Some notes from around the Mirror newsroom to keep you abreast of what we're doing and what we're trying to do:
After publishing virtually all of the Major League Baseball box scores for as long as any of us can remember, we've tweaked our approach in order to provide a full baseball page each day.
It's been in effect since the start of baseball season.
The page (generally B3 daily, C5 Sunday) is being anchored by news and features involving the Altoona Curve and the Pittsburgh Pirates. In order to achieve that, we could not continue to run all the MLB boxes as we have for many years on our Scoreboard page.
While we anticipated at least mild concern, there's been almost no reaction. That is a positive because we know when we change something that some people don't like (read: Select TV) it's typically met with the following voice mail.
"I've been subscribing to the Mirror for 50 years ..."
We obviously appreciate such long-standing readership and willing feedback.
The reason for the new page is about eight-fold, but I'll condense it: We wanted to package the baseball on one page and be able to expand our daily standings.
We remain committed to running the six or so boxes - one day we even got in seven - of teams we perceive to be of the highest interest to our readers.
That would be in close to this order: the Pirates, the Phillies, the Yankees and other National League teams. There's wiggle room if somebody from the Texas Rangers pitches a no-hitter plus we're able to run linescores as well.
Part of this was necessitated by the recent size cutdown of the paper, which also allowed us the opportunity to re-evaluate some changes to better serve the readers.
But equally if not more important is maximizing our space by filling it with things you care about most. That's why we're focusing on a hyper-local approach that allows the volumes of scholastic and recreational sports to spill onto another page formerly clogged with all the box scores, including the Twins and Mariners, which few here ever read.
We recognize that the majority of people in fantasy baseball leagues likely rely on the Internet to quench their immediate thirst for an entire MLB package.
We also recognize that we're the only outlet giving you the Altoona-Bishop Guilfoyle tennis results.
That's the tradeoff.
We hope you understand.
Notable ...
n While leaving out some MLB boxes doesn't draw much reaction, messing up the crossword puzzle surely does. We inadvertantly repeated Friday's crossword puzzle a Saturday or two ago, and by the number of calls, you'd have thought the puzzle should be on Page A1. At least that's Ed Kruger's take.
n To those apparently confused by when you can comment on altoonamirror.com stories: If the story involves private individuals, the comment option is turned off.
n I'm still waiting for a personal invitation to the Gallitzin Moose.
Mirror Managing Editor Neil Rudel can be reached at 946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com.
