All That's Good In The World

After whining about all that's wrong with baseball, I figure I ought to balance that with all that's good in baseball. Or--hey, why not?--things that are simply good in the world.

In baseball land:

• Mark Buehrle's perfect game. Doesn't matter if you're a White Sox lover or hater, whenever a pitcher pulls this off, it's something to cheer.

• The Rockies are moving into positive territory. I don't believe their sudden uptick in the win column is related to firing Hurdle (sorry, I'm still grumpy about that.) Whatever it is that's going right at Coors Field, I hope it keeps right on going.

• Matt Holliday is now 1,000 miles closer to me, having been traded from the A's to the Cardinals. As I've previously stated, Matt is My Next Husband After Jacoby Ellsbury (and, presumably, after my actual husband.) It may be time for a road trip to St. Louis. Plus, St. Louis has the added attractions of a great ballpark and Albert Pujols. What's not to like?

• I got to add another ballpark to my Been There, Done That list this month! While visiting D.C. for the Romance Writers of America's annual conference, I managed to hop the Metro to catch last Saturday's game between the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs. Beautiful, easily accessible ballpark, friendly employees. I saw lots of players tossing balls to kids in the stands, which earns a team serious brownie points. And best of all, I had great seats, right behind the Nats' dugout.

• Tonight, I'll see the Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles at Fenway. Any day at Fenway is a good day. (Assuming the Sox win, of course!)

And in the real (aka: non-baseball) world:

• I've been writing like mad (thus my relative silence on the blog front.) I've gotten TONS of e-mails asking me what I'm working on. As soon as it's in the can, I'll spill. Until then, I'm superstitious. But suffice it to say that I'm in a happy place with the writing, and I hope readers will be excited about the results.

• Writing has also been happy for Hakeem Bennett of Brooklyn. His essay about heroes won the Stone Arch Books national essay contest, landing him a spot in a Superman comic. I think it's incredibly cool that DC Comics rewards great writing this way. Congrats, Hakeem!

• I had the chance to meet LOTS of readers last week during the Romance Writers of America's booksigning for literacy in Washington, DC. Thanks to all of you who turned out. I love getting the chance to talk about various characters (Val and Georg from the Royally Jacked series still generate the most questions) and to hear what books you're carrying around with you right now. Huge thanks to author Jennifer Echols, who not only stopped by to chat, but who took this shot while I was getting set up for the event:



If I had proper cropping skills, I would. But there you go. It was still a lot of fun, even with those exhibition-hall type ceilings!

Got more happy news? Cool stuff happening in your neighborhood? An AAHHHHH moment you saw on TV? Put it in the comments! It's finally summer at my house (in other words, the rain has stopped at long last!), so I'm in the mood to hear all about your Big Happy.

Patriots' Day

Yesterday was a government holiday that's little-known outside of Massachusetts. The third Monday in April is officially Patriots' Day. I always think of it as a sports holiday, even though--despite the name--it's not the day on which Bay Staters celebrate the New England Patriots. (You'd think with all the Super Bowl wins...assuming one ignores last year's fiasco...but no.)

Rather, it's the day of the Boston Marathon, and all 25,000-plus runners go by Fenway Park while the Red Sox play a home game. I drove in early, and counted 110 buses full of runners making their way out to the starting line in Hopkinton. (The runners mostly stay in Boston, then take buses out to the start the morning of the race.) Lots of cars on the highway had their windows rolled down to wave at the runners and cheer them on. Pretty cool.

Being a holiday, it was a perfect day at Fenway. I got there early and spent some time hanging around on Yawkey Way. The team is raffling off a World Series ring to raise money for the The Red Sox Foundation, so they were letting kids try on the rings (near the 2007 World Series banner, of course. Gotta show off that banner!)



After ring-ogling, I watched NESN's Tom Caron doing his pregame show from a perch alongside RemDawg's, then stood in line in Autograph Alley to meet the über-cool 1967 Cy Young Award winner Jim Lonborg. (BTW...I rate Lonborg particularly high on my personal cool meter because, after he finished his baseball career, he went to dental school and became Dr. Lonborg. Realize, though, that both my dad and one of my brothers are dentists, so your cool mileage may vary.)



