What's Wrong With Baseball These Days?

I'll make a list:

1) I am in 10th place in my league in the ESPN Baseball Challenge. While tenth sounds good when there are dozens of people in the league, in this case, I'm tenth out of twelve. And I am actually trying, whereas the guys currently in the eleven and twelve slots gave up. Or else they are sitting back to see if they can beat me without changing a single player all season. (Give it up, Geralyn Dawson. It won't work.)

I cannot choose a pitching staff to save my soul. What was with the Twins last night? And how did I get so lucky as to pick the Giants on the one night Tim Lincecum blows it big? Apparently, I have a knack for these picks. If the Tigers' pitching staff flails in both games of their doubleheader today, you'll know you should take me to Vegas with you and bet the opposite of everything I do.

2) The Texas Rangers took two out of three from the Red Sox this weekend. I had to sit in the rain to watch the first loss, and man, was it painful. (Geralyn is now laughing at me, as she is also a Rangers fan.)

3) The Colorado Rockies were so stupid as to fire one of my all-time fave managers, Clint Hurdle. I guess the guys who fired him forgot that, OH YEAH, they traded away Matt Holliday. And OH YEAH, Jeff Francis has been hurt all year. Maybe, just maybe, the Rockies will have trouble winning games in that situation. (Geralyn is not to blame for any of this. I don't think Hurdle should be blamed, either.)

Do the guys who fired Hurdle remember this?



That would be the World Series. And that would be Clint Hurdle on the right, leading the team. Yes, the Rockies lost to the Red Sox (I was screwed on that one...one of my fave teams was going to lose either way!) But the fact the Rockies made it at all was due in large part to...well, you know who. The Rockies were suckin' wind that year, but came back to win 20 of their last 21 games.

I'll feel better about baseball tomorrow. (Especially if the Tigers' pitching staff does well, or if someone hires Hurdle.) In the meantime, I think I'll console myself by reading a good book.

Maybe I'll make it one of Geralyn's. At least I know it'll be good!

The Happiest Place On Earth, Part V (The Conclusion!)

Was so, so sad to leave the Disney Magic, as I blogged about earlier (just click on the labels for "Disney Cruise" at the bottom of this post if you'd like to read Parts I - IV and to see the accompanying photos of alligator heads. Or Stitch.) But when the ship docks, you're outta luck. If you refuse to disembark because you're having too much fun, you deal with the port authority, and that's not my idea of a good time.

I headed home--briefly!--because I had Red Sox tickets. (And really, isn't THIS in the running for the Happiest Place on Earth? I think so! Especially when Josh Beckett's pitching.)




After the game, however, I headed right back to Logan Airport and made nice with the folks from JetBlue, who took me back to Orlando, where author Elizabeth Boyle and I spoke to librarians at the annual Florida Library Association conference. Even though we had an early-morning time slot, our room was PACKED. (Not only because we are us, and naturally entertaining, but because we primed everyone with coffee and distributed massive goody bags. We never assume our witty banter is enough to rouse folks from their comfy beds at 8AM.)

We had a load of fun discussing low-cost strategies for making their libraries teen-friendly, ways to use their romance novel collections to draw in readers, and gave them info on attracting fantastic speakers. We also did a lot of Q & A about writing (and the life of writers) in general. If you're a librarian and would be interested in a copy of my handout on Five Ways to Encourage Teen Patronage, just e-mail me. I'm happy to send it along. (And by all means, if you organize library conferences and are interested in having us speak, ask! We love meeting librarians.)

After our talk, Elizabeth and I drove all over the Orlando area signing books. If you'd like an autographed book, check at any of the following stores (call first, just to be sure they're still in stock):

Winter Park, FL

Borders
600 North Orlando Ave

Orlando, FL

Books-A-Million
5498 Touchstone Dr

Barnes & Noble
Colonial Plaza Market Center
2418 E Colonial Drive

Barnes & Noble
Waterford Lakes Town Center
481 N Alafaya Trail

Barnes & Noble
Florida Mall
8358 S Orange Blossom Trail

Altamonte Springs, FL

Barnes & Noble
Altamonte Mall
451 Altamonte Drive

Borders
880 W State Road 436

Casselberry, FL

Books-A-Million
S Hwy 17/92

I'm now home from Florida for awhile. Tonight, I'm heading back to Fenway to catch the Red Sox and the Texas Rangers. Brad Penny's on the mound for the Sox, so it should be a great game.

Patriots' Day

Yesterday was a government holiday that's little-known outside of Massachusetts. The third Monday in April is officially Patriots' Day. I always think of it as a sports holiday, even though--despite the name--it's not the day on which Bay Staters celebrate the New England Patriots. (You'd think with all the Super Bowl wins...assuming one ignores last year's fiasco...but no.)

Rather, it's the day of the Boston Marathon, and all 25,000-plus runners go by Fenway Park while the Red Sox play a home game. I drove in early, and counted 110 buses full of runners making their way out to the starting line in Hopkinton. (The runners mostly stay in Boston, then take buses out to the start the morning of the race.) Lots of cars on the highway had their windows rolled down to wave at the runners and cheer them on. Pretty cool.

Being a holiday, it was a perfect day at Fenway. I got there early and spent some time hanging around on Yawkey Way. The team is raffling off a World Series ring to raise money for the The Red Sox Foundation, so they were letting kids try on the rings (near the 2007 World Series banner, of course. Gotta show off that banner!)



After ring-ogling, I watched NESN's Tom Caron doing his pregame show from a perch alongside RemDawg's, then stood in line in Autograph Alley to meet the über-cool 1967 Cy Young Award winner Jim Lonborg. (BTW...I rate Lonborg particularly high on my personal cool meter because, after he finished his baseball career, he went to dental school and became Dr. Lonborg. Realize, though, that both my dad and one of my brothers are dentists, so your cool mileage may vary.)



He was kind enough to sign both a ball and a photo for me, and no, they will not be appearing on eBay.

However, the best part of the day was the game itself. Have I mentioned how much I love my seats? Fenway is one of those places that feels like a second home. I know which of the Aramark guys are generous when handing out mustard for the Fenway Franks, which guys are quickest with the peanuts, and which are most accurate when they hurl the Cracker Jack across two sections. And then there's the view. Took this shot of Jacoby Ellsbury at the start of the game:



Then snapped this photo of David Murphy and Gerald Laird just before the Sox took the game from the Texas Rangers, 8 - 3:



I've gotta say it again. I love my seats. I feel extremely lucky to have them. Of course, apologies of the day go out to my buddy, author Geralyn Dawson, who happens to be a Texas Rangers fan. (They'll win their next one, Ger!)

After the game, I walked along the Boston Marathon route to cheer on the runners. The winners had already finished, but at the 4 - 5 hour mark, there were still plenty of people making the last push along Beacon Street toward the finish line:



Congrats to all who entered the race. Running a marathon is a huge accomplishment, especially the Boston Marathon with all its hills. Hope that, in the end, your Patriots' Day was as enjoyable as mine!