If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ve noticed a great hiatus in my musings. I’ve been at this for 10 years (last November) and have reached something approximating burnout (a word I learned years ago in the Army). So I will be taking a massive break for a long while. That doesn’t mean I’m shutting this down; merely that I won’t be doing much for a long time. I may comment on a Hall of Fame election, or a particular something I find interesting, but it won’t be even vaguely regular.
I’ve enjoyed all this. I trust you have also. For those of you with your own stories to tell and your own blogs to write, I give you another phrase I learned in the Army: Carry On.
December 31, 2019 at 10:11 am |
I refuse to “like” this post, because it makes me sad (and selfish) because I always look forward to your posts. Whenever they pop up they teach me something new and fascinating about baseball. And, the stories you tell of your past are priceless.
Plus, what about the Dodgers-Orioles World Series match up? I mean, I know it’s going to take awhile (I’m using “awhile” sort of loosely here), but it will be more fun with you.
On the thoughtful side, I think we all understand the need to step back, to step away, to take a break … just don’t go too far, ok?
December 31, 2019 at 11:28 am |
I’ll try to stay close.
v
December 31, 2019 at 10:28 am |
Thanks, V, for your encouragement and for being the first regular reader of my webpage. Praying everything is all right.
December 31, 2019 at 11:29 am |
I have you bookmarked, so I intend to keep reading you.
v
December 31, 2019 at 10:34 am |
Your absence has been noted, v, and you’ve been missed. We can all understand burnout. Just know that when you have thoughts to share, you have an audience excited to read.
December 31, 2019 at 11:31 am |
That’s kind of the problem; I’m no longer excited to write. Hoping that will change.
v
December 31, 2019 at 11:16 am |
v, hopefully. there will be a sunrise to this sunset. One favor, please keep your blog posts active and online. There is significant body of work here, to be revisited often, like a library. Thanks v for all of your hard work and passion for this great game of baseball. Take care, Steve
December 31, 2019 at 11:32 am |
Not planning to take the site down.
v
December 31, 2019 at 2:26 pm
Well then,there is some good news….I’m glad you won’t be taking the site down.
v, at the risk of sounding like Dr. Phil, I think this baseball passion we all share is, for me anyway, an on again-off again love affair. Cripes I’ve experienced my estrangement from the game where it provides no inspiration and than sort of out nowhere, it suddenly returns. I hope you experience the same and return real soon. In the interim, happy new year to you and your family, Steve
December 31, 2019 at 2:28 pm
Thank you for the best wishes, and give ’em hell over on your blog.
v
December 31, 2019 at 2:27 pm |
We (your faithful readers) will be waiting.
December 31, 2019 at 2:30 pm |
I appreciate knowing that. Now, as I told Steve, go and give ’em hell on your own blog.
v
December 31, 2019 at 3:22 pm |
Jackie put it best—- “On the thoughtful side, I think we all understand the need to step back, to step away, to take a break … just don’t go too far, ok?” I enjoyed the historical posts, but I particularly enjoyed your tales of your growing up in Texas and Oklahoma—- especially the one about “The Field in The Middle of Town”, (I might be a little off about the title) which showed the ridiculousness of segregation and how kids who haven’t yet learned how to hate and just want to play baseball, regardless of skin color, just want to play a fun game of baseball, regardless of Jim Crow and it’s ridiculousness, and more recently, the one about how you and your friends inadvertently foiled a nearby robbery getaway car when you were playing baseball in the middle of a dirt road (somewhere in the Panhandle, maybe outside of Amarillo), and the cops, as a result, caught the guy. That story, even though it was true, reminded me very much of a story in one of my favorite books as a kid, “Homer Price”, by Robert McCloskey (which is STILL very enjoyable, even though I’m an adult.)
And finally, V, I play for you the song that you said to me was the unofficial anthem of Oklahoma, the song that you couldn’t get away from if you WANTED to, “Faded Love” by Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys.
Glen
December 31, 2019 at 3:57 pm |
Thank you, Glen. You can’t go wrong going out to Bob Wills.
v
December 31, 2019 at 5:07 pm |
I found the story about the getaway car. Let’s see if I can find the one about the field in the middle of town.
https://verdun2.wordpress.com/2018/12/26/the-road-to-justice-runs-through-the-ball-field/
December 31, 2019 at 5:13 pm |
Hey, I found the other one as well just now, V! ”The Field in the Middle of Town”———
https://verdun2.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/the-field-in-the-middle-of-town/
January 3, 2020 at 8:19 am |
Breaks are understandable, and very much a necessity for all of us, sometimes. I will miss all your great stories, but more importantly, I hope your hiatus proves rejuvenating!
January 6, 2020 at 10:16 am |
I hope you’re taking the time to work on a book, which I would buy in a Noo Yawk minute.
January 11, 2020 at 6:10 pm |
Very sad to see you go, at least temporarily, but you’ve done a yeoman’s amount of work for baseball and its history, and you definitely deserve some time off. Good luck with whatever’s next!
January 11, 2020 at 6:30 pm |
Thank you; and keep your own site going. Great stuff.
v