Burnout

You don't need to be an eagle-eyed observer to notice that there's been more desert than baseball around here recently. My actual, real life seems to have done a good job of shoving my online life out of the way for a while.

Not so very long ago, all these missed Sox games - and the numerous blog posts which only ever get written in my head - would have been cause for concern, but I'm at a point in time right now where I don't really care.

I think much of this is due to the fact that I'm stood at a career crossroads right now, looking down a new, scary, fascinating path, and baseball games - as much as I love them - have taken a back seat. Case in point: last night. I dozed off whilst reading, but my in-built baseball clock woke me up at around 1am (just in time for the first pitch of the game). However, instead of leaping out of bed to fire up the PC, I weighed up the pros and cons of getting up to watch Wake do his thing, and the cons - a need to be on-the-ball in an early-morning meeting with my future boss and some of his team - beat out the Red Sox quite easily (just like the Kansas City Royals).

Saturday marks the start of 2 1/2 weeks' vacation for me, and usually this signals the beginning of mild panic attacks at the thought of 18 days without any access to Sox baseball. But this year, I'm off, outta here, hitting the road with barely a glance in the rear-view mirror. I'll try to keep up with at least the scores of the games, but I won't be searching out the nearest Internet café to look for any more details. The Sox will do their thing and I'll do mine, and when I get back, we'll see how this new, slightly platonic relationship is working out.

I know that others have had this feeling of burnout recently, so it's comforting to know that I'm not quite in a minority of one. I like what one of the comments to that post said:

I hear you: I also get a bit discouraged from time to time; my interest in blogging waxes and wanes depending on a lot of things. It's nice to see your hits increase and stuff, but at the end of the day I know that there are a few dedicated people - mainly friends - who read what I have to say and I'm mainly blogging for myself anyway. Some kind of expression, typing out my thoughts, keeping book reviews archived; whatever it might be.

That's me - writing not for world domination, but mainly for myself (to avoid getting locked up in a padded call, as I wrote way back when) and a few dedicated readers. So, dedicated reader, please allow me to echo Ernie's thoughts in his original post:

Anyway [the site]'s not going away, but don't be surprised if the updates are sporadic over the summer. If something exciting or noteworthy happens I may become inspired to write about it.

So keep an eye on your RSS feed - I'll be back when 1) my vacation's over, and 2) I feel inspired to add my two penn'th to the collective wisdom of Red Sox Nation*.

*If you want my honest opinion, that'll probably be about twenty minutes after I set foot back in our apartment. Red Sox - quand tu me tiens...

Mind games

Totally unrelated to baseball, but via Joy of Sox comes this:

Sometimes I think the human mind is the greatest mystery of the universe.

Key to the game

Lots of good stuff in last night's win, but none better than the Sox' 2nd at-bat of the game:

Pedroia was 0-2 after two pitches, but four foul balls and four balls later, he was stood on first base - two on, and nobody out. The AB was key not only because it immediately bumped up Halladay's pitch-count, but also because it signalled the Sox' continued intention to take pitches until they get the ones they want.

At-bats like that are one of the reasons I love this game. Baseball is easy to love when you're watching towering home-runs and dramatic catches in the outfield, but its real essence is to be found in this one-on-one confrontation that happens 60 or 70 times a game. Those who are not fans of the game (*cough* Mrs Iain *cough*) will always ask why nothing is happening during these long at-bats. When that happens, I try to to explain that it's like some elaborate chess match, where all the previous configurations of the matchup are figured into this battle of wits where both pitcher and hitter are trying to get the upper hand for a fraction of a second, but it's hard to convince someone who isn't ready to be convinced.


Hmmm...it would appear I'm waxing lyrical about one at-bat in one game in the middle of July. Methinks I've missed baseball more than I originally thought these past couple of weeks...

Tempting fate

You would find it hard to accuse me of being an especially superstitious baseball fan, but I do have to admit to cringing whenever I read an article with the sub-heading "club is cruising along in '07".

I agree with the idea that the glass is still half-full in Red Sox Nation, but the notion of 'cruising' just seems to push all the wrong buttons in my brain. Given the choice, I'd rather be cruising than speeding foot-to-the-floor towards a breakdown of epic proportions, but I just do not feel comfortable with articles that state, on July 12, "the Red Sox are in the playoffs." [Warning: it's a CHB piece - if you're allergic, please don't click on the link].

Still, the MLB.com article does give us a chance to look back over five classic highlights from the first half of the season which remind us that this club is capable of playing some serious kick-ass baseball. It would be very nice indeed if we could see some more of that tonight against the Blue Jays and get the second half off on the right foot.

A kid's game

I'm not a big fan of the All-Star Game (regardless of whether it 'counts' or not) but I have to say that any occasion on which Jose Reyes - currently making $2.8m as the shortstop of the New York Mets and one of the game's future megastars - catches Willie Mays' ceremonial pitch and then, like a little kid watching BP, whips out a pen to get Mays to sign the ball, can't be all bad.

On a related note: Willie Mays is 76 years old, hasn't played a professional baseball game since 1973, and he still has a better throwing arm than Johnny Damon...

All-round good guys

If watching David Ortiz present Vladimir Guerrero with a 'magic bat' during the Home Run Derby is not enough to convince you that ballplayers are not all major-league assholes, then a look at the Phillies' performance in rescuing the Coors Field grounds crew on Sunday should do the trick.

(Hat tip: Baseball Musings and Balls, Sticks & Stuff).

Bad timing

For the past ten days or so life has been a little crazy - I've had business meetings in both London and Frankfurt, flown with my daughters to drop them off for a week's vacation at my parents' house in Manchester, been offered a new job and handed in my notice at the old one (transforming myself overnight from just another employee into "the guy we'll never be able to replace in such a short period of time..."). Basically, I've done everything but watch baseball regularly.

Of course, Murphy's Law clearly states that when life eases up and you have some time to chill out at home and enjoy some Sox games, there are no Sox games to watch, because it's the All Star Game. Given the Tigers' sweep of the Sox over the weekend, this is probably no bad thing. The three days off will give the Sox - and me - an opportunity to recharge the batteries and be ready to go against the Blue Jays on Thursday. In the meantime, I'm sure Mrs. Iain is delighted to have Winter Guy around for a few evenings, even if that means having to put up a fight for control of the TV remote!