Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT IS THE OUTSIDER BASEBALL BULLETIN?

The Outsider Baseball Bulletin (OBB) is a weekly e-zine devoted to the game’s rich and (sometimes) peculiar history. Delivered via email, it combines cutting-edge research, humor, interviews, book reviews and analysis, presented in an uncensored format. The OBB focuses on the hidden, overlooked and unknown corners of baseball history. For more details, visit the ABOUT US section.

WHAT IS A BASEBALL “OUTSIDER”?

Great question.

Loosely defined, we consider an outsider to be anybody who played professionally outside the jurisdiction of organized baseball. This includes the Negro, Cuban, Mexican and Japanese teams; as well as the all-white outlaw minor leagues and top semi-professional outfits from before 1960. But while we’re at it, we need to include well-known legends such as Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson and Hank Aaron, too.

Everybody who made it to the top was an outsider at one point or another, whether it was Babe Ruth playing semi-professional baseball in Baltimore as a teenager, or Hank Aaron making a name for himself with the Indianapolis Clowns during the waning days of the Negro Leagues. Even during their careers, established stars such as Bob Feller and Dizzy Dean dabbled in “outsider” ball with their post-season barnstorming tours.

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WHAT IS THE DISTRIBUTION SCHEDULE AND FORMAT OF THE OBB?

The Outsider Baseball Bulletin is published weekly, and distributed via email (as an attachment) each Tuesday or Wednesday. As a grass-roots effort, we want to stick to a schedule subscribers can count on, but allow ourselves the luxury of a 48-hour window at the beginning, in order to do the best job possible.

The e-zine is produced in a PDF format, which is a common fixed format which is easily read across the various operating systems. Most computers already have a PDF reader installed on the system, and if not, there are many free PDF readers available online.

The PDF format makes it easy to save each weekly edition, read it off-line, or print it as a hard copy. It you want to save hard copies for future reference, simply hole punch it and store in a three-ring binder.

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. Adobe’s free PDF readers are the most widely used and can be downloaded at the following site for all the major operating systems (Mac, Windows, Linux)

You can click HERE to access Adobe’s download page for their free PDF readers.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST AND WHAT FORMS OF PAYMENT ARE ACCEPTED?

Scott prefers brown paper bags, stuffed with unmarked twenties, fifties and hundreds, but because this might raise eyebrows at the Federal Level... Gary has instituted a more conservative rate structure and payment procedure.

The Outsider Baseball Bulletin costs $22 per year (52 issues), or $40 for two years (104 issues).

Credit Card payments are accepted online via PayPal. If you are a PayPal user, you can send payment from funds in a PayPal account or linked bank account. If you prefer to pay by check or money order, there is a mail-in form available here.

WHAT ARE THE COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS?

The Outsider Baseball Bulletin, distributed as an attachment via email, has copyright protection. You can find all the details in the U.S. Copyright Law {Title 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq., Title 18 U.S.C. Section 2319}

In the beginning, we want to make distribution of the OBB as convenient as possible. Most people are honest, but there will be those tempted to forward unauthorized copies to friends or family who have a common interest in baseball history.

In the future, when subscriptions increase, we could foresee an email/ link/ password/ user name combination at some point in time. But at the beginning here, we really need you to be a trusted baseball friend.

WHAT IS YOUR PRIVACY POLICY?

Because you are a trusted baseball friend, we DO NOT provide your email address or contact information to anyone at any time.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

Oh, that’s pretty easy: It’s baseball. Baseball is the meaning of life. If you want more details, subscribe to the Outsider Baseball Bulletin.

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