OK, to be fair, Saturday was a little bit less magical than the rest of last week … at the end of the first week of the WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL tour, I was SUPPOSED to be talking with Jeff Garlin at the amazing Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati. So … Jeff got sick. And our flights were delayed so much that, sadly, we had to postpone the event. Such a bummer, but I’ll be in Cincinnati as soon as I can, and I will yet eat Skyline and see Joey Votto.
Not an expert, but every time I've heard Bob Costas I have in fact come away convinced he was some sort of hopeless romantic about baseball-- and the 1997 Florida Marlins I'm sure agree.
I'll defer to his knowledge and his passion but he doesn't commentate, he proselytizes.
Oh my God, seeing you and Bob there with Kate in her Phillies jersey is going to send me into a funk again. A couple of days before this event, I was informed of a work meeting I had to attend. I went into a total hissy fit, even telling my wife, who was trying to be nice, "I don't want to talk about it," a phrase I say as infrequently as "I'm not hungry."
After the event, a woman who must have been Kate called to arrange to send me my book. She saw I was Philly guy and we took a moment to high five over our team, our town. I wanted to cry all over again, as I planned on wearing my Victorino' shirt to the game. So nice. Even though I couldn't be there, I can still enjoy it, right?
My wife ordered WWLB online from a bookstore in Montpelier, Vermont that got wiped out by the July floods. It arrived at my house the same day the bookstore finally reopened. I started reading it last night and I’m hooked. Thank you Joe!
I was at the Kansas City event. Thanks for doing what you do. I loved the Ichiro girl story. It captures the human side of why I love baseball. We did a multigenerational baseball trip on the east coast this summer that will be the subject of family stories for years to come. More of the human side of why I love baseball.
Joe, I started reading the sports pages in the Star because of your predictions about the Royals. I wasn’t even a Royals fan at the time and barely interested in any sport.
Picked up my copy at Rainy Day on Wednesday and on Friday dragged my husband with me to see you and Mike at Unity. We both had a great time!
I love baseball in large part because I love reading about it.
The Kansas City event was great fun! I didn't ask a question, but thought I would share a couple reasons why I love baseball.
The first is my first live game, on June 23rd, 1973. Walking into Royals stadium, the sight took my breath away. The big crown scoreboard (then just filled with lightbulbs) was amazing. I remember when the other team changed pitchers, they had a "graphic" that showed the pitcher sweating, then it turned into a shower, and said, "Next". I saw my first home run, by a Royals super utility guy named Ed Kirkpatrick. (The scoreboard suggested we write in Ed on our all star ballots) The Royals bullpen gave up some runs late and they were down 7-4 going into the bottom of the 9th. Many in the crowd started to leave. When the bottom of the 9th began, the Royals had 7 straight runners reach base (I always remembered it as all singles and walks, but BR tells me John Mayberry had a double in there) and won in a walk off when 3rd Baseman Paul Schaal (Paul became briefly my favorite player, before losing his job to some guy named George Brett) got a single to drive in the 4th run of the inning. My Uncle looked at me and winked and said "That's why you never leave early"!
I also thought of a couple of games this year. This has been the Royals worst team, and they have had some bad ones in their history, so it has not been a fun ride. But no matter what, Baseball still gives you magical moments. In a game in June, the Royals were down 8-2 going into the 7th. They scored 3 in the 7th and 8th to tie, and then gave up a run in the top of the 9th to go behind again. They scored two in the 9th to walk it off, and the game winning hit was delivered by a young man named Samad Taylor, playing in his first MLB game, with his family in attendance.
In another game in August, the Royals and Mets went to extras, and the Mets promptly scored 2 in the top of the 10th. The Royals rallied in the bottom of the inning tying the game and had the bases loaded with 2 outs.
I saw the balk and called it in real time. I had one called on me for the same reason almost 40 years ago now. The Umpires had a bit of a delay and conference, but they called it, and the Royals had a balk off win, their first ever. (They have since had a 2nd one this year after not having one their first 54 years)
That's what baseball is. Your team may be historically bad, many games can be boring, but there is no warning when the magical moments happen, or when you see something you have not seen before. When you are a crazy fan like me, you have to keep watching. If you blink, you might miss it.
Highlights of a Magical Week
Good for you, Joe.
The book is great on Audible. The occasional errors are okay, because the stories are so much fun.
