You’re 14 years old, Gaslamp Ball!

It stands to reason that in the grand pantheon of “stuff on the Internet” that hitting 14 years of existence is truly remarkable. Given our ever-shrinking attention spans and irascible need for the latest and greatest ways to interact with each other, the idea that Gaslamp Ball is turning 14 today says something special about the people in it and the people who stop by for their daily dose of Padres misery baseball.

I wish I had a better memory of when I started making Gaslamp a daily stop on my tour of the ‘net. A discovery here, a comment or two there (I had underscores between the words in my name at the time...so mid-2000s, amiright?) and suddenly I was emboldened enough to try out fanposting about the most random thing you could ever imagine collecting: baseball hats. I didn’t know what to expect. Would anyone really care about reading about Padres hats? Why would someone go out of their way to collect...hats?

What I certainly didn’t intend to discover was a community that not only embraced the idea of someone talking purely about baseball hats, but the fact that they wanted more. As my collecting and wordsmithery grew I happily obliged in writing more and more about Padres hats and their many forms, truly happy to have found others who enjoy reading about hats and (by proxy) the Padres. Taking another leap into writing about baseball (a game I am still learning and did not start watching consistently until 2012) only felt natural thanks to the support of the fine folks running this site and the many commenters who pop in and interact.

Though many claim that the blogoverse is beginning to die I believe that couldn’t be further from the truth. As long as there’s Padres baseball and hats, I’ll always have a reason to hammer out something: a half-baked take, a game preview where I learn something new about the opposing team, the latest hats and uniforms our Padres wear (Gaslamp brought back the brown years ago, dontyaknow), or my best article on the Padres that many writers around me here at Gaslamp are so much better at conveying through the written word. Seriously, go read a TheThinGwynn article or a Roydjt piece. Hang out during the season and see Darklighter and daveysapien pull workhorse on daily game recaps and Jodes handle game previews alongside myself. It’s truly a privilege to even be on staff with these guys or that they allowed me years ago to have a forum for my particular form of Padres fanhood.

Thank you, Gaslamp Ball. Thanks for giving this kid from the Imperial Valley a place to grow as a writer, a hat collector, and as a person. A big thank you to Jodes, Joe, Roy, Richard, Davey, jbox, Dex, Wonko for both making the site happen and for being great to work alongside. I’d be remiss if I didn’t also say thank you to all the readers! It’s an honor to write and have you read my generalized nonsense.

Happy anniversary, Gaslamp Ball. One day we’ll get that trophy to write about. And it’s gonna be sweet, y’all. Just think of the World Series Champs hats...