Community Info

deathbytamarind

flashfire

tbone

fleurdelista

yankees133

Using the <lj-cut> tag:

It's unreasonable to expect everything more than a couple paragraphs to be put behind a cut tag. However, if you write more than a few paragraphs, or post more than a couple of small photos or a few thumbnails linking to larger images, please use <lj-cut>. Anything large enough to stretch a page, full articles, large images, etc. should be cut. Please be respectful of other community members and use the cut tag in these cases. Everyone has a different opinion, but when in doubt it's better to cut. If you don't like it, feel free not to use it in your own journal. If we think an entry should be cut, the poster will be asked to edit the post. If the request is refused, the post may be deleted. If you don't know how to use this, go here.

News Posts & Links:

We like to promote discussion and interaction in the community, but at the same time we don't want to see it serve as a place to just paste in a link with nothing else said. The community is not a syndicated feed to other sites and people can check ESPN.com, etc. any time they want. With that in mind, we will delete any entry that only links to news on another site without at least a brief summary or comment on it (example: Subject "McGwire Talks!" with just the website URL in the body of the post). Be aware a one-line "headline" summary is not enough.

Of course we want sources to be cited when a story is referred to, but we ask that you also give a thought or two of your own about it. You have a reason for posting it, so let everyone know why! We know that news is news and sometimes an opinion or reaction may be short, but we want to promote more discussion of the news instead of people just posting a link to wait for others to respond. Whatever your thoughts are, just add them in. That's part of the point of being here. It only takes a few moments and it gives others something else to respond to instead of expecting them to click on the link and then come back to comment. At the same time, we ask you not simply drop in a link and say something brief without making it clear what the story is about.

Spamming:

Blatant off-topic spamming will not be tolerated. Usually, the post will be deleted, marked as spam for LJ Abuse, and the poster will be banned. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis if the poster links to something with good intentions (such as a charity). In these cases, a warning may be given if it's determined to be inappropriate. However, baseball-related links and invitations to other baseball communities on LJ are welcome (except for "claim a player" communities – see below). We believe more awareness of other baseball communities and sites is good for discussion and the game as a whole. Selling tickets or baseball-related items, etc. is not allowed. There are other communities that ought to be used if you want to sell something, or your personal journal. However, if you do come across something you think is really neat, rare or notable for some reason and you want to post it, just e-mail us first. We'll let you know if it's okay to post or not.

Debates, arguments, trolls, insults, personal attacks and complaining about posts:

We want the community to be open to discussion and debate. Sometimes arguments might follow, but unless it starts getting too personal or insults are being tossed around, people can stand up for themselves. We are not the FCC. If you want to dish it out and be opinionated, you should be prepared to take some in return. But, if you want to rip something, rip the point, not the poster. We draw the line at blatant harassment, excessive name calling, inappropriate personal attacks, trolling and so on, with banning possible. All five maintainers must be in agreement in order to ban. If you feel someone is harassing you or you catch something we might have missed, please e-mail us and we will look into it ASAP. One thing to note: if you act like an idiot, don't whine if you get smacked by someone. We're not here for you to run and hide behind. Finally, if you think a post doesn't belong here, e-mail us and ask. It's not your job to tell a community member what's okay here and what isn't. It's ours.

Fantasy baseball, video games, etc.:

While these subjects are related to baseball, some courtesy should be shown when posting about them as not everyone may be interested. Anything larger than a small paragraph (about 5 lines) should be placed behind a cut tag after the first paragraph. Fantasy rosters should be put behind a cut tag entirely. Some other communities that have a focus on the fantasy side include fantasy_sports, fantasybaseball and fantasysports.

On "He's so hot!" posts, comments, "claim a player" communities and fake player journals:

hot_sports_men and similar communities are safe havens for fans of "hot" baseball players to interact with other like-minded fans. We have nothing against stuff like that, but we don't feel it belongs in baseball. No posts advertising "claim a player" communities are allowed. The first time will result in a warning and deletion of the post and any posts after that will result in a ban. Fake player journals can be fun and amusing in an online role-playing community. Here, they serve no useful purpose and are not allowed.

Informative posts:

As this community consists of fans of many different teams and leagues around the world, vague posts with little to no information (such as "What a game!" or "Did you see that?") are usually met with confused reactions and general annoyance as not everyone watches SportsCenter on a daily basis or reads every game recap. With few exceptions, such as nationally televised games or major, breaking news, we expect you to give a few specifics about why what you're posting about is so meaningful. If you want to share your thoughts about a game or talk about something in particular, please do. Just include a brief explanation with it. Usually a line or two is enough and it doesn't take long. If you can't, perhaps a team-specific community or your own journal is more appropriate. Reminders will be given if a vague post is made and posts may be deleted if repeated requests are ignored.

Posts with comments disabled:

Posting with comments disabled goes against the purpose of a community. If we come here to discuss baseball topics, no post should go up without giving people the chance to comment on it. If you don't want the comments, you can turn off e-mail notifications in the post and others can still talk about the content. Posts without comments allowed will be deleted. If you can be reached by e-mail, we will send a copy of the post to you in case you wish to repost it with comments turned on, assuming it doesn't break any other rules of the community such as spam, flames, attacks, etc. The only exception to this rule may be the occasional maintainer post where an announcement is being made, though we're reluctant to even do that ourselves.

Politics:

This especially comes up when there's a topic that involves the government in some way (anti-trust or steroids, for example). Inevitably, someone always has to turn things political, whether it's insulting a politician or a political party. We will be very clear on this: politics have no place in this community whatsoever. As long as it relates to baseball, it's fair game. The moment someone takes it in another direction, we'll say something. If you want to talk politics that much, take it somewhere else. politics, liberal and conservatism are just a few of the many political communities on LiveJournal. If you don't want to bother with those places, we understand. Just don't bring it here.