WS 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?