The Top of the Second

Marking a year of stretching the definition of "a baseball story" (and the editorial third-person voice) well past the limit.

A few weeks ago I got an email from Roger Jackson, my uncle and part-time lead-chaser here at Project 3.18.

Roger, and my aunt, Robin, have supported my writing since I was a kid, going far beyond the call of familial duty. They’ve applauded the boring, encouraged the bad, and tolerated the truly regrettable—there was some Warcraft fan-fiction in my early teens; they kept that, too—but I believe them when they tell me they enjoy Project 3.18 despite having no deep interest in baseball or even sports. When I hear that, it makes me feel like I’m doing something right.

Roger had been watching the calendar, and he wanted to send me something to mark a subtle but auspicious occasion:

He prints my stories out to read them. Bless his heart, he also sent this photo via a Word document attached to the email.

Now, a disclaimer—we at Project 3.18 do not condone printing out a long-form, weekly publication, and we will make sure that this pile is properly recycled. We’ll also ask Roger to adopt a tree.

With that said, there was something validating about seeing the year this way. Digital publications are weird in that they feel kind of eternal and but also fleeting, and here was a year of that work in a real stack.

Since launching on February 1, 2024, I’ve published 72 posts (we won’t get into the cumulative word count—don’t want to scare anybody off). I’m happy with nearly all of them, and it seems like many of you were, too, which is really the whole thing. And on top of the work, I’ve read a bunch of great stuff, made some new friends, reconnected with old ones, and pitched in on some fabulous projects. I’ve taught myself, I’ve learned from others, I’ve stretched, and I’ve grown.

So, what’s on deck for Year 2?

More stories I don’t even know yet. More from the olden times. More from the 1970s and 1980s. More stories about baseball and more baseball stories that are really about something else. At least one story, I promise, from both the 1990s and the 2000s. More deep-dives and discoveries. More weirdness, more wildness, more that would be hard to believe if it wasn’t so exhaustively sourced and researched.

More stories with players and others connected to the game. More collaborations with other writers and also/especially with fans. Some surprises.

More conversations. Monologues will probably continue to rule, but dialogues with a back-and-forth are a priority. And, maybe, just maybe, I’ll start recording some of these things for those who are driving or walking their dogs.

How much of this will happen, exactly? No idea. But given what happened this year, I’m taking the over on the next one.

So, as we all begin a new pile on Roger’s desk, let’s raise a tanker-truck of Stroh’s fire-brewed lager, a cup of pink tea, or a smuggled-in flask of drug store rum, according to your preference. Here’s to the start of a new inning.

And to you, for being a part of it.