WorldCollection starts tonight. Baseball has always been special to me and I’ve written about it a bit, THE FAN and REALITY CHECK (Edgar Award YA winner), for example. But also in the Chet and Bernie mysteries. Chet, the dog narrator—but NOT a talking one!—loves the ball itself, especially the insides, and Bernie, the PI, went to West Point and pitched for Army. Here’s a little snippet from CAT ON A HOT TIN WOOF (coming April 14 and preorderable. )
“TBD, Bernie,” Nixon was saying, “TBD. Rights, contracts, percentages—not my lane. I’m more of a creative, as we say in showbiz. How about this? I’ll get Manny to fly in personal for a little sit-down. You’re gonna love him. He’s your kinda guy.”
What was this? Manny, whoever he happened to be, was like Bernie? Manny could shoot spinning dimes out of the air, throw a baseball a country mile, put perps to sleep with a sweet sweet uppercut, perhaps already mentioned? Oh, really?
5 Comments on “Baseball!”
I am one of those who believes that all of life’s important lessons can be learned from baseball. Indeed, there was once a prominent law review article published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review (my alma mater) entitled “The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule.” Unfortunately I had nothing to do with it in terms of writing or publication, but it is still a great article.
Growing up as a kid, baseball was my first sports love, starting with the AA Farm Team in Albuquerque in the Texas League (originally a KC farm team known as the Albuquerque Dukes, but when it became a Dodgers farm team, it became the Albuquerque Dodgers). My uncle had season tickets and I accompanied him to a lot of games growing up. As a then Dodgers fan (not necessarily today), I remember the greats like Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Maury Wills and Duke Snider. Things have changed a bit, the farm team in Albuquerque these days is known as the Albuquerque Isotopes. How about that for the name of a baseball team.
As it turns out, baseball has had a fairly prominent role to play on the blog as well. If I am able, I will try to assemble some stuff for next Friday’s Photos of that history, including when Wookie took Rio, SiberH and Wolfie Wigglebut to the World Collection one year, as well as some special photos created by our Heartfriend at the time. They are pretty magnificent, and hold a lot of good memories.
If we recall, wasn’t liking a trophy involved and the alleged misuse of a credit card belonging to Wigglebutt’s maw involved?
*licking*
Darn, I forgot about the problem on the blog. I meant the World S.e.r.i.e.s, not World Collection.
WTAFP: We’re not sure if you saw last night that there is an adventure afoot. Would you like us to call you when we are charged, or would you like to be in the handlebars of one of OFAs bikes when we get arrested. Ole Doc thinks if you were to show your white shoes at the right time, we could…all of us allegedly involved…avoid arrest.
Who else wants to go on the adventure? We secured additional buckets, two wicker baskets and a plastic basket with flowers on the front. Our bucket guy threw in a kazoo at no extra charge. We ride at dawn…or noonish…Who’s in?