The pennants are here, and other Sox Machine business
Three site updates to close out my work week (which is already a lie, because I also work weekends)…
No. 1: The pennants are here!
Because we think White Sox fans deserve for enduring seven consecutive losing seasons, here’s a pennant celebrating your accomplishment. The names on the pennant are sub-replacement-level White Sox players who accumulated 30 innings on the pitching side, and 30 games played for position players.
They’re available for purchase at $12, with shipping starting next week. However, you can also get one by supporting Sox Machine on Patreon at the $5 tier. You’ll receive it as part of your swag pack after two months.
(For current $5 supporters, check your email. I’ve sent you a promo code that knocks the price of a pennant down to the cost of shipping. I’m happy to see that many of you have already taken advantage of it.)
Also, there are a handful of Sox Machine hoodies remaining: one medium, and two apiece for large and XL.
No. 2: I’ve restructured the Patreon page
And I’ve also created a page on Sox Machine detailing the support levels and benefits. For existing supporters, nothing has dramatically changed, aside from a renaming of the levels.
- $2/month is now the 2 WAR tier
- $3/month = 3 WAR
- $5/month = 5 WAR
- $10/month = 10 WAR
There’s one added benefit.
No. 3: I’m dabbling with advertising
There are a couple reasons why Sox Machine has never hosted advertising in either of its iterations. One is altruistic. Having been subject to chasing fleeting revenue streams, it’s liberating to make decisions free from metrics that lead publishers down dead ends (page and video views). And it’s just as enjoyable to view a site free of it.
The other was defensive, in that the design and look of the site and articles was previously a lot more reliant on the concept of fair use. Securing a license from a photo wire service takes care of those concerns, by and large.
At any rate, I’ll be experimenting with limited advertising over the next few months. The idea is that Sox Machine supporters will be able to view an ad-free version by connecting to the site with Patreon accounts. It may require some trial and error to get there, so I urge your patience.
I’ll also encourage you to support Sox Machine on Patreon, because should the ad experience be far from seamless, increasing the supporter base would change the equation on what such trouble is worth as the trial period nears its expiration.
Maybe this has been covered somewhere, maybe not. I seem to have this account which I created early on but it is orphaned from my patreon account. Is it possible to link them and I’m just missing it? This is not a big problem that needs solving but I was curious.
I think if I delete your Patreon one, you should then be able to link this account after logging in. I’ll research it before axing any accounts and shoot you an email about it.
When my coworkers see me in my sweet hoodie and notice the pennant in the background of meetings how much of the subsequent raise I receive needs to be tithed back to the site?
10% is a normal tithe, correct?
Drake Laroche being included on the pennant is absolutely great
Has Eaton ordered one yet?
I was very surprised AJ Reed wasn’t on the pennant. I can’t believe he only played 14 games for the Sox. It sure felt like more than 30 games.
I see Ronald Belisario and all I hear is
One of the best.