Glancing Back & Looking Ahead

It’s been a busy week here at Grubby Glove. I published three blog posts, Baseball Card Pack Choices, the logical conclusion to a recent shopping trip, Topps Tries Alliteration & So Do I, where I gave my imagination full sway, and Postcard Fun, in which a postcard served as the framework for a fun ramble through some baseball history. But I did much more than that…

I also watched a bunch of baseball games. I saw the Red Sox pound the Orioles on Tuesday, and the Orioles pound the Red Sox on Wednesday. Both teams can really hit and poundings like these are going to occur. The Mets defeated the Marlins in a sixteen-inning, 9 to 8 marathon on Thursday night. When that ended, I flipped to the Giants game, which they lost to the Rockies, 3 to 1, and suddenly the G’s are 0-3 in Madison Bumgarner’s starts this year.

I also listened to several podcasts, including Gary Mack’s Mets Musings, which artfully tells the happenings of the boys in orange and blue each week. Gary’s been a Mets fan and a baseball fan for a long time and is very knowledgeable. The show has a nice, comfortable feel to it. He can go solo, but will often bring in guests with podcasts of their own, and the resulting conversations are very informative. I caught the edition where Gary talked with Rich Baxter, of the Phillies Talk podcast, and I feel for Rich, because I know what it’s like to go through rebuilding seasons rooting for a bad team. I figure it’s going to be until the 2019 season when Rich’s Phillies will be fully competitive. But Gary seemed happy and sounded upbeat, and why not? The last time I checked the Mets were 7-3 and in 1st place in the NL East.

I’ve been thinking about the blog, and it feels great to be writing posts for Grubby Glove again after a three-year layoff. Many friends have asked me to explain my three year absence from blogging, and I’ve given it significant thought, but I still cannot explain it. For three years I couldn’t even sit down to write, let alone write. Now, all of a sudden, I can’t stop writing. As to the direction I’ll take in the near future, if past performance is an indication of future blog posts, it will be all over the map, but my intuition tells me the following topics will be included:

Teams: So far I’ve only written at length about three teams, and that was in my short-lived “Looking at the 2017 Season” series. What about the other twenty-seven? Will I get to them? The answer is yes. Teams undergo all sorts of changes during the long slog we call a baseball season, and it will be at various points during that long slog that I will get to them.

Bryan Stow: When I see the progress Bryan has made I am absolutely astounded. No man that I’ve known has been handed a sack of lemons this size, yet Bryan’s response is courageous, inspiring and indefatigable. His “lemonade” of sharing his commitment to “no bullying” by giving inspiring talks to school groups throughout the greater Bay Area is among the finest things I’ve ever seen.

Baseball Card Shows: The annual TriStar Show at the Cow Palace is coming up, and that will be good for a post or two. I do a lot of buying at this show, some of it for myself, some of it for my baseball card trading pals in other parts of the country and some of it for kids in the neighborhood. My purchases will bridge the full gap from the dime box to the autograph and relics cards. Other baseball card shows dot this year’s calendar, and I’ll write about them as well.

Honorary 1962 New York Mets: This is an intermittent series dedicated to my beloved 1962 New York Mets, an inept bunch that many historians consider the worst baseball team ever. They taught me more ways to lose baseball games than I ever dared to imagine. During that inaugural season, they won 40 and lost 120 games, finishing 60 and a half games out of first place. In order to be recognized, a current or retired player, manager or team has to do something reminiscent of the 1962 Mets. Trust me, this isn’t easy, but when someone does, I’ll be ready.

The Fans: I’m going to introduce a new category where I’ll be talking to fans of a variety of clubs. I’ll let them tell their stories, making certain to ask questions that will get to the heart of their experience in terms of players, managers and seasons. This category will include many of YOU!

Stay tuned.

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Mets Musings logo used by permission.

Bryan Stow photo: John Burgess/The Press Democrat