I am not gonna lie. I wanted my team to still be in the playoffs when I featured baseball on my October Things Giveaway. But you can’t always get what you want, as the song goes. Which brings to mind another song I’ve prepared for the occasion of Bobby Cox’s retirement. We’ll get to the baseball giveaway goodies, but first a little baseball philosophy…
A Tribute to Bobby (Sung to the tune of “My Way”)
And now the end is here, and Bobby faced the final showdown.
My friends, I’ll say it clear, I wished we’d had more of a hoedown.
He gaves us fits, he gave us thrills,
He gave us cheers along the highway.
And more, much more than that,
He did it his way.
For what is a coach, without a team?
If he can’t yell, or really scream?
To say the things he truly means,
Get thrown from games and make big scenes!
The record’s done, his Braves sure won!
Doing it hiiiiis waaaaay!
I’m seriously a little farklempt here. So I better move on to the goodies you can win:
1. A really neat sports card album from 2000’s FanFest (AllStar game tie-in). Juniorest Hall filled up one album, but never used the other. So wheee for you! Um, you’ll have to get your own cards.
2. A crafty Braves pin that you can wear next year…or try making one with your favorite team’s colors. Honestly, I thought I’d get my preschoolers or Girl Scouts to try this craft, but as those kids are 20ish now, the time has come to give up on this idea.
3. A shiny baseball charm bracelet that I thought I’d wear when Juniorest Hall played baseball. Then he switched to golf. So, yeah, never quite got around to wearing it. But I polished it nicely for y’all.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. What’s this baseball stuff have to do with writing? If you want to win, leave a comment by October 16th telling me how baseball and writing connect. Then we’ll all know.
(P.S. Want extra chances? Sign up to follow me, send a friend over, tweet about this post…oh, you know the drill.)
Cathy C. Hall Writes 
No need to enter me in the contest, Cathy. I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry to hear about your team. 😦 (I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Rays for tonight.)
Thanks, Madeline. It was tough, but I'm cheering for y'all now, too.
Well, you can stop cheering now, Cathy. Sigh. The Rays are done. 😦
Hi Cathy,Love your ode to Bobby Cox. You should send it to local radio stations. Sorry about the Braves. Some ex-Cardinals are on your team and I was rooting for them to do well. I'm also rooting for the Phillies because Ryan Howard is from St. Louis and went to high school in St. Charles.Now, for your question about baseball and writing: Baseball and writing are alike in many ways. Here are some that come to mind: * Practice, practice, practice.* Most of the hard work goes on behind the scenes.* Ideas = Ball (gotta toss em around to get good)* Good ideas = glove (gotta be ready to catch the good ones)* Pen/Computer = Bat (tools of the trade)* Paper/computer screen = Field (where we perform)* Coach = Mentor (or agent or publisher)* Fans = family and friends* Errors = early drafts (or computer glitches)* Hits/runs = contest wins or publishing credits* Critics = critique group (in a good way)* There's always pressure to produce. * Your friends and family cheer you on to win and pick you up when you don't.* Sometimes you have to "play ball" with editors and agents to get published.* People from New York win a lot. (Sad but true)* Fans are fickle, but true fans will love you no matter what.Donna V.http://donnasbookpub.blogspot.com
Now, see? Donna knows what I'm talking about! Thanks for making the baseball/writing connection-sheer brilliance!Um, Madeline, I know. And I'm sorry. You know what the true fan says: Just you wait till next year. 🙂
How are baseball and writing connected? They are both the results of team effort. Many times we have people in our lives who cheer us on whether we are winning or not. Sometimes we may hit a hommer but most of the time we just get on base and slowly make it home with a little help from others. We may start out being in the outfield and then discover we can pitch after all. When we network, someone else may go to bat for us. All in all, both writing and baseball take alot of work.
Oops! I spelled homer wrong.
Don't want the prizes, just want to tell you, your blog is a prize in itself. Love your parody song. I wrote one for Valentine's Day that won a complete wedding package and live telecast of our wedding. So keep on writing those songs.
Don't hate me because my team is in the playoffs…yay Doc! My cousin was at the no-hitter and is ecstatic. His son is devastated because he missed it.I contributed to a baseball book and it's just about the only thing I know about baseball so here goes…Baseball is like writing because we're both wacky superstitious. Baseball players wear the same clothes when they're on a streak. I do weird things when I send out a partial or pitch an editor. I've also been know the kiss the mailbox!Cathy, wrote an article about golf a few years back(another thing I know nothing about…how do I get these assignments?). Turns out they have tons of golf scholarships at colleges and the majority don't get used because no one applies. You don't even have to be very good(depending on how strong the golf team is at the college your son likes). Baseball players on the other hand are lining up for scholarship money. Something to keep in mind.
Thought of another one:outs = rejections.Donna
Oh, how I love me some baseball anaologies! Thanks, Barb, for your insights! And thanks for stopping in here at the Hall.Linda, I've been parodying songs since I was a kid-and I've sold a few-but I've never gotten a wedding package! Your talents continue to amaze and delight me!And Jodi, the Beneficent Mr. Hall stated about three months ago that your team would win the Series. I hate it when he does that (but I think he's right).As for golf, thanks for passing along your info. We did a ton of research in the Southeast when Juniorest Hall was looking for colleges-he found a great school and a great scholarship-and he plays for the golf team. But we didn't find a lot of golf scholarships. Guess there are a LOT of phenomenal golfers in the South!Good luck, y'all!
Um, I mean analogies. And thanks, Donna, for another one! 🙂
More baseball analogies: We may make many foul balls (rejections) but in another stadium those fouls could become homeruns. Also, the players have their bullpens but writers, like me, have their various colors of inkpens. It may take several pitches to get the ball over the plate just like all the pitches writers must throw out.
I'm not sure if the contest is still open or not, but I wanted to stop and say this…think of Harry Carey's voice!Holy Cow, baseball fans! Look at Cathy C.'s great give-away. She has definitely hit a Home Run with her thoughts about writing and baseball being alike. We announcers have to think up all these witty sayings, ya know…such as HOLLLLYYYYY COOOWWWW!