While working on some stuff for the NASOMA website, I found myself looking through a notebook full of old newsletters. Like a time capsule opened 20 years later, it brought some memories flooding back.
The first Big Innings (3/11/88) is there along with every B.I. I ever wrote. The notebook also contains every issue of The Whig ("The Inmates suck!") and The Roundup (or at least every Roundup from when I entered the league). There are newsletters from Dave (the Wrinkled Pink), Norm (The Bandit), Derek (Extra Innings), Terry (no title), Tristan (The Three Wheeler), Shawn (Driller Bits), and Garth (The Chief).
Obviously, I never throw things away. There's a team update newsletter from Ab (it includes lines like "Did Lance Parrish?" and "Is Dallas Greene?") and another from Bryan (propeller-head stuff about how to predict your expected W/L record based on your final stats. Wouldn't you already KNOW your W/L record if you had your final stats?!?). There are letters sent to the league from Glenn (the first one starts out "Thanks to everyone for making our 8th season a successful one" and is hand-written, complete with a drawing of the 1987 playoff brackets.)
There is a letter from Paul White, editor of Baseball Weekly, to Mr. Norman Wheeler explaining an anomaly in a box score. There is the ranting letter sent out by Shawn complaining about the Cletes, the commissioner, and the 1993 playoffs. There is the second letter from Shawn apologizing about his outburst in the previous letter. I even have the letter the Cletes sent out resigning from the league in which he apologizes for breaking the rules. There is the letter I sent to the Texas Rangers asking for permission for us to tour the new Ballpark in Arlington before it was ready for tours, and another letter I sent to Tristan addressing his complaints about how I used his bullpen in a mail game.
One of my favorites is the letter from Terry that he wrote after attending the funeral for Randy Higdon.
Among other things, these newsletters chronicle the Warpigs getting a NASOMA franchise and becoming a first-time father in the same week; the birth of the first Driller kid; the expansion draft (first picks: Scott Scudder, Sidewinders; Walt Weiss, Wahoos; Greg Hibbard, Nads); the first trade announced via e-mail; the first NASOMASpeak ("I think I'm through trading for awhile means... I'm through trading with you for awhile."); and the Fungo wedding (several of his players signed the book).
It makes me sad that we don't have newsletters anymore. Nothing to look back at chronicling the births of our kids (and grandkids!) or the weddings or divorces or the moves or career changes... or anything that happened to us beyond the last newsletter.
I guess that comes with getting old. I'm just glad I still have these... and glad NASOMA is still a part of my life.
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7 comments:
Wow. That is quite a collection. And to say I'm getting old is an understatement. But then, you're the one with a kid in college.
That's some good stuff. Damn Rick, I did not know you were so sentimentail.
BeeBoy
I was wanting to get clarification on the POW rules posted in the constitution. This was the rule the zapper authored a few years ago.
In the constitution it reads that you can use the closer number OR add 2 to the POW for relievers as the final adjustment. The way I remember it is different. I think we agreed to calculate the POW for relievers in the old way( short cut or formula plus 2) UNTIL we get to the step of adding points for LOW ERAs. At that point we can either add points for ERA OR add closer points. Does anyone else remeber this? I think this can be an easy clarification prior to draft.
Sorry, the above posting is from the SSWs....
Another great outtake from an old copy of Driller Bits (1994): "We completed the entire 2460 game schedule in a record eighteen minutes twelve seconds using our new 486dx2/66. Dis thang flies compared to the old 386sx/25. Eight meg. of ram is a must if you want to run windows any more."
eight meg of ram won't even open a good pron movie now days.
I'd be very interested in appearing in a 'pron' movie - are there small barnyard animals involved?????
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