Peter Abraham is leaving the Journal News for the Boston Globe. Everyone already knows; no reason to pussyfoot around it. After nearly three years of dedicated service on the LoHud Yankees Blog, Pete’s headed to a gig at a much bigger paper. It’s an excellent opportunity, and it couldn’t go to anyone more deserving. While I’ll miss Pete covering the Yanks and providing multiple daily updates on the blog, I wish him only the best of luck as he transitions to the rival beat.
Mike and I met Pete at the Winter Meetings last year. We introduced ourselves, expecting we’d have a quick exchange and then be on our way. But Pete chatted with us for a while, talking Yanks, newspapers, coverage, and anything else that might have come up. We were first timers and didn’t want to look out of place. Pete helped us with any procedural questions we had. He didn’t have to do any of that. But not only did he, but it seemed to please him. He also seems happy to answer all of my annoying emails asking for information. There are so many people who wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t go out of their way to help just some blog, but Pete always did. And I’ll always appreciate that.
People have varying opinions of the man, but there are two things no one can deny. First, Pete is a good reporter who gathers and disseminates information in a timely and professional manner. Second, he gets it. He proposed the idea of the blog to his bosses at a time when blog was still a dirty word. He slogged through it when only die-hards were reading. I remember someone pointing me there during those Winter Meetings, and I wondered why the hell everyone wasn’t doing that. Since then, the industry has wised up and learned that a blog is a good medium for journalism. Pete was ahead of his time.
It’s always hard to lose someone like Pete, who has been with us for so long. All the beat writers have blogs now, but none of them are quite Pete’s. Someone will eventually fill the void he’ll leave in two weeks, but it still won’t be quite the same. I hope that some of the people who don’t think of Pete as highly as I do can at least appreciate his contribution to journalism.
Take care in Boston, Pete, and good luck.
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