Zach Crizer
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zcrizer.bsky.social
Zach Crizer
@zcrizer.bsky.social
Baseball, culture + fandom at The Bandwagon.

Subscribe: Bandwagon.substack.com

More baseball: Opta Analyst, D Magazine & Baseball Prospectus.
Reposted by Zach Crizer
While we’re all feeling reflective, @hannahrkeyser.bsky.social and I picked some of the best work from The Bandwagon that holds up for a nice winter read.
Bandwagoning The Bandwagon
Our best of 2025
open.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 4:40 PM
While we’re all feeling reflective, @hannahrkeyser.bsky.social and I picked some of the best work from The Bandwagon that holds up for a nice winter read.
Bandwagoning The Bandwagon
Our best of 2025
open.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
Find someone to write a newsletter with who makes you feel this un humble.

It was the year of many things—including getting a job that requires me to step back from it—but first it was the year of writing The Bandwagon with
@zcrizer.bsky.social. Some of our faves open.substack.com/pub/bandwago...
December 28, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
This is my favorite thing I wrote all year. My first story in the New York Times. But it was already my favorite before it ever published, for a couple reasons and if you’ll indulge me…

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/s...
How Fast Should Your 12-Year-Old Throw?
www.nytimes.com
December 27, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
Wrote about Pete Alonso leaving the Mets and seeing Cameron Winter play Carnegie Hall.

Yes, those things connect. You're just going to have to read The Bandwagon to find out how. bandwagon.substack.com/p/fans-dont-...
Fans don’t fly in formation
Pete Alonso, Cameron Winter and the limits of fan empathy
bandwagon.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Wrote about Pete Alonso leaving the Mets and seeing Cameron Winter play Carnegie Hall.

Yes, those things connect. You're just going to have to read The Bandwagon to find out how. bandwagon.substack.com/p/fans-dont-...
Fans don’t fly in formation
Pete Alonso, Cameron Winter and the limits of fan empathy
bandwagon.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:42 PM
New from me at @dmagazine.bsky.social: The Rangers have done some savvy shopping.

It's still the surprises at home that will determine whether their 2026 is a gift. www.dmagazine.com/sports/2025/...
The Rangers Are Buying Smart. That Might Not Be Enough.
Texas is making the most out of what it can do with budget constraints. It might not matter without a lot of internal improvement and a splashy addition or two.
www.dmagazine.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
Are the Tigers going to make Tarik Skubal the latest megastar to move a year before free agency?

At @optaanalystus.optajoe.com, I talked myself (and you!) through Detroit's calculus to trade or not to trade. theanalyst.com/articles/tar...
Tarik Skubal Trade Calculus: Factors That Should Inform the Tigers’ Huge Decision | Opta Analyst
The Detroit Tigers are holding an ace, and everyone wants to know what they’re going to do about it. We break down the equation from every angle.
theanalyst.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Are the Tigers going to make Tarik Skubal the latest megastar to move a year before free agency?

At @optaanalystus.optajoe.com, I talked myself (and you!) through Detroit's calculus to trade or not to trade. theanalyst.com/articles/tar...
Tarik Skubal Trade Calculus: Factors That Should Inform the Tigers’ Huge Decision | Opta Analyst
The Detroit Tigers are holding an ace, and everyone wants to know what they’re going to do about it. We break down the equation from every angle.
theanalyst.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
The Tigers are holding an ace, and everyone wants to know what they’re going to do about it.

@zcrizer.bsky.social breaks down the Tarik Skubal trade calculus from all angles as the rumors continue to swirl.

theanalyst.com/articles/tari...
Tarik Skubal Trade Calculus: Factors That Should Inform the Tigers’ Huge Decision | Opta Analyst
The Detroit Tigers are holding an ace, and everyone wants to know what they’re going to do about it. We break down the equation from every angle.
theanalyst.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Have really enjoyed discovering deeper cuts and new indie rock artists via this newsletter this year. Great time to give it a look.
I wrote about more music than ever this year at No Expectations, so I compiled what I think are the 100 Best Albums of 2025. If you don't recognize a lot of the names here, don't worry. That's the point. I hope you find something new to dig. www.noexpectations.fyi/p/the-100-be...
The 100 Best Albums of 2025
…According to some guy in Chicago. Plus, every album and more I recommended in No Expectations this year.
www.noexpectations.fyi
December 13, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
Since every content consumption enterprise has to have a version of Wrapped now, I figured I'd try to make a baseball version that's a little more fun, a little less quantitative.

