Happy Holidays from the Long Game

Plus some announcements!

(Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Hi friends-

A few announcements:

• Our next book club selection is “Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original” by the great Howard Bryant (also a treasured member of our Long Game community!). We will discuss Howard’s book over zoom during the first week of February, date and time TBD.

• There will be no Lab zoom this Saturday as I’ll be traveling to the snow with a little dog who has never seen snow (pray 4 us). For those of you who are in the Artist’s Way course, we will still meet up over zoom on Monday.

• Shameless plug: If you are scrambling for last minute Christmas or Hanukkah gift ideas, you could always support me and my work by giving the gift of the Long Game. Being an independent journalist is hard but you guys make it possible for me to put treats in Canelo’s mouth. Thank you:

• My year-end wrap-ups are all coming soon, including what I got right and what I got wrong from my 10 bold predictions to start the season (I….got a lot wrong). If you don’t want to miss my roasting myself be sure to take out a paid sub now:

• Oh and East Coasters (and Maddie, Dennis, and Yvonne): mark your calendars for our Long Game meet-up at Fenway Park the weekend of July 25-26-27 for Dodgers vs. Red Sox. I *think* our official meet-up game will happen on Saturday the 26th, and we’ll meet for lunch beforehand. We are going to pick new stadiums every year, and hey, our visit to Citi Field on Memorial Day this year turned the Mets from an unwatchable team into the hottest squad in the sport for the season’s final five months. If we do this for the Red Sox, maybe word will get out and other teams will start comping us tickets lol.

Most of all, as I reflect during this holiday season, I have a lot to be grateful for. I’m healthy, my family is healthy, my dog is healthy. I have heat in my apartment and I’m about to give the six year-old in my life her first box of baseball card packs to open on Christmas morning:

I love you all, and I think you for your support as I navigate this new media landscape and try to carve out a sane and friendly sports space that baseball fans from all 30 teams can enjoy.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year to all from me and Canelo. xx