Trying again

Dear fellow bloggers, followers, baseball card junkies and baseball fans in general

I am attempting a comeback. Being that this is my first post in almost three months I will take it slow and do my due diligence in returning to your nightly reading lineup. It has been a "summer to forget" in my part of the woods and it is now time for me to get back on the playing field. Ok enough of the baseball analogies, I am going to give my blog another shot.

Just a bit of a recap of my personal life: my daughter returned from her year in Finland on May 24, and two weeks later my wife asked me for a divorce (and I agreed). We decided to put the house on the market and I would move out in 2 - 3 months (I thought we agreed). I packed up most of my "stuff" (including my baseball cards, binders, supplies etc) and within two weeks was "ready". Then my wife said she was "moving out" and out she went. I unpacked my "stuff" and she used my boxes and crates. She was gone by July 15 and I took the house off the market (never really had officially listed it). This past weekend I moved my beautiful daughter into her college dorm (she is attending Flagler College in St Augustine Florida and is an incoming freshman). My house is now empty, quiet and clean. No more dog, no more cat, no more wife, no more teenager. The house is too big for one so now I will try to sell it more vigorously. So that's my "brief" update of my summer . . .

Now for my baseball update: at the time of my last post in June the Cubs were 29-26 trying to find their groove. They never found it and now sit at 65 - 64. Another "summer to forget" as well. Quite coincidentally the day of my previous post the Cubs beat the Astros 7 - 1 (yesterday the Cubs lost to the Astros 5 - 3).

This past weekend I started reading a George Will book titled Bunts. In a rather poignant way Will concludes his introduction like this: ". . . baseball is a work in progress. If you dont believe me, just remember, and heed, the fans familiar cry, Wait til Next year".

A great big thank you to all of you who have expressed concern for me. I will try to get back to the basics of my blog (a personal salute to the Cubs of 1969 and baseball of that era), try to remember why I started this, try to get back into the trading mode and try to rekindle some blogger friendships I have ignored. I am going to try again . . .

'Men at Work"

I just finished re-reading the book titled "Men at Work" by George Will (copy written 1990). I read this book when it first came out, almost twenty years ago, and now that I have this avenue (blog) I thought I would share my thoughts.

First of all I recommend this read to all baseball fans, it is a book written to helps us all (even cardboard collectors) understand the details and beauty, the hardwork and dedication it takes to be “great” at the game we all love. This passage from the books front flap sums it up: “Being an informed, observant baseball fan is a form of participation in that complex, subtle game. Baseball . . . is indeed a game, but one at which men work with admirable seriousness”.

The book has only four chapters yet over 300 pages packed with statistics and memories from the era of the eighties. The four chapters are titled simply:

Chapter One: The Manager (Tony LaRussa)
Chapter Two: The Pitcher (Orel Hershiser)
Chapter Three: The Batter (Tony Gwynn)
Chapter Four: The Defense (Cal Ripken Jr.).

LaRussa is the only one still “active” and all four truly symbolize the work ethic, character and “greatness” of baseball in the 1980’s.

So I got to wondering . . . if the same book was written in 1970 (the 1960’s were my favorite decade of baseball), who would have been chosen for these four chapters ? For me it might look like:

Chapter One: Manager Walter Alston
Chapter Two: Pitcher Sandy Koufax
Chapter Three: Batter Frank Robinson
Chapter Four: Defense Roberto Clemente


Pick a decade and come up with your four “great” players, keeping in mind that “greatness” is more than just numbers, it incorporates work ethic, character and excellence. I would be interested in knowing what you think . . . as we approach the end of this decade, who would the “great” four chapters be of for the 2000’s ? It is not as easy as you think.