Two years have passed since EEEEEE! joined the World Wide Web, and it's been a roller coaster, as any Giants fan would know. The Giants have mutated a number of times, having at various points been Hopeless, Terrible, Overrated, Hopeful, Underrated, Really Not Bad, Bashful, Grumpy, and Doc. And definitely Dopey. And whenever we hit a major swerve on that ride, EEEEEE! readers and the folks in the Giants newsgroup do not remain silent.

And I thank them for that -- I thank you, because without you, there really is no EEEEEE! Well, there is an EEEEEE!, but it's all me writing stuff about things that annoy me, instead of editing stuff about things that annoy you.

Some folks still think of EEEEEE! as a newsletter, but as I said a year ago, doing EEEEEE! is better than doing a newsletter because my only deadlines are self-imposed (though when I don't upload anything by the end of any given Monday, I usually hear from antsy readers wondering when I'm going to get around to putting up something new -- and I'm grateful for that), I don't have any particular concerns about space, and I can express myself pretty freely. The best part is, it's at least as much fun as it was a year ago, and I still love the challenge and crave the creative outlet.

I'm pleased to say that EEEEEE! has dipped into the trough of Media Sluttitude a tiny bit with an online radio interview this past spring and a very nice write-up on the Giants' official site. I'm grateful for the exposure -- I've heard from a lot of people as a result.

Last year at this time, the counter at the bottom of the EEEEEE! home page read "1263." Today it reads "6464." That's 5,201 more accesses, for those of you scoring at home. Since the counter went up in 1996, I've checked it 400 times -- either to see how EEEEEE! is doing or to make sure everything looks okay once I've uploaded it -- so it would seem that EEEEEE! has been accessed over 6,000 times by readers (or people who turned tail and ran right away). This pleases me to no end -- and surprises me, too.

So I thank all you readers for your support, which is overwhelming. I love hearing from you, and indeed I'm in touch with many of you constantly, and we're not always talking just about the Giants. It's a pleasure getting to know you as people. I appreciate your friendship.

It's still a lot of fun to know that people are often tickled to see their names and quotes show up in EEEEEE! installments of season notes, and it's even more of a kick to hear from someone else saying that they got a kick out of something someone said in an installment.

I've said before that I think one of the main reasons EEEEEE! has gone over so well is that readers see themselves in it, but that used to be true mostly in a metaphoric sense. Now it's literally true, partly because of other people's newsgroup posts and e-mail messages but also because, I'm proud to say, EEEEEE! has a stable of writers now. Sure, it's a tiny stable, but one I cherish nonetheless (and wouldn't mind adding to even further).

There's David Beck, upon whom I have bestowed the lofty title of EEEEEE! Contributing Editor, and who continues to provide his free agency pieces and more, not to mention unswerving friendship. I always welcome his contributions. He still doesn't have e-mail (though he at least can now check out EEEEEE! from the computers in the library at Azusa Pacific University, which -- and I'd like to congratulate him for this -- recently conferred upon Dave a master's degree in Something That Would Bore Gregg To Tears), but he appreciates and enjoys hearing readers' comments about his articles. Dave is a fabulous writer, on a variety of topics, and I know this from over two decades of reading, hearing, and being vastly entertained by his stuff.

Richard Booroojian has been a welcome and wonderful addition to EEEEEE! First, his comments in the newsgroup liven up nearly every installment of season notes, and second, EEEEEE! is lucky to get dibs on his articles, especially since it's not as though I can pay him or anything. In fact, two of Richard's pieces were originally newsgroup posts that were so funny and well-written that I asked him if I could use them as standalone articles in EEEEEE! (For the record, he said yes.) I truly appreciate the hard work (and agony!) that Richard puts into his writing. Also, he's a delightful guy, and I'm pleased to say that I finally had the opportunity to meet him in person last month.

Tom Austin's stuff about Bill James Classic Baseball isn't directly related to the Giants, to be sure, but it touches on something we can all identify with and appreciate: all-too-consuming passion -- something that characterizes all of Tom's writing that I've had the opportunity to read, including his contributions to this year's Big Bad Baseball Annual (in which, among other things, Tom got the plummiest of plum assignments: writing the Giants team essay). Of all the writers in that book, I enjoy Tom's stuff the most, and not only because he's a good friend.

Here's the dedication part: I would like once again to express my appreciation for my parents, who pretty much kvelled after EEEEEE! was mentioned on the Giants site; my sister Debra who, as far as I know, is my only blood relative who actually reads EEEEEE! with any regularity and who has been helpful and supportive from the start; my sister, Karen, who's less interested in baseball but no less helpful and supportive and doesn't seem to get annoyed when I watch the Giants over at her place while the kids are tearing it up; my wife, Kimberly, who suffers reasonably silently and shows me in a million different ways that she loves me; and my son, Adam, who hopes I'll show him how to play baseball one day -- talk about the blind leading the blind. And I sure want to include Dave Beck and many other friends, including Pat and Bob (whom I haven't mentioned), who are always kind, encouraging, supportive, and honest. Plus there's my EEEEEE! Buddies Tom and Richard, who have added so much to this whole thing and whose friendship is tremendously valuable. And I certainly don't want to leave out Woody, a terrific friend whose true identity will remain cloaked in secrecy but who has been amazingly encouraging with regard to my writing.

Once again, my heartfelt thanks go out to the people who hang out in the Giants newsgroup for giving me stuff to think about, write about, and quote -- and for reading EEEEEE! and continuing to treat it, and me, with -- as I said last year -- respect and astounding friendliness. I'm glad I recently had the opportunity to meet no fewer than six newsgroup members at a recent ballgame, and I hope to meet more.

When all is said and done, we all know how silly this all is -- baseball, I mean, and the Giants, and spending hours and hours writing about it all. When you've got family and friends, the Giants -- I know this is an amazing admission -- are pretty far down the ladder. But I can't help the fact that they still matter an awful lot to me, and so do this little community of Giants fans and the readers of the stuff I write (and there is a fairly large intersection between these two groups). I'm just glad to have the opportunity to take these aspects of life that are so important to me and sort of combine them into this effort.

And I really don't think of it as an "effort," much less a "chore" or something. EEEEEE! is a distinct pleasure -- well, for me, anyway -- and I very, very deeply appreciate you folks who read it, comment on it, care about it, and look forward to it. You're invaluable to me.

We feel that distorting a picture of Gregg somehow is the only thing that'll really help any.

Gregg Pearlman, gregg@EEEEEEgp.com

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