You Guys Really Missed Out

First of all, congratulations to the Atlanta Braves, who clinched a playoff spot last night with their walk-off defeat of the Miami Marlins, but especially to Kris Medlen, who tied a record set in 1950-53, by Whitey Ford and the New York Yankees. Kris is the best pitcher in baseball right now, but make no mistake, this is a record that can only be won by a great team.

Now, that's not what I meant when I titled this post. You missed out because one of my best internet writing friends has changed the rules on his First Impact Critiques. Adam Heine is one of the smartest guys I know. He's also one of the kindest and most giving, but that's beside the point. The point is that he has this series he does, critiquing anything from queries, to jacket copy, to first pages, to even short synopses. To quote him "basically anything under 300 words that is used to answer the question, 'Do I want to read this book?'"

He's still open to accepting submissions for the critiques, but due to lack of submissions, he's had to stop offering the prizes. He used to give away Amazon gift cards, or even better, critiques from his agent, Tricia Lawrence, to readers who commented with their own feedback on the posts.

I'm here to tell you that you should send him something. Yes, even if I've already critiqued your query, you should send it to Adam. He's very good at what he does. His forte is Science Fiction and Fantasy, but I've seen him critique everything from Erotica to Mystery, and he always does so with skill and style.

I don't know if he'll open up the prizes again if I send him enough people, but it doesn't matter. The critiques themselves are worth it on their own. So head over to his blog, read Pawn's Gambit, check the First Impact page, and hit him up. You won't regret it.

Optimism

First off - how bout them Seahawks?

Now, anyway, we took the kidlets to the Braves vs. Nationals on Saturday afternoon, and in spite of a dismal beginning, it turned out to be the best baseball game I've ever seen live.

We'd originally planned on going on Sunday, because it was a one o'clock game, and kids are allowed to run the bases after. My nephew, Bryce, started playing baseball this year, and would have loved to run the bases. But that was a big game, so MLB moved it to 8PM, and we had to change our plans.

We got a great deal on club level seats, which is pretty awesome, because they're great seats, but in spite of that, the game looked like it would be pretty disappointing at first. The main reason I wanted to go was to have one final chance to see Chipper Jones play at Turner Field. If you know anything about baseball, you know that Chipper is a first-ballot hall of famer, and possibly the best switch-hitter to ever play the game. So when we got to our seats, and I saw that not only was Tommy Hanson pitching, but Chipper wasn't starting, I was prepared to be furious.

Then, things got worse when we went down 4-0 by the top of the second. It looked like it was going to be a long, hard day. But I stayed optimistic, and kept an open mind, knowing the kids would enjoy themselves regardless, as long as they got cotton candy and ice cream (which they did), so I was pleasantly surprised when Freddy Freeman and Jason Heyward tied the game up by the sixth, and then Chipper came into the game.

The stands went wild as he stepped to the plate:

And my nephew started choppin':

Sadly, no hit for Chipper, but he did walk, and was on base as a hit batsman (Andrelton Simmons - welcome back!) drove in the eventual winning run. Here is in a powwow at third, while the Washington manager was getting tossed from the game at first:

Then, eventually, it was 5-4 in the top of the ninth, and we got to see my favorite Brave come in for the save:

I wish I could've gotten a better photo, but I only had my phone, so in case you cant' tell, that's Craig Kimbrel, the best young closer in the game.

He let one hitter on base with a single to left, but otherwise struck out the side, and put a perfect ending on what turned out to be a great day.

Here are a few other photos:

Mom and the kids.

That's how I wanna spend my 95th birthday.

Club-level seats, even the kids love em!

So that's it. How was your weekend? I've got some queries coming up soon, and then some tours and guest posts, so hopefully I'm going to be able to get back into the swing of blogging. I hope you all will start coming back to read. Anyway, have as good a Monday as you can!

Let's Take it Back to the Old School

I'm not even going to discuss the Atlanta Braves, the (current) Boston Red Sox, or mention the fact that they both just broke records for the worst end of season collapse in the history of baseball.

Er, wait - I just did mention it, didn't I? Well I'm not going to discuss it any further, because I'm disgusted. Instead, I'm going to discuss something else that disgusts me, because I feel like it.

You probably weren't aware of this, but there was a close race in the National League this season, between Jose Reyes, of the New York Mets, and Ryan Braun, of the Milwaukee Brewers, for the batting title. Before yesterday, Reyes was in the lead with an average of .347. What he did to secure his lead in yesterday's game was lame, as far as I'm concerned.

Jose Reyes bunted on his first at-bat, which with his speed almost guaranteed a hit. That in itself is not a big deal, but what he did next is a sign, to me, of what's wrong with our culture these days. He asked his manager to take him out of the game. He did. This preserved his average, meaning he did not have any strikeouts, groundouts, or outs of any kind that day, which could have lowered his average.

He should have played the rest of the game, because Ryan Braun ended up going 0 for 4 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Reyes would have won no matter what.

Anyway, you're probably wondering why Ted Williams is up there, assuming you knew that was Ted Williams. Ted is up there because I want to use him to illustrate how things should be done.

70 years ago, Ted Williams was in the same position as Jose Reyes - poised to take the title, and with a decision to make. His situation was a bit more historic though. He had a .3996 batting average, something which is essentially unheard of. The last day of the season was a double header. He could have sat out, which his manager suggested, and MLB would have rounded his average up to .400.

What did Ted do? He did what any self-respecting hero and role model would. He played both games, went 6 for 8, and ended up with a legitimate .406 batting average. No one has ever had an average of over .400 since.

Not one single player.

Kids, don't be like Jose Reyes. Be like Ted Williams.

He played for the Boston Red Sox. I bet they wish they had him back.