He was kind enough to sign both a ball and a photo for me, and no, they will not be appearing on eBay.

However, the best part of the day was the game itself. Have I mentioned how much I love my seats? Fenway is one of those places that feels like a second home. I know which of the Aramark guys are generous when handing out mustard for the Fenway Franks, which guys are quickest with the peanuts, and which are most accurate when they hurl the Cracker Jack across two sections. And then there's the view. Took this shot of Jacoby Ellsbury at the start of the game:



Then snapped this photo of David Murphy and Gerald Laird just before the Sox took the game from the Texas Rangers, 8 - 3:



I've gotta say it again. I love my seats. I feel extremely lucky to have them. Of course, apologies of the day go out to my buddy, author Geralyn Dawson, who happens to be a Texas Rangers fan. (They'll win their next one, Ger!)

After the game, I walked along the Boston Marathon route to cheer on the runners. The winners had already finished, but at the 4 - 5 hour mark, there were still plenty of people making the last push along Beacon Street toward the finish line:



Congrats to all who entered the race. Running a marathon is a huge accomplishment, especially the Boston Marathon with all its hills. Hope that, in the end, your Patriots' Day was as enjoyable as mine!

Say It Isn't So!

The big rumor here in Boston--at least according to the Boston Globe--is that the Red Sox, who've been talking trade with the Twins in order to get pitcher Johan Santana, have thrown Jacoby Ellsbury into the mix.

What are they thinking? The guy scored free tacos for the entire country, fer cryin' out loud!!

Lucky Seven

Game seven ROCKED. Got there early for batting practice, watched former Boston Red Sox player Trot Nixon (now a Cleveland Indian) hit, then talk with Peter Gammons.



Took some shots early in the game...first, of Kevin Youkilis prepping to smack one with Dustin Pedroia on first base, then a shot of Jacoby Ellsbury on third, waiting for the signal to go home.




Unfortunately, the camera battery went before Jonathan Papelbon stood on the pitcher's mound and poured his beer all over the AL Championship trophy after the Red Sox won 11-2. Maybe it's best not to immortalize that moment, anyway.

Made it home just before two a.m., then got up and made a run at buying Rockies tickets for one of the games at Coors Field. No dice...the system crashed. (There go two hours of my productive work time!) I'll try again when they re-post the tickets at noon. Wish me luck!

I think I'm in baseball heaven. I'll be at Fenway for game one on Wednesday night, then head to Seattle for a large group booksigning on Saturday night. If you're in the Seattle area, please hop on over to Bellevue and introduce yourself! There will be many, many authors signing their books, including Julia Quinn, Stella Cameron, Cherry Adair, Elizabeth Boyle, Jane Porter, and a slew of others.

In Praise of Jacoby Ellsbury

Last night, while watching the Sox play the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, I told my husband that I'd figured out the identity of my next husband. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "I believe I've found the next Mr. Nic."

Him: "Uh-huh." (The fact his gaze didn't leave the screen was an additional clue that he wasn't taking me seriously.)

Me: "Any guesses?"

Him, after a pause: "Is your book finished yet? Isn't it due at the end of the month? That's not far off."

Yeah, I let that go. But a few plays later, in the fifth inning, rookie Jacoby Ellsbury made a fantastic catch, racing to the left field line, tripping over the bullpen mound and taking out a folding chair in order to catch a Greg Norton foul ball.

Me: "That's the guy."

Him: "You go for it, Nic." (Again, he just doesn't take me seriously. Smart man.)

What gets me with Ellsbury isn't simply that he's making plays so spectacular they end up on SportsCenter. It's not that he's good-looking (though he is), or even that he's both articulate and interesting when he's interviewed.

What I appreciate about watching him play is that he exhibits a true passion for baseball. He's an in-the-moment player, approaching each game as if it's his one night in the majors. He's completely focused when he's at the plate; when he's in the field, his eye never leaves the ball. Determined athletes like Ellsbury reinvigorate the players around them. They get their teams into the playoffs. They make kids believe that with a lot of hard work, they too can do something great.

I hope he stays in the majors a long time.