The Second Half Begins

The regular season got back underway last night, putting an end to the most miserable stretch in the schedule from an inaction standpoint. With that, the Twitter suggestion/reader appreciation week comes to a close, too, but not before I do one more … sort of.

Steve Slowinski jokingly suggested a post about Casey Fossum and how he ties everything in the universe together. (Slowinski is a Fossum fan and the finest writing talent DRaysBay has ever produced for those unaware.) This got me to thinking about Fossum, about his razor thing margins, awful facial hair, and his brief stint as a reliever with the Rays. And also about the Fossum Flip – his version of the eephus.

When a pitcher throws a lollipop like the Fossum Flip he has to hold an inordinate amount of luck that the batter hasn’t the faintest clue that the pitch is coming, otherwise it’s all over. We’ve all experienced the feeling of luck. Hell, Joe Posnanski often describes how one day in college he just up and quit accounting only to be covering events for his local paper shortly thereafter. Posnanski only got that gig because a sports editor gave him a shot to see if he had any chaps for the business. That’s luck. We’ve all benefitted from that luck, but still luck.

I consider a large part of my success luck and I don’t feel any the lesser for it. To be surrounded by these writers who dwarf me on a daily basis (I’d be less of a writer and certainly a lesser person without Carson Cistulli around). That we’re writers plodding the same soil rather than pitchmen or sales people is one of the best things about this place and to have David Appelman’s and Dave Cameron’s brilliant leadership to guide everyone is luck too.

And you know, that we all have you folks reading on a daily basis is luck too. You could easily find other things to do with your time rather than perusing, sharing, and commenting our thoughts on baseball, but you choose against it, and that means a ton.

So thank you – really — and here’s to a great second half.