{"id":3108,"date":"2008-05-15T00:42:20","date_gmt":"2008-05-15T07:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=3108"},"modified":"2008-05-15T07:33:44","modified_gmt":"2008-05-15T14:33:44","slug":"its-a-42-game-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3108\/its-a-42-game-season\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s a 42 Game Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a game of beauty<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

I would imagine that\u00a0most writers in this country, \u00a0urban and rural alike,\u00a0have at least one\u00a0good baseball story\u00a0they like to\u00a0tell.\u00a0It is, after all,\u00a0a near perfect game worthy of\u00a0a passing glance\u00a0if not\u00a0downright close examination by anyone with a penchant\u00a0for\u00a0detail and statistics. Sportsman, spectator, or otherwise, there’s\u00a0got to be\u00a0one\u00a0decent\u00a0yarn in all of us when it comes to this beloved pastime.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Baseball. It’s a beautiful woman walking down the sidewalk in\u00a0a summer dress. It’s first love at first sight in May, the smell of\u00a0 freshly cut grass in June\u00a0and puppies in a box for a dollar–‘free’ of course, to a good<\/em> home, anytime.\u00a0It is watermelon in July and root beer in August. It’s the September State Fair when you’re\u00a0eight and\u00a0knowing\u00a0God\u00a0when you’re eighty.\u00a0 It is a million square miles of America.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My first Chicago apartment\u00a0was three blocks\u00a0east and 52 stories above the left-center\u00a0alley bleachers of\u00a0historic Wrigley Field.\u00a0Alone and new to the city, there were many evenings during that 1996 season\u00a0when I would\u00a0simply gaze out\u00a0above the cityscape of\u00a0streets and gangways, elevated rail tracks and brown brick walk-ups that separated my high-rise\u00a0dwelling from the Friendly Confines, and\u00a0mentally recreate\u00a0my own destiny, repairing my past with\u00a0fantasy and grandeur.\u00a0I’d stare\u00a0westward into the lights\u00a0listening to the\u00a0bellows of the stadium,\u00a0imagining the thrill of playing at such a level, in such a venue—that near perfect game of summer. From my soft-lofted perch\u00a0I’d mentally motor around the base paths like a finely tuned sportscar\u00a0and fire clothesline ropes\u00a0from\u00a0center to home\u00a0with my rocket gun; above the cutoff\u00a0man, without a bounce,\u00a0and just before the collided tag out at the plate…I’d\u00a0drink til the next morning with the catchers and ignore the pitchers and rookies.\u00a0I’d negotiate my own contracts and wear my pants down low and hardly ever shave my\u00a0jaw.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chicago Cubs pitching coach and\u00a0veteran Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins lived in the same building that summer as did\u00a0a handful of players who were always coming up and down from the Minors\u00a0throughout the roller coaster season. The Fergie I\u00a0observed\u00a0was a quiet man; a towering figure, usually in a cowboy hat, jeans\u00a0and boots who\u00a0kept a tight smile on his face and a U-Haul trailer in\u00a0the parking space next to mine Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s a game of beauty\u00a0 I would imagine that\u00a0most writers in this country, \u00a0urban and rural alike,\u00a0have at least one\u00a0good baseball story\u00a0they like to\u00a0tell.\u00a0It is, after all,\u00a0a near perfect game worthy of\u00a0a passing glance\u00a0if not\u00a0downright close examination by anyone with a penchant\u00a0for\u00a0detail and statistics. Sportsman, spectator, or otherwise, there’s\u00a0got to be\u00a0one\u00a0decent\u00a0yarn in all of us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3108","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-real-estate","8":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1348,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1348\/for-originators-a-weak-baseball-analogy\/","url_meta":{"origin":3108,"position":0},"title":"For Originators – A Weak Baseball Analogy","author":"Morgan Brown","date":"April 25, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is an email I recently sent to our sales team in regards to the leads that they receive and work on a daily basis. My company uses internet leads to generate new business on top of our referral and repeat business (which makes up about 1\/3 of our monthly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/68\/in-the-battle-of-the-baseball-cards-the-biggest-shoe-box-wins\/","url_meta":{"origin":3108,"position":1},"title":"In the battle of the baseball cards, the biggest shoe-box wins — but Realtors who master the art of marketing homes will be fine","author":"Greg Swann","date":"June 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"[This post appeared on BloodhoundBlog on June 30, 2006, our second day. I'm reprising it now as a part of our birthday celebration. It's fun for me to see how much of what I talk about here was with us on our very first days. --GSS] \u00a0Cathleen and I live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9554,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/9554\/how-to-run-a-real-estate-business-finding-wisdom-in-a-baseball-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":3108,"position":2},"title":"How to Run a Real Estate Business: Finding Wisdom in a Baseball Storm","author":"Sean Purcell","date":"August 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Last night I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out.\"\u00a0 (Ba-da-bum-ching.) That's an oldie but a goodie.\u00a0 I had a similar experience recently:\u00a0 I went to a baseball game and a business class broke out.\u00a0 About an hour north of me is the Padres Single A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3766,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3766\/more-baseball-stuff-steroids-subprime\/","url_meta":{"origin":3108,"position":3},"title":"More Baseball Stuff: Steroids & Subprime.","author":"Chris Johnson","date":"August 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2003-05, we had the boom.\u00a0\u00a0 We all know that now, and it basically is what it is.\u00a0\u00a0 The picture links to the (in)famous TIME magazine cover story \u201cHome Sweet Home,\u201d where the \u2018boom was on,\u2019 and the whole of the market was talked about.\u00a0\u00a0 There was a little bit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/image.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2002,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2002\/the-mortgage-liquidity-crisis-is-over\/","url_meta":{"origin":3108,"position":4},"title":"The Mortgage Liquidity Crisis Is Over","author":"Brian Brady","date":"October 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The liquidity crisis in the mortgage industry is over. I don't mean that we are going back to the lending guidelines of the go-go years of 2003-2006 but the non-conforming loan guidelines are coming back to a sense of normalcy. Dan Green talked about the non-conforming home loan market being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lending"","block_context":{"text":"Lending","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/lending\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10494,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/10494\/embarrassing-confessions-marketing-memory\/","url_meta":{"origin":3108,"position":5},"title":"Embarrassing Confessions & Marketing Memory","author":"Sean Purcell","date":"December 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Two quick confessions: I can't throw a baseball. I'm pretty sure I just scared a potential client away. I used to be able to throw a baseball.\u00a0 I played little league and pony league with some success.\u00a0 There weren't any pro scouts putting radar guns on me or anything, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Casual Friday"","block_context":{"text":"Casual Friday","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/casual-friday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3108\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}