I don’t really memorize anymore.
As a kid, I used to have the phone numbers of all of my friends memorized, along with random statistics of Royals players and various MLB league leaders. At one point, I had all the presidents memorized, an alphabetical listing of the states and their capitals, and extended scenes from multiple movies. It seemed I could memorize things without giving it much intentional thought.
Now, the list of what I have memorized is absurdly short.
The birthdays of my wife, daughters, sister, and parents.
My wedding anniversary.
The VIN of the first vehicle I purchased.
My library card number.
My statistics from the Grip ‘N’ Rip Baseball League.
Yesterday, I memorized something new.
* * * * * * *
September 8 is the birthday of Astros’ pitcher Gerrit Cole, Martin Freeman (Bilbo from The Hobbit), and Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin from Stranger Things.)
In 1966, it is the same date NBC aired the first episode of Star Trek.
In 1973, Hank Aaron hit the 709th home run of his career on this date and in 1998 Mark McGwire hit his 62nd home run of the season.
And, on September 8, 2020, the Catch 365 book will be published.
* * * * * * *
2020.
Leap year.
Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Presidential election.
The return of Salvador Perez to the Royals.
My youngest daughter will turn 16.
The 5th season of the GRBL.
Throughout the year, I’ll be asking for pre-orders of the currently untitled book, because Joe Posnanski taught me how important that is to do in his launch of The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini. He mentioned his latest release two or three times a day for months and months. If Joe Posnanski can do it, so can I. You can pre-order from Byron of Hearts & Minds Books if you want to get it from one of the best bookstores in the country. I’m sure other places will sell it, too.
Maybe, in 2020, I could return to Cooperstown and play catch with friends at the Symposium.
Maybe, in 2020, I could head back to the Field of Dreams and play catch when the Yankees and White Sox head to Iowa.
Maybe I’ll make the cut in the GRBL again and spend an afternoon signing books after one of my games.
Maybe I’ll sign a glove deal with Wilson and head to Royals Spring Training and play catch with Alex Gordon, as long as he doesn’t retire this off-season.
On September 8, 2020, the Royals will be playing the Oakland A’s. Throwing out a first pitch at the K would be a fantastic way to launch a book.
G. K. Chesterton wrote, “The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.”
Heaven is a playground.
We could use a little more heaven on earth.
Grab your glove.
Let’s go celebrate.
And don’t forget: September 8, 2020.
