"Now warming, in the left field bullpen..."

Greetings fellow COSFBA'ers (try saying THAT three times fast)!

My name is Jeff Coleman, and I'm happy to be joining you all as a contributing writer in the blogosphere. And while I'm new to the realm here, I'm hoping to provide a fresh outlook and take on things that I hope y'all find informative, entertaining, and maybe a little dazzling, at points.

But first...a little about me:

• 34 years old, currently living in Crothersville, Indiana
• Was born and raised around the outskirts of Cleveland, Ohio (so yes, I bleed Wahoo Red And Blue)
• Spent six years as Air Force Active Duty and am entering Year 3 of Reserves duty, stationed at Travis Air Force Base, California as an aircraft mechanic (so I have a bit of a "soft spot" towards the World Champs, as well)
• A fan of the sport for the sport's sake, not for the names on the front OR back of the jerseys (but yes, I have my favorites, as I mentioned... doesn't everyone?)

I'm sure that's all well and good, but I'm sure y'all want to hear about the upcoming article series, and a bit of my experience with the Grand Ol' Game.

Well...you've got your wish!

I've been following baseball since the mid-80's. Brought up with the Tribe (of course), but found myself liking a lot of the (at that time) underdog-ish teams: the Toronto Blue Jays, the Minnesota Twins, and the Atlanta Braves. So it was immediately apparent that I wasn't just a hometown follower. I like baseball for baseball. Stats appealed to me. I was a weird little kid and liked math.

Go figure.

I didn't get into fantasy baseball until the 2000's but by the time I found that little haven, I was deep into living my life (and giving it away to the military). So I never had the time I wanted to fully partake. I did some Yahoo! H2H public leagues. I think I dabbled in ESPN or CBS Sports, one of those two. But I at least tried to follow the games, the stats. I started looking into this whole "sabermetrics" thing because Billy Beane was a HUGE topic of conversation in Northern California. I spent a lot of the time I could putting together my own 'fantasy' teams in MVP Baseball (and now the MLB 2k series) for my computer and video game system, with mixed results. But it kept me thinking and entertained.

And I hope to do the same with this article series for you fine folks.

The series, called "Warming In The 'Pen", will be focused on closers and other late-inning relief. The guys you look to for saves, holds, late-inning Ks and heroics, and the other funness that tends to fall to the depths of the bullpen staff. Who's hot, who's playing for a shot, who's utterly abysmal and should be avoided at all costs. And the "who's likely to give you a heart attack every night, but is still worth the price of acquiring" (*coughcough*ChrisPerez*coughcough*).

The series will start next week with AL closers being featured on Tuesdays and their NL counterparts appearing on Thursdays. I'm hoping to take in-depth statistical analysis, distill it down to reading even the most casual fantasy fan can get something out of, and present it from a "Joe Every-Fan" perspective, complete with opinions I'm sure some of you will go "Huh???" over.

So that's what you get to look forward to! I hope we'll all get a little something out of it, and have fun doing it!

See everyone next week!

Jeff Coleman
@JCPronkFan48