masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgLast season, MASNsports.com expanded its voice and added different viewpoints by welcoming guest bloggers to our site. The rationale was simple: There were so many dedicated fan sites out there that we wanted to give them a platform to share their thoughts, opinions and observations about the Orioles with the rest of Birdland.

The initiative got rave reviews, in cyberspace and beyond. We must have hit on something, because our guest blogger program was quickly mimicked – by our competitors in…Last season, MASNsports.com expanded its voice and added different viewpoints by welcoming guest bloggers to our site. The rationale was simple: There were so many dedicated fan sites out there that we wanted to give them a platform to share their thoughts, opinions and observations about the Orioles with the rest of Birdland.

The initiative got rave reviews, in cyberspace and beyond. We must have hit on something, because our guest blogger program was quickly mimicked – by our competitors in the print and broadcast arenas. As they say, often imitated but never duplicated.

Well, it’s 2012 and guest bloggers will return to our pages.

You’ll recognize some familiar names and the blogs they write for, because we’ve invited them back. Plus we’ve integrated some new voices into the mix.

Beginning Friday, April 6 – the same day he Orioles open the season at Camden Yards against the Twins, marking the venerable ballpark’s 20th birthday – you’ll be able to read the ruminations of some of the area’s most opinionated bloggers every weekday.

Holdover Matthew Taylor of Roar From 34 kicks off our coverage on opening day and he’ll be joined in our rotation by Olivia Witherite of Birds Watcher on Mondays, Heath Bintliff of Dempsey’s Army on Tuesdays, Neal Shaffer of The Loss Column on Wednesdays and Anthony Amobi of Oriole Post on Thursdays.

That will be the schedule for the first half of the season, and we’ll retool at the All-Star break.

We’re excited to welcome them to our pages and look forward to each blogger adding their unique voice to our online conversation. You can communicate with our guest bloggers through our standard commenting function and we hope you’ll give their sites a read, too.