guy has a good post today that you'll want to check out, but one part of his post in particular struck a chord with me. After he picked the Yankees to win game 3 he said:

You know what? I am not writing for a newspaper and I never will be. I don't have to be objective. Who really cares if I'm right or wrong? When it comes to the Twins, I am first and foremost a supporter...So forget that earlier prediction. The Twins are gonna rough up Brown and Silva's gonna give 'em enough. Twins win game 3. Good. I feel better.

Amen brother. What is the point of picking the Yankees to win? First of all the Yankees won't win, and secondly, there are many good reasons why they won't win and why the Twins will win the whole series for that matter.

Before I saw readers coming to my site from that link, I didn't know that the Greet Machine existed. But, I started reading his site from that day forward. Shane's knowledge of the stadium situation is unparalled. He's a thoughtful guy and his post on Monday was fantastic -- one of the best ever. I've had a chance to meet Shane, his misguided neighbor, Cheesehead Craig, and Cheer or Die, who is also linked to Shane because Shane does some work for his site. All of these guys are great people, and I am happy to have met these guys. Thanks guys for all your support and let me say that I'm looking forward to more interaction in the future. (I'm available for a podcast, COD, when you are desperate for guests.)

And of course, the Twins Junkie. His site is pretty good. And it's much better when you realize that he's just a teenager. Thanks for your kind words, TJ, and keep up the good work.

All of these people have made my experience as a blogger more fulfilling. Seth, Aaron, Geek, Shane, Craig, COD, AMR, Frightwig, TJ -- thank you. Friends of SBG, the Mag, all. There are others as well. The 7th Angel has been a regular reader, commenter and e-mailer. He's also been complimentary of my site. Thanks, Andrew. BJHess has been a regular reader and he's got a pretty good site, himself. Thanks to everyone who has entered my contests. Thanks also to BEM, who has been very kind to me, especially in the wake of the big BG controversy. Thanks to Will Young, who linked to me at Baseball Think Factory. Thanks to Dave Studeman at Hardball Times, who has twice linked to me. Thanks to John Perricone at Only Baseball Matters, who linked to me and posted a complimentary article about my writing.

Thank you to Miller Man, a longtime friend who reads the site religiously. It was good to see you this summer. Lucy was glad to meet you. Thanks to Beaner who reads the site, but never comments. Thanks to everyone who reads the site regularly -- RED, GEB, TEB, et al. I appreciate all of you. Thanks to Moss and Drew, who give me ideas. Moss, your comments have made it a lot of fun for me.

And now, some words about my site. Sometimes, I write posts like my criticism of Jim Souhan or my relentless dogging of the 'Tool and think, man, I'm going to drive readers away with that kind of stuff. I don't mean to be so negative all the time. But, I am passionate about certain things. I can't help it. That's why I'm writing. Because I'm passionate. I love the Twins and I love the Timberwolves. But, I also get disappointed and pissed at these teams. Feel free to disagree with me. Express your disagreement in e-mail or comments. But, come on back. I appreciate your readership.

Finally, some comments about my readership totals. In a year, I've had about 41,000 visits. I'm amazed that I've had that many readers. In a sense, I don't care about how many readers I have. I am not living or dying on how many people stop by. In another sense, I do care. I want to have readership. I have gained a lot from my readers, and I hope that in the next year, you enjoy my site enough to keep coming back.