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Friday, July 7, 2017

The Writer's Life 7/7 - Fun on a Rainy Day

The financial aspects of pro sports are often staggering. Average players command multi-million dollar salaries. Granted, average pro athletes are special talents, still... Here's another example of the big bucks phenomenon. Yankees' rookie OF slugger Aaron Judge is tearing up MLB, socking home runs at an impressive rate. He has had a total 374 at-bats in his fledgling career, including some from his "cup of coffee" last season. In 2013 Topps printed a number of cards showcasing elite prospects. Yesterday, Judge's card from that season sold on Ebay for $14,665. Man. Here it is:



The Cubs were behind 11-2 going into the top of the ninth against the Brewers at Wrigley Field. Rather than waste a relief pitcher, manager Joe Maddon put a veteran outfielder on the mound. Jon Jay escaped the inning without allowing a run. He gave up one hit. And he did it throwing mostly in the 50 mph range. At one point he threw back-to-back “curveballs” that clocked in at 47 and 46 mph respectively. The fans at the friendly confines were most appreciative, despite its frustrations with the home team's struggles following its championship run in 2016. Kudos, sir.

The floating book shop was rained out today. While it was pouring I went to the recycling room at Stop n Shop, hoping it would be empty. There was about an inch of rain at the bottom of each plastic bag I was carrying. At home I toweled off and decided to take one last crack at a digital camera I'd recently purchased on Ebay. I'd been feeling left out of the Throwback Thursday fun at Facebook, so I bought an old Vivitar just to take pictures of old pictures. The darn thing wouldn't turn on. Frustrated, I'd taken the batteries out, hoping that whatever was wrong would correct itself. I put them back in place and, wonder of wonders, it turned on. The trick was getting the compartment to close correctly. It took me a while to learn the basics of taking photos and uploading them. When I hooked the device to the PC the first time, I realized some of the pics were missing. I hadn't held the button down long enough, the most frustrating aspect of digital picture-taking. Here's a few of the pics. The first two are the best I've ever taken. I used an old instamatic and just got lucky. This is my old college buddy Jim. The pic captures the essence of him. It was taken at Coney Island circa 1977:


And this is Keith Bradley, son of my college friends Tom & Joanne. It was taken near their apartment in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, late '70's, I believe:


And here's one of yours truly giving my poor mom a hard time, circa 1951:


Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

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