Waiting 18 months between posts here … you would think we’d have a lot of catching up to do.
You would think.
Do you have friends from long-ago that you’ve lost touch with and so you avoid reconnecting because there’s just so much you’d need to recap and who has time for all that and you feel guilty constantly thinking about how much you need to keep in touch but argh the time it will take to do that just paralyzes you and hey it’s not like they’ve reached out to you after all this time and then finally you send a quick one-word text hi because it’s been so long you’re not even sure you have their right number anymore and then moments later they text hi back and you drop right into a rhythm as if no time had passed at all?
Hi.
I’m sure there is much we have to catch up on. But, in many ways there’s not so much.
Still three cats. But Mookie Wilson-Betts is now diabetic and I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear about that. Although I think he’d appreciate if I mention that he is an incredibly good patient what with all of the poking and prodding we must do to twice-daily to check his blood sugar and stick him with little squirts of insulin. (Perhaps we have told him that the insulin will, if he is good, give him super powers. Perhaps we have told him that the insulin will give him the ability to fly. Please don’t ruin this for us.)
There. Consider us caught up. Oh and this …
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the Baltimore Orioles, the AL East Champions who won 101 games in 2023, do far better when I’m not posting on here all the time.
Not that it hurts my feelings or anything.
Yesterday was Opening Day for college baseball. Temperature at game time in Charlottesville was a balmy, breezy, rather freeze’y 53 degrees.
Sure, maybe 53 isn’t cold … to you. But, this is my story, people.
Baseball is a summer sport and I’m grateful for that. Baseball in February, however, is the nature of the collegiate calendar and requires dressing in extra layers. (There were children in shorts at yesterday’s game which leads me to believe that, maybe, Gen Alpha are the living human embodiment of global warming.)
“Base-ball weather was very scarce. There was no sun visible and a cold, raw wind wafted through the grand stand and swept along the bleachers. Still, 4,000 friends of the champions braved the elements and courted pneumonia in order to welcome the club home from its Southern trip.”
– The Baltimore Sun, 4/15/1895
(It was 48 degrees on Orioles’ Opening Day, 1895. Tell me, have you missed my random 19th-century baseball asides?)
A piece of my camera broke off as I was getting ready for the game. It’s been a while.
Opening Day should be more than just the game. It should have a tradition.
It should, I believe, begin with pizza. And, if it’s a game in Charlottesville, a stop at Christian’s Pizza on your way to “The Dish” at the University of Virginia should be your choice. (The one at Forest Lakes is right on our way.)
Absolutely Delicious.
The University of Virginia Cavaliers defeated the Hofstra Pride on Friday, 10-8.
It was a cold game and a tough one for the pitchers.
Virginia had three E-1 errors, all on pickoff moves to first. There was a run-scoring wild pitch later in the game somewhere, too.
And, poor Hofstra pitchers. Their starter had a strong outing, but he was followed by a bullpen that ultimately hit three players (one scored), walked five, and, in the 8th inning, gave up three runs on wild pitches (one of those wild pitches might have been a passed ball, but at that point, it was hard to tell).
But, this was nice.
And, look! It’s future Boston Red Sox superstar catcher Kyle Teel’s younger brother Aiden …
… getting his first college save.
About midway through the game a foul ball wedged itself between the netting and the side of the Virginia dugout.
A small boy came down to dislodge the ball thinking he could shimmy his hand under the netting and pull the ball out (Gen Alpha may also be spatially challenged because that was never going to happen).
An even smaller child – a little girl – came down to help. I’m going to just go ahead and call them siblings.
Her smaller hand was able to squeeze through the net and her fingertips just reached the ball.
At which point, the ball rolled away and fell into the dugout.
I’m sure you think I’m about to tell you that someone in the dugout saw all this unfold and retrieved the ball for the kids.
That didn’t happen.
What did happen was the boy gave his sister an annoyed shove as they went back to their seats.
See, things don’t always work out the way you think.
Still, there was baseball. It might be cold. Wild pitches might be thrown. Sisters might get shoved when they were just trying to help.
But, baseball’s back.
Maybe I am, too. We’ll see.
The Baseball Bloggess 
Welcome back, Bloggess!
Thank you! :)
Welcome back Jackie. Impressive first sentence that could possibly be mistaken for a novelette. Probably brought on by your year and a half journalistic backup. If you are hearty enough to be in the stands today I hope you are taking full advantage of the limitless free hot chocolate. At 39 degrees you will certainly need it.
I was tapping my inner James Joyce in that sentence there. Much sharper 21-3 performance from the Wahoos on Saturday. Maybe I’ll see you at the Dish this season! :)
I have so missed this blog. Thanks for checking in.
