Time for the first pitch – enter THE HECKLER!
By The Heckler
And so it begins . . .
A big hidey-ho to all fellow baseball fans out there in cyberland and an extra big hello to servicemen overseas: Welcome to the all-new and improved Baseball Big Mouth!
First off, if anyone has been checking in at this location lately and looking for some good ol’fashioned hardball talk, we humbly thank-you. You may have noticed the nifty banner at the top, maybe took notice of the catchy name for this blog and even book-marked it, hoping to make this a routine stop-by as you surf around for some alternative baseball analysis and conversation.
Frankly, you just haven’t gotten it – and we thought you deserved better. Well boy, are you going to get it!
Not only can you look forward to this blog rises from the ashes and becoming a regularly-updated and (hopefully) thought-provoking place to read about all-things-baseball, but you can also count on a little something extra – namely some venom being spewed in the direction of those that deserve to be subjected to one of the game’s grandest traditions, right up there with hot dogs, peanuts and cracker jack: the rantings of an obnoxious fan from high atop his perch in the cheap seats.
After all, this blog ain’t called Baseball Big Mouth for nuthin’, right?
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce myself: you may call me . . The Heckler. And believe me, this is hardly some nom-de-guerre haphazardly devised by myself merely in an attempt to attain some internet autonomy while telling readers what I really think about the grand old game.
It was bestowed upon me, actually - while in real ballparks, watching real Major League games – by friends who have had the pleasure of attending a contest or two in my company.
I can’t help it. There’s just something about the game itself – the pacing, the atmosphere, the acoustics – that lend itself extremely well to, well, riding players about their play, their paychecks, their off-the-field troubles, whatever! Everything is fair game to The Heckler when it comes to his passion. I look forward to sharing it with you, and I want to thank the folks that put this site together for this tremendous opportunity to come through your computer screens on a thrice-weekly basis (or somewhere thereabouts).
I have been a baseball fan since birth and played the game for many, many years (alas, attaining the Major Leagues but a wish, like for so many of us, yet fully-realized in my mind many times over at sandlots across my hometown while imaging to be some of my favorite players – men like Kirk Gibson, Alan Trammell, Jack Morris, George Brett, Don Mattingly, Carlton Fisk, Rollie Fingers and Willie Stargell, to name but a few).
It is in my blood, and baseball will forever remain (in my eyes) the only game with that potential for pure, instant magic, on any given pitch, on any given swing of the bat. To coin a marketing catchphrase of a far lesser sport – NBA, I’m looking in your direction - I truly do love this game of baseball. I also truly hope you will learn to love this blog.
It’s just about time for that first pitch, everyone. Get them grills fired up, put a new nine-volt in that transistor radio and dust off yer caps: Baseball is back - and The Heckler is just settling into his seat.
Play ball!