First Pitch: Day Seven

8 Dec 2021

I don’t know if I’ve ever really revealed this, but Wednesday is my day off.

I can’t tell you how long this has been in place. I can tell you that for the last few months, my Wednesdays are exclusively reserved for catching up on sleep from a busy start to the week, followed by a trip to Five Guys for a big lunch to make up for missed meals to start the week, followed by a trip to the comic book store for the latest releases to de-stress and focus away from baseball before I get back to the grind the next day.

You probably wouldn’t notice, because most of what I write is written days in advance. Not everything. Sometimes I’m writing almost live about an article I’ve been thinking about all day.

This is one of those times.

It’s 12:15 AM. I’m not exactly winging this First Pitch update. It’s an idea I wrote down over the weekend, and the specific article was something I thought about a lot today while fighting off a migraine and trying to do all of my behind the scenes stuff.

Once this article gets posted, I’ll have another two-plus hours of writing, in which I’ll be aiming to get the final 3-4 articles I’ve been working on finished. You’ll see those running through Thursday here and on Pirates Prospects.

These writing blocks, like the one I’m actively in right now, come at a point of pause in my life. Most of my time is spent researching. Or theorizing. Or reading. Or collecting information. Then, thinking about it all together. That’s my actual writing time.

When I sit down in front of the computer, it’s just to organize the thoughts I had bouncing around in my mind from the combination of several different sources, and presenting them in a way to give my own summary that is ideally more conclusive than you can find anywhere. Realistically, it won’t always be more conclusive than what other people provide.

I’m explaining my process as a writer because in those moments when my mind is focused on writing, and unloading the information I’ve collected and compared, that is the moment when my best articles come together.

That same process is what Ethan Hullihen has been doing with the lockout coverage. This weekend, we talked about him doing a series of articles on the lockout. I don’t know anyone who consumes more information on the business of baseball than Ethan. Getting him to unload what he knows will probably make this all make a lot more sense for a lot of us.

Yesterday, his introduction into why all of this is happening started a series that has two more articles. The next one will go live at 8 AM today, giving a very detailed look at what the players are seeking. The final article of the series will go up on Thursday morning.

On at Pirates Prospects, I’ll have a column on the minor league Rule 5 draft. We will have a live thread over here at No Quarter in the afternoon to discuss any picks that are made, or any players lost. The draft begins at 2:00 PM EST. Join us for all of the updates.

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I’ve been thinking about making the Wednesday morning First Pitch the dedicated Site Update of the week. For example, today’s is just to say that I’m excited by the article schedule we have coming up. My goal with this site has always been to present the most information I could find, but to also find people who also have information that is more of the niche variety.

I think that Ethan is going to be the best source to follow to summarize everything that is going on. I’m excited to see this series of his getting published, and I’m using it to better understand what is taking place.

I love that I don’t have to write about what is taking place, as my version would be much worse than Ethan’s, and it would detract from minor league coverage. Now, I can focus on the Rule 5 draft, but also, the state of the Pirates’ rebuild. Just as the business of baseball is Ethan’s wheelhouse, the prospect coverage is mine.

As for First Pitch, it’s going to be my lockout musings. I’m experimenting with this, and trying to provide discussion and thought provoking topics, so go easy on me. But also, don’t. Because I might double down on something I truly believe in, and write a much better reasoned article the next time around.

I’d also like to have daily themes to distract from the lockout, and to encourage group discussions. And, I don’t want them to be baseball themes. So, here is what I have outlined. First Pitch goes up around midnight to start each day.

Monday – Baseball Memories (I’ll share one of my baseball memories. You share one of yours.)

Tuesday – Streaming Suggestions (A day where I ask you for streaming suggestions and realize how little TV I watch these days.)

Wednesday – Site Updates (A day for me to tell you what’s going on behind the scenes. You tell me what you want to see.)

Thursday – Comic Books (A day for me to write about the latest Marvel movie, show, comic books, etc. Let me have this.)

Friday – Dranks (What new craft beer have you tried? What new strain of weed have you smoked? The weekend is arriving, how are you winding down?)

Saturday – Music (I’ll review new music, and ask for suggestions on your latest discoveries.)

Sunday – Poetry (This is one of my side projects, and I’m going to test some of my stuff out over here.)

As for baseball writing, I’m hoping that next week I’ll be able to get back to a point of regular writing over at Pirates Prospects.

I have some articles that I’m really excited to finally write, both on individual players and the overall system, with information that I haven’t seen reported anywhere else.

That’s my goal here. Fill those information gaps with niche research.