Wednesday marked my final day at SI.com after nearly ten years covering baseball for the site. My dismissal was part of a larger wave of layoffs and was, I am told, purely a financial decision made above the level of my baseball editors, who fought, unsuccessfully, to keep me. I am obviously disappointed by this development, but I leave SI on good terms and with an appreciation for the opportunity I was given there over the last decade. With that in mind, and because I couldn’t fit them all into a tweet, I wanted to thank the current and former SI staffers who made my success at the site possible, as well as my good friend Alex Belth for helping to open the door in the first place. Among those I wanted to mention by name are Jacob Luft for giving me my initial opportunities at the site. Paul Fichtenbaum and Larry Burke for being early supporters higher up the chain of command. Gennaro Filice for being the first baseball editor to use me regularly throughout the regular season outside of the Fungoes blog. Stephen Cannella and Emma Span for giving me opportunities to contribute to the magazine. Mike Harris and the many night and weekend editors and producers, whom I don’t dare try to name here for fear of leaving someone out. Jon Tayler, a rising star who emerged from that group to become a daily collaborator as the primary MLB producer. Jay Jaffe, an old friend with whom it was a pleasure to collaborate on the site over the last five years. Most of all, thanks to Ted Keith, who was my editor for eight of the last nine seasons, my most vocal advocate at the company, and was always extremely understanding and supportive of the need to put health and family ahead of work.
I wish Ted, Jon and Jay the best as they attempt to move forward with the site despite my departure and Jay’s need to attend to Emma and their newborn baby. As for me, I don’t expect to be inactive for long. Keep an eye on my twitter feed, as well as here, to find out where you can read me next, and thanks to all of those who have read me in the past and will continue to seek out my work in the future.
CliffCorcoran.com 