I don't even know what to say
The Baseball 100 came out Tuesday, as all of you know, and the last few days have been some of the most extraordinary of my entire life. I am dizzy. The book has been selling so fast that, frankly, we’re worried about running out of stock. The reviews have been so overwhelming that I do not even know how to feel.
I mean, what are you supposed to feel when your writing hero, Leigh Montville, writes a review like this about your book?
All of it has been so wonderful but it also has been all-consuming. I’ve tried hard to keep the trains running here at Joe Blogs, and I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job for the most part, but I will admit falling a little bit behind now. Today’s Football 101 piece, for instance, will instead run on Monday. I imagine that there will be a few more delays as I get through this amazing but crazy time, and I appreciate your patience.
Oh, and yes: With the baseball playoffs coming up, I promise that I will find the time for lots of baseball stuff.
Unless the Yankees start winning. I can’t predict what I’ll do then.
Thanks for being a reader. I truly hope many of you feel like you have been a part of this amazing Baseball 100 journey … because you have.
Joe - I’m a 43 year old in Northeast Ohio who was turned onto you by my dad. He has since passed, but one of the defining moments I remember with him was after the Browns lost the AFC Championship to Denver on the drive.
He was so excited when Karlis missed the field goal in overtime, but… you know…
I had you sign the book “karlis was wide left” and then asking you to put as many exclamation points as you deemed appropriate.
You wrote a bunch of exclamation points, but you also wrote “not even close”
I don’t know if you meant that the amount of exclamation points wasn’t close, or the kick wasn’t close, but I do not care. The ambiguity makes it better.
Thanks for reminding me of my dad.
If you don't have a way to get past the WSJ paywall, you might find this "adaptation" of Montville's article interesting, or amusing: https://www.indiansports11.com/the-baseball-100-assessment-closing-rating/