Spokane would love to host you Joe! We’ve got a great bookstore downtown in Auntie’s
Can't wait till Thursday in San Francisco. SO PUMPED
Not an expert, but every time I've heard Bob Costas I have in fact come away convinced he was some sort of hopeless romantic about baseball-- and the 1997 Florida Marlins I'm sure agree.
I'll defer to his knowledge and his passion but he doesn't commentate, he proselytizes.
Even though the zombie runner does suck.
Looking forward to seeing you in San Francisco this week!
Where's the link to get the "Director's Cut" edition of the book? It was mentioned on the Keith Law podcast.
Oh my God, seeing you and Bob there with Kate in her Phillies jersey is going to send me into a funk again. A couple of days before this event, I was informed of a work meeting I had to attend. I went into a total hissy fit, even telling my wife, who was trying to be nice, "I don't want to talk about it," a phrase I say as infrequently as "I'm not hungry."
After the event, a woman who must have been Kate called to arrange to send me my book. She saw I was Philly guy and we took a moment to high five over our team, our town. I wanted to cry all over again, as I planned on wearing my Victorino' shirt to the game. So nice. Even though I couldn't be there, I can still enjoy it, right?
My wife ordered WWLB online from a bookstore in Montpelier, Vermont that got wiped out by the July floods. It arrived at my house the same day the bookstore finally reopened. I started reading it last night and I’m hooked. Thank you Joe!
Joe did you make it over to Governor Stumpies? It's about 2 blocks away from where I got my comic books as a kid.
I got my book on Friday and planned to read one moment per day and make it last....I’m on #33 on the countdown, so cheating juuuuust a little bit.
I was at the Kansas City event. Thanks for doing what you do. I loved the Ichiro girl story. It captures the human side of why I love baseball. We did a multigenerational baseball trip on the east coast this summer that will be the subject of family stories for years to come. More of the human side of why I love baseball.
Got my copy from Amazon yesterday, and finished reading it just now. I really just couldn't put it down! Great job, Joe! 🙂
Joe, I started reading the sports pages in the Star because of your predictions about the Royals. I wasn’t even a Royals fan at the time and barely interested in any sport.
Picked up my copy at Rainy Day on Wednesday and on Friday dragged my husband with me to see you and Mike at Unity. We both had a great time!
I love baseball in large part because I love reading about it.
Thank you for writing!!!!
The Kansas City event was great fun! I didn't ask a question, but thought I would share a couple reasons why I love baseball.
The first is my first live game, on June 23rd, 1973. Walking into Royals stadium, the sight took my breath away. The big crown scoreboard (then just filled with lightbulbs) was amazing. I remember when the other team changed pitchers, they had a "graphic" that showed the pitcher sweating, then it turned into a shower, and said, "Next". I saw my first home run, by a Royals super utility guy named Ed Kirkpatrick. (The scoreboard suggested we write in Ed on our all star ballots) The Royals bullpen gave up some runs late and they were down 7-4 going into the bottom of the 9th. Many in the crowd started to leave. When the bottom of the 9th began, the Royals had 7 straight runners reach base (I always remembered it as all singles and walks, but BR tells me John Mayberry had a double in there) and won in a walk off when 3rd Baseman Paul Schaal (Paul became briefly my favorite player, before losing his job to some guy named George Brett) got a single to drive in the 4th run of the inning. My Uncle looked at me and winked and said "That's why you never leave early"!
I also thought of a couple of games this year. This has been the Royals worst team, and they have had some bad ones in their history, so it has not been a fun ride. But no matter what, Baseball still gives you magical moments. In a game in June, the Royals were down 8-2 going into the 7th. They scored 3 in the 7th and 8th to tie, and then gave up a run in the top of the 9th to go behind again. They scored two in the 9th to walk it off, and the game winning hit was delivered by a young man named Samad Taylor, playing in his first MLB game, with his family in attendance.
In another game in August, the Royals and Mets went to extras, and the Mets promptly scored 2 in the top of the 10th. The Royals rallied in the bottom of the inning tying the game and had the bases loaded with 2 outs.
I saw the balk and called it in real time. I had one called on me for the same reason almost 40 years ago now. The Umpires had a bit of a delay and conference, but they called it, and the Royals had a balk off win, their first ever. (They have since had a 2nd one this year after not having one their first 54 years)
That's what baseball is. Your team may be historically bad, many games can be boring, but there is no warning when the magical moments happen, or when you see something you have not seen before. When you are a crazy fan like me, you have to keep watching. If you blink, you might miss it.
I'm so happy for you, Joe, and I'm excited to get over to Rainy Day Books to pick up my copy.