I miss writing, so I’ve started this Substack so I can fall in love with writing again.
When I was young, writing provided me comfort. My parents were divorced, my sister left home early, I didn’t get invited to high school parties, so I spent a lot of time alone. Writing became my companion. Unless the topic was Sports, especially baseball, I was painfully shy. Writing taught me how to talk, how to form sentences and then speak those sentences.
When really awful things have happened to me, or people who I care about deeply, I’ve turned to writing. It’s therapeutic. Writing is the best way for me to try making sense of life when life is senseless.
I met most of my closest friends because of writing. My time at The Daily Aztec was the highlight of my experience at San Diego State University. I learned from my peers, taught my peers, bonded with my peers, and they are my dearest friends.
I used to get paid to write. I was a reporter for 10 years at The Oakland Tribune, advancing from high school sports to San Francisco Giants beat reporter, and then onto the Oakland Athletics beat. I filled-in with coverage on the Raiders, Warriors, Cal, Stanford, weekend warriors, you name it. I’ve authored three books. I’ve written freelance articles for The Washington Post, Baseball America, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, ESPN.com, MiLB.com, Albuquerque The Magazine, and plenty more that I’ve forgotten.
I left the newspaper industry for a reason. Actually, many reasons. My newspaper was merging with two others. I was going to have new editors. The future for newspapers was bleak. I was tired of the daily grind of minutiae required of a baseball beat writer. But mostly, I left because I got a chance at what I always wanted to do: play-by-play announcer for a professional baseball team.
I’ve now been broadcasting almost twice as long as I spent writing. That’s crazy to me. I’m currently the play-by-play announcer for the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Colorado Rockies Triple-A affiliate. It truly is a dream job. I have zero desire to return to writing on a regular basis. But I still want to write something:
That’s why this Substack is perfect.
What you should expect from my Substack
All the experts say the key to a successful blog is have a specific topic and stick to it.
That’s tough for me. My mind spins too fast. I have too many diverse interests.
I will primarily write about baseball. It will not be breaking news, or previews of games, or recaps of games, or scouting reports. I’ll share memories of my time in baseball, take a big picture look at current trends, and probably get on some rants about smart people in power making short-sighted decisions.
It won’t only be baseball. I’m interested in exploring why all Sports matter to us and how Sports intersect with culture. I don’t know if “sports culture critic” is a real title, but that’s my working description until we workshop a better idea.
I can give you a few examples of upcoming topics because I’ve already written most of these:
Memories from Game Six of the 2002 World Series, the two stories I was writing simultaneously, and an enduring controversy over a game ball.
Two trades that led to three different teams winning a World Series in three years.
Why is it so hard to break up your favorite Sports team?
When former pro athletes go on podcasts and tell hilarious stories about alcohol and/or drugs, does it matter if they’re true? Is it better if we don’t know the truth?
When we talk about the decreases in stolen base, and the recent uptick in stolen bases, why are we not talking about how this coincides with the percentage of Blacks playing baseball?
How automatic deposit changed our lives so much that we forget about what life was like before that, and how that led to a one-day players strike for a Chicago White Sox minor league team.
Why did it take so long for Major League Baseball teams to treat their minor league players with dignity, when they missed out on the ultimate competitive advantage that they currently seek through analytics?
Okay, I get it, some of those are pretty heavy topics. Don’t worry. I’m not going to be serious all the time. I’m also not going to write about Sports all the time. I’m also going to write some really light funny essays. I haven’t written these, but they are on my list:
The pathetic reason I joined TikTok that will make a lot of sense if it works.
Whenever I go to a different city, which is often, I’ll write something about that city. Hopefully, these travel logs will make you laugh. My annual football trip with a couple close friends is upcoming. It’s always hilariously stupid and I can’t wait to capture it all.
If you’re addicted to playing “Immaculate Grid” and like alcohol, I created some drinking games that are super fun. Yes, we’ll be filming our mis-adventures for TikTok.
Gift ideas for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s and Father’s Day, and birthdays.
I also recently went to an independent professional wrestling show, and somebody named “Hobo Hank” – who apparently is the manager of a local Chili’s – was thrown off a ladder, while in the ring, through some wooden tables, located outside the ring, and didn’t die. If I don’t write about a future match like this, what’s the point of this newsletter?
I think I’m going to write about mental health and relationships too. I say think because those are subjects I’ve always avoided. The concept of publicly sharing to the world my insecurities, or my regrets, or my fear of not living up to my potential, is terrifying.
Just typing the words that indicate I’m going to potentially type those words in detail at some point in the indefinite future for strangers to read is giving me anxiety. I specifically have one in mind about the worst four months of my life and how (I think) I got through it. I’ll probably need a bunch of wine for that essay.
Anyway, I’m going to write advice columns geared toward book authors and broadcasters. I’ve been fortunate to get a lot of outstanding practical advice over the years. I’ve also learned through a lot of trial and error. It’s time to pay it forward. Since I’ve informally helped authors and broadcasters over the years, via one-on-one discussions, I’ll detail those thoughts into advice columns. I’ll organize community conversations with like-minded people over Zoom so we can all learn from each other.
I’ll post some Q&A’s with people I find interesting so we can learn what makes them tick, share some laughs, and feel better about life.
And finally, I’m going to write posts that aggregates the work of others that I enjoyed and want to share with others. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from a career working in the media is to celebrate the work of others.
What my Newsletter will cost
Right now, nothing. All posts are free. I want to get back into the writing habit, build a library of interesting essays, and get you into the habit of reading my work.
Full disclosure: at some point, I’ll shift to a hybrid model where one post a week is free and the rest are behind a paywall. The cost will be $5 month a month or $50 a year. If you want to start supporting my work immediately, here’s a link that will make it convenient for you.
Once we get this community growing, subscribers will get access to special Zoom discussions about writing books, marketing books, play-by-play announcing tips, do’s and don’ts in interviews, plus any other topics where we have a shared desire to engage and learn from each other.
I’m excited to fall in love with writing again. Hope you subscribe and come along for the journey.