About Sam Mellinger & Ball Star

Sam Mellinger has been a sports writer at The Star since 2000, covering major league baseball and the Royals since 2006. He's won a few writing awards, which he credits more to his editors and low contest standards, but his mother remains impressed.

Besides baseball, Sam loves college basketball, the absurdity of sports, wings at The Peanut, and his friends. This will be primarily a Royals and baseball blog, but be prepared for other stuff you may or may not care about.

Sam started this blog in February of 2008 for a couple reasons. He wanted to create a place for stories and anecdotes and other stuff that don't fit in the newspaper, and hopefully have some fun along the way. Hopefully it's worth it.

Besides, if you hate it, Sam has given you an easy way to make fun of his blog. Just use its initials.

The Star was Sam's first job after graduating from Kansas in 2000. Before that, he worked at the Topeka Capital-Journal and Cincinnati Enquirer. His first job was at the Lawrence Journal-World, where he was so big-time at age 16 that he typed obituaries for no pay. Like Biggie said, Mo' money, mo' problems.

Sam grew up in Emporia and Lawrence, where he was part of the greatest sophomore basketball B-team in Lawrence High history. He now lives in downtown Kansas City.

Writing this in the third person made Sam feel a bit too much like Rickey Henderson, but it seems to be how most of these "About" explainers are done, so whatever.

Submitted by admin on February 15, 2008 - 3:49pm.

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Interviews

Gil Meche: The older brother of the Royals' rotation talks bowling, collecting baseball cards, and sliders

Very good first-day turnout on Twitter. Thank you. If you're on and haven't found me, I'm at "mellinger." Let's join up, we'll have fun.

You may have noticed we didn't have an MGD update after the weekend, and that's because of a bonus weekend post on SI coverboy/comedian Zack Greinke, and that Davies' start on Thursday means we won't miss a week with an MGD update.

Zack Greinke: Ball Star's most requested interview subject talks trucks, fighting, and trash

Zack Greinke, for a lot of reasons, might be the most interesting player on the Royals roster, and this is a team that includes an outfielder who owns lions and ostriches and likes to be slapped in the face, a pitcher who was knighted by his native Aruba, another who works construction in the offseason, and a reliever who body slams opposing players and prides himself on his baking.

Greinke is the most-requested interview for this blog, and if you act now, you can read a bonus interview where Kyle Davies defends himself against what he alleges is Greinke's slander. All in good fun.

Army Maj. Michael Lalor: Rooting on the Royals from Iraq

Confession time. That "contest" we ran here
was officially won by Tom Barkwell from Madagascar, and I loved both his words and the fact that he sent them from an island nation in the Indian Ocean, but I gotta tell you, it wasn't my favorite letter.

Nope, my favorite came from Army Maj. Michael Lalor, whose words came from Iraq.

I didn't mention this in the original contest because I wanted to give Michael his own post. He was kind enough to answer some questions over e-mail, which we're turning into the latest interview. His letter is below our e-mail exchange.

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