Pizza and Baseball, Thats what Chicago Kids Do!

Greetings, folks! Jake Larsen, here and Welcome to Deep Dish Baseball!

What is Deep Dish Baseball?

Deep Dish Baseball is where fun-loving guys talk about the game that they love, not just the teams they love, and pick the minds of baseball's finest. Blogs nowadays are used by national baseball writers, beat writers of baseball teams, some baseball executives and even players. I've seen a blog go from a basic unknown entity, with only the diehard fans knowing about them, to the level that Front Office people have granted bloggers access that rivals that of the beat writers. It's amazing how much respect that bloggers are starting to get and how well-recognized some bloggers have become.We hope that someday we garner that respect and recognition.

Who are we?

I, That is me, am Jake Larsen. To be honest, I've become the baseball fan that I am today AFTER I graduated from High School. I grew up in a house divided, with my mom being a Cubs fan and my day being a White Sox fan. So naturally, I became a fan of neither. I was a fan of the Oakland A's "Big 3", Carlos Pena, Eric Hinske and other players before I became a Rays fan. To say that it all started with a fan-boy like admiration of Rocco Baldelli would be an understatement, but being a fan of Rocco Baldelli had its positives. With that, I learned about the entire team quicker because of the freak injuries and disorder that he's gone through. I've been a blogger since 2003, writing on my own and writing for blog networks. With that said, I owe thanks to Sam Killay who gave me my first break for the now defunct "Rays Talk" of MVN and David Bloom/Jim Wisinski/RJ Anderson(who I especially thank for being the engine that turned DRays Bay into what it is today) who I've wrote for/with at DRays Bay. Hats off to you guys!

Along with me at Deep Dish Baseball is Greg Zeck("The" Greg Zeck, which makes me chuckle being a student of U of I and not "The Ohio State"), who I've always found it easy to talk baseball with whenever I've encountered him.This is the second blog for Greg, The Zeck Zone, but he's no stranger to writing. He's won awards from his High School days as a writer/editor, so his commitment and dedication as a writer is at level that many current sportswriters had during their early days. We could have the next Peter Gammons, Jay Marriotti, etc on our hands. Greg is a Cubs fan at heart, so the word dedication is one that he knows all too well. He is very open-minded and doesn't show much biasness, if any, in his thoughts.

As the days go by, more and more people may join and changes will be made, but Welcome to Deep Dish Baseball and hope you enjoy and stay for awhile.

Thank you
-Jake