Hall of Fame Dreams and Lost Teams
Plus a Rookie of the Year rundown and more!
We’re going around the horn today… we’ll talk some MLB awards, the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, the heartbreaking story in Tampa Bay and a musing about the Dallas Cowboys.
But first, the morning announcements!
My mini-book on the history of the baseball MVP is done. Well, it’s written. It needs to be edited and re-edited and you know how that goes. Anyway, it’s about 15,000 words, and it’s loaded down with all sorts of fun stories, cool facts, and lots of stuff I didn’t know. I did some pretty intense research. It will drop for paid subscribers on Thursday, the day of the MVP awards announcement. We’re also looking at some fun ways to turn it into an actual eBook/book. More on that going forward.
I’ll be in Kansas City tomorrow—that’s Wednesday, Nov. 20—at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum for a screening of the movie “The Diamond King,” about baseball artist Dick Perez. It should be a super-fun night—Dick will be there, along with the movie’s director, Marq Evans, and, of course, my brother Bob Kendrick. I’m told it’s almost filled up, so RSVP here—tickets are free.
Then, I’m hopping in a rental car and trekking three hours to Wichita for a super-fun book event at Watermark Books. Tickets are free, but you’ll want to RSVP, because pretty much Margo’s entire family is coming.
If you live in the Charlotte area, I’ll be at the Morrison Place Barnes & Noble—that’s the B&N by Southpark Mall—on Saturday, Nov. 30. That’s the day after Black Friday. Tickets are free, but you’ll want to call the store and RSVP if you want a seat, because the place will be jammed… as mentioned, that’s the day after Black Friday.
Skenes and Gil Win Rookie of the Year
It’s MLB awards week, and on Monday a couple starting pitchers—the Pirates’ Paul Skenes and the Yankees’ Luis Gil—were named Rookies of the Year. It was the first time since 1981 that two starting pitchers got the award. And, honestly, it’s a whole lot like 1981, because that year, like this year, a pitching phenom (Fernando Valenzuela) and a Yankee (Dave Righetti) took home the awards.
Let me also show you their stats in order of innings pitched: