Brethren:

Having survived my second medical malpractice jury trial in the past six weeks, I finally have a chance to look at our website and see what has been happening while my attention has been diverted elsewhere.  To my profound disappointment and chagrin, I see that scheduled Guest Writer Possum “I can blog 500,000 words a night when it’s not required of me” Bridges—who was scheduled to post his guest article no later than May 7, 2013—has again thumbed his nose at us.  He keeps alive his skein of bowed-neck refusals to meet deadlines imposed upon him by others for a solid seventh season.  (Editor’s note:  I pity the poor sap at the BIFund who has to corral Possum for his contribution to the annual Fund Newsletter—probably a revolving door position at BIF.)

In any event, since Linda led Ted to the oasis but could not make him drink of it, I will share with you a few thoughts of my own instead of promising you an actual newsletter from Possum. 

Here are the standings and leaderboards through Sunday, May 19, 2013:

TOP 10 BATTERS

TOP 10 PITCHERS

SHORT HOPS

THE WRITE STUFF

I just finished two entertaining but decidedly not great baseball books, the first by  ESPNbaseball analyst Tim Kurkjian, entitled “Is This a Great Game, or What?”, and the second by former minor league journeyman/Major League hopeful Dirk Hayhurst, entitled “The Bullpen Gospels.”  While both of these fellows have funny stories to tell and do so in a competent fashion, neither author has the knack of turning a phrase, as I like to put it, or using just the right adjective, constructing just the right metaphor, or otherwise making their words dance off the page and into our memory banks. 

It is a rare quality and a rare talent, and to some it probably comes naturally, to others only as a result of very hard work. 

While Kurkjian and Hayhurst may both be experts in their respective fields (baseball reporter/broadcaster and baseball player), they are clearly not baseball writers by training or experience, and it shows.  I was thinking about this as I read Tom Shatel’s Sunday morning Omaha World-Herald article about Husker baseball coach Darin Erstad, because the difference in their writing is so stark.  Just read the first few sentences of Shatel’s article about Erstad:

You figure Darin Erstad would be the one bug that broke the windshield.

Nebraska’s baseball coach has gone headfirst every day of his baseball career.  He wakes up each morning with dirt already on his pajamas. 

Hates to lose?  More than he loved winning. 

The guy can flat write.  I mean, he would never use that last line himself (The guy can flat write) because it’s too commonplace, too hackneyed, too overused. 

I’m pretty sure that Shatel’s first love is college football, but I wish it was baseball, because he is really talented at writing about it, and there are so many more nuances, and so much more history, to write about in baseball. 

If I had to rank my favorite baseball writers, I think it would go like this:

Now reading:  “Wherever I Wind Up,” by R.A. Dickey. 

TO THE PARK

To give my aimless life a bit of direction, I decided this past week that my goal for this summer is to visit ten new minor league ballparks, hopefully knocking off a few new state capitol building visits along the way. 

First stop:  Weather permitting, Lewis & Clark Park in Sioux City, to see the Explorers take on the New Jersey Jackals tonight. 

Have a great week!

Skipper

Our 509th edition