If you consume baseball, take this quick Bandwagon Wrapped survey. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
The Bandwagon Wrapped Survey
How did you fan in 2025?
docs.google.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
Then, if you haven't already, subscribe to The Bandwagon and watch for results/reflections later this month. bandwagon.substack.com/p/the-bandwa...
December 10, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Since every content consumption enterprise has to have a version of Wrapped now, I figured I'd try to make a baseball version that's a little more fun, a little less quantitative.

If you consume baseball, take this quick Bandwagon Wrapped survey. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
The Bandwagon Wrapped Survey
How did you fan in 2025?
docs.google.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Angels have a type, and that type is “guy everyone was sorely disappointed to find out isn’t any good two years ago.”
10/10, no notes
@JeffPassan tweeted
The Los Angeles Angels are acquiring infielder Vaughn Grissom in a trade with the Boston Red Sox, sources tell ESPN.
December 9, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
The Bandwagon is back today, rolling on as a solo venture. Here’s what to expect going forward. bandwagon.substack.com/p/the-bandwa...
December 9, 2025 at 1:45 PM
The Bandwagon is back today, rolling on as a solo venture. Here’s what to expect going forward. bandwagon.substack.com/p/the-bandwa...
December 9, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I felt like I was taking crazy pills when I tried to find right-handed batters the Rangers could pursue. Not just me!
December 8, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
DAVE DOMBROWSKI, ON THE PHONE OUTSIDE A RESTAURANT: Yeah. Okay. Fine. So is the blood back inside him
December 6, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Whenever you're annoyed with Bluesky, click over to LinkedIn remember things can be much, much dumber.
December 4, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
If you haven’t noticed, the Rangers now play in a Mariners-ish level pitcher’s park.

At @dmagazine.bsky.social today, I think about how their roster renovation might match their home. www.dmagazine.com/sports/2025/...
Room For Improvement: Why the Rangers’ Offseason Must Fit Their Unusual Ballpark
Globe Life Field is a strange place. Texas' next steps should be planned accordingly.
www.dmagazine.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:11 PM
If you haven’t noticed, the Rangers now play in a Mariners-ish level pitcher’s park.

At @dmagazine.bsky.social today, I think about how their roster renovation might match their home. www.dmagazine.com/sports/2025/...
Room For Improvement: Why the Rangers’ Offseason Must Fit Their Unusual Ballpark
Globe Life Field is a strange place. Texas' next steps should be planned accordingly.
www.dmagazine.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
i am done waiting for the official announcement. I wrote up all the reasons the Lane Kiffin saga felt like college football at its worst sports.beehiiv.com/p/lane-kiffi...
I hated the Lane Kiffin saga
Lane Kiffin distracted from a tremendous weekend of ball ... SPEAKING OF WHICH: The ACC-pocalypse is nigh! Ivy League football struck back! And more from the best 48 hours of the year.
sports.beehiiv.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
Second helping of StrongSide! I wrote about Brandon Nimmo, a ball knower’s ballplayer, who will do a lot to help the Rangers whether or not he is slightly diminished

dmagazine.com/sports/2025/11…
November 24, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Reposted by Zach Crizer
Once again, the Rangers are signaling they won't do much spending this offseason. That would be a big mistake.

Here's @zcrizer.bsky.social on why Texas needs to operate like the big market team it is... because its roster isn't equipped to survive anything less:

www.dmagazine.com/sports/2025/...
The Rangers Need to Re-Open Their Purse Strings
Texas won a World Series by acting like the big-market team it is. Its only hope of sniffing another one is getting back to writing checks.
www.dmagazine.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:31 PM