The purpose of this site is to inform and entertain on the subject of major league baseball in North Carolina. There is no major league baseball in NC, you say! Correct. However, our method will be to make two important assumptions. First, that MLB does come to North Carolina in the next few years. This can happen in two ways- through expansion or through some franchise (Tampa Bay Rays for example) moving. The second assumption is that the team will be in Raleigh. I’m not going to spend too much time defending these assumptions. Others are doing a good job making these cases (mlb919 link). I suggest that even if you think these assumptions are faulty, there is still some fun to be had with the topics at hand.
My name is Chris Cronin. I live in Raleigh. My background as the primary author of this page is in writing non-fiction- more specifically, social science. I write mostly about politics and religion in my ‘day job,’ and I’m not looking to replicate that kind of formality with this writing. Casual and professional with a smidge of silliness. That’s the style and tone I’m aiming for. As to length, this site will feature short posts and long posts as needed.
No Artificial Intelligence will be used for any of the writing on this site. That is to say, no rough drafts or outlines or final drafts. We’ll allow ourselves such tools for initial research, but all the writing here will be human born (flaws and all).
Why “Longleaf Baseball?” First of all, I just like the sound of it. Another reason- it is regional and general enough not to preclude adapting to whatever specific team emerges. The North Carolina state emblem features a longleaf pine, though the state tree is simply “pine.” Further down this tangent, NC has a few different species of native pine: Longleaf, Loblolly, Eastern White, Pitch, Pond, Table Mountain, Virginia, and…. Shortleaf!
