I got to the office early and I stayed late today.
Not only am I trying to continue to make a good impression and improve on the one I’ve already made, but I had enough to do to keep me there for that long, and even longer. I’m sure I will be working away the American long weekend too, but it will only benefit me in the long run. It’s not like I have an obligation to anything else during that time either.
When I got to work I started in on the bios for the Hall of Fame book. I didn’t get through any of them on the weekend, despite setting a goal to do so. The research I had begun on Friday helped me a little bit, but writing about certain old dead guys is a tough task. For some of them, there just isn’t enough out there to put together 500 words worth of good writing.
I got through three working all day on them, minus the distractions of personal emails and lunch. I learned about each of the players I was researching, and have a new respect for the records that have been set and broken over time. I had started in on a fourth when I was given a new task at the end of the day.
Lunch was especially fun today because on the way out of the office with Editor 1 and Editor 2 the president of BA complimented me on a job well done on the most recent issue. He liked my articles! It was nice to hear that, and have my work acknowledged again.
And when we were at lunch the two editors and I got to talking about more differences between our countries. We went through each month and discussed the different holidays, and then somehow we got onto the topic of Baseball Canada.
Editor 1 mentioned that every January the Canadian organization invites him to a banquet they hold at the Rogers Centre. He is never able to attend, but he said that this upcoming January, I could go and be the representative of Baseball America! I was pretty excited to hear that and I am already looking forward to it.
The event is a fundraiser, but it honours great baseball players past and present who have come from Canada, and more specifically, through the organization. And, the host is Jerry Howarth, one of my favourite people from the Blue Jays! Just having him there as the emcee makes the occasion slightly better in my mind.
So lunch was a great success and I am now aware of every holiday they celebrate around here. The only one I really need to know about though is happening this week and just means I will be putting in less time at the office.
Just as I was starting in on my fourth Hall of Famer, I got an email from Editor 1 with a new assignment. It was nearing the end of the work day, and he mentioned that I didn’t need to begin anything until tomorrow morning, but I thought I would take a look anyway.
My latest job is to compile yet another list. This one will be in the upcoming issue of the magazine, and will name the top 100 college players. I just need to put together a chart with the guys, and add their heights, weights, schools and a couple other specifics. Editor 1 mentioned that for the column to be entitled “last drafted”, the information might be hard to get so he would send me a link where I could find most of it. He didn’t include the link in the first email, so I left that park blank for everyone on the list.
I got through the details for each player, and stayed until all of the bosses had left for the night in order to do so. I then sent it away to Editor 1, saying that I was just going to wait to finish up until he sent the link he had mentioned. Hopefully he will get the email in the morning and be able to send it to me right away.
I don’t seem to mind the tedious tasks as much if I can get through them as quickly as possible.
So I finished and then stopped only for a tan on the way home, because I didn’t have time for much else. I wanted to be at my apartment in time to watch the newest episode of House, and the gym would have interrupted that. I will have plenty of time to work out with my time off over the long weekend.
I got home before my show was starting, so I went back to the fourth Hall of Famer on my list, Freddie Lindstrom. He is especially hard to write about because he isn’t exactly Hall-worthy. I think he was voted in on a veteran’s ballot, and made it with only seven seasons of full-time playing.
He was in the majors a total of 13 years, and the only real legacy he left was that he was the youngest player to ever take the field in a World Series. He hit well for a couple of seasons, but other than that was a good player at best. I tried to find anyone quoted talking about his level of play, and the only things I could find were all negative, and in relation to him becoming a member of the Hall of Fame.
Nonetheless I finished something that I am satisfied with and I am ready to move on to the next one.
House was a pretty good episode and then I settled in for some more TV. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a continuation of the baseball documentary I have been watching for the last couple of Mondays, but maybe I missed the end of it on another night.
So, no baseball on TV for me tonight, but it will be back in my life first thing in the morning.
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