Thank you for missing me. I’ll try to stick around this time. (And, Randy says “hey.”)
A win for them on opening day and a win for me reading a new post from my favorite baseball writer.
Wendy, Your ability to write, even when I know you probably don’t feel like it, is an inspiration. I’m going to do my best, to stretch like Rose Mary Woods, erase the missing 18 months on this blog, and move forward. (I wonder if anyone will read this and Google Rose Mary Woods to figure out what that meant?) :)
I remember Mz Woods
You’re so kind to refer to my spotty at best presence here as inspiration, but I’ll take it. I had missed your being part of my baseball season last year, but I truly understand not feeling the pull of the commitment to write. For what it’s worth, I miss that too. Here’s to the crack of the bat in 2024!
While I wasn’t sure if the O’s success would be sufficient, I had hoped the start of Spring Training would help, and then saw that the Hoos would open Friday. Said to self, “Self, you’ve kept the faith ’til now, she must be close, how can she resist?” Yay! I can return the rally hat to its original shape. Anything is possible!!
Welcome back!
Keep that rally cap handy. Although I’m going to do my best to pivot away from the other things I have to write, to type some words here from time to time. 18 months of silence .. that’s just too empty! And, thank you for giving me a gentle nudge from time to time to not give up the blog.
So glad you are writing your blog again! I’ve missed it & missed you 😉
Nancy
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Thanks, Nancy! Go Hoos!
Welcome back! Yes, they won 101 but they could have used your posts in the playoffs! Glad to see you’re back!
Thanks, Michael. Yup, the playoffs sort of showed how the O’s were still a bit young. But, now they’re battle tested. I think it could be an exciting and fun year for Birdland.
So glad to have you back! I had been thinking I just got dropped from the list. Hope you have a gre
Hi Amie, Yes, that 18-month disappearance was tough and then it was hard to collect myself to write again. But, I’ll try to keep at it. There’s so much bad news in the world, I feel like turning this into a simple, little joy nook is needed.
Welcome Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Birds
v
Hi v! I’m looking forward to that Dodger’s / O’s World Series this October. You must be pretty excited by the Dodger’s prospects, talk about a stacked team. (And, you know, I’ll always root for Mookie and UVa’s Chris Taylor … unless … well, unless they’re playing the O’s of course!)
I enjoyed your observations of the game, the chase for the foul ball and what not and loved how you put the return to a friend – “drop right into a rhythm as if no time had passed at all.” So true and so wonderful, the same with loving baseball. It’s always there for us after a brief hiatus. It was exciting (for both the Brewers and Orioles) to make that trade for Corbin Burnes. Should help both teams. Welcome back. Here’s to many more posts!
Thanks Steve. Yes, I’m excited about Corbin Burnes. Trading for a strong arm is a good sign for the O’s and a new era under new ownership. I’ve missed being on here and I’ve especially missed losing touch with the great writers who populate my WordPress reader, which I’ve neglected over the past many months. Especially you. I’ll get back on track soon — I may need to binge read all of your posts that I’ve missed.
I’m glad you feel that way about the writers on your wordpress reader and appreciate your kind words Jackie. It’s one of the great parts about wordpress, the little writing groups that form. I’m looking forward to your next post.
And a warm(er than the weather) welcome back from the soggy West Coast.
Full sympathies to Mr. Mookie. We’re going through the same diabetes thing with Kokoro. We find that giving her a few pieces of freeze-dried salmon after the shot makes her more accepting of the indignity and reminds her to eat.
Go M’s! Go O’s! (And I’ll even add a Go A’s! with a heaping side order of “sit and spin” for the Commish and the Fish.)
This is our 2nd diabetic cat — both times due to spleen issues and not weight. But, the previous cat was before all the new treatment options (I was testing her daily with a human glucometer and just sort of winging it when it came to figuring out what that number translated to in “cat.”) Mookie is a good patient — he rounds up for testing and his numbers are staying good with his twice daily insulin “super juice” shots. I hope Kokoro is doing well, too! (And, yes, Mookie has learned the joys of a little freeze-dried chicken and salmon, too!)
Happy to read you again. Cheers!
Thanks, Paul … I’m still a little rusty, but working on it!
So glad you’re back, Blogess! Things being what they are, here in the SF Bay Area, my faith has been getting shaky, but there’s nothing like one of your posts to steady me- especially now that Spring has returned. Watching the Orioles last year, I thought of you a great deal. I hope you enjoyed the ride! What the heck. Let’s play ball!
Thank you, John! The benefit of coming back to this site is getting to hear from people I’ve missed … like you! I’m still a little rusty, but I’m looking forward to being more “alive” on here this season. And, I’m thinking that Blake Snell has brightened up your spring training days! :)