The Book Has Arrived!
Wed, Mar 14, 2007
by Geoff Young
My grandmother died in January 2006 after living a long and rich life. Born in Albany, N.Y., not far from the Baseball Hall of Fame, she inadvertently fueled my passion for the game when I was a young boy. A friend of hers worked as the house doctor at Dodger Stadium in the mid-’70s and used to give her media sheets from games past, which she then gave to me. They had no value to her, but she saw how I pored over them as though they represented great truths of humankind. If only I would apply myself in other areas the way I did when examining baseball statistics, the written record of my heroes.
But I didn’t, and so here I am, fascinated by baseball and the story it tells, trying to further my understanding of what I still believe to be the great truths of humankind. My grandmother’s is the highest standard I know, and it is to her that I dedicate this book. I hope she finds it worthy. I hope you do, too.
Baseball is an unstoppable force that transcends individual lives. Thank you for sharing it with me…
Picking up where last year's version left off, the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual provides in-depth analysis of and commentary on the San Diego Padres. Get your copy today.
March 14, 2007 at 3:20 am
I just placed my order…sounds like I should have the book within two weeks. Awesome!!!
March 14, 2007 at 6:42 am
Suggestion for a new poll:
How awesome will the Ducksnorts book be?
1-5 Awesome
6-8 Awesome
9-11 Awesome
12-15 Awesome
16 or over Awesome
March 14, 2007 at 8:26 am
Congratuations Geoff! As a writer myself who has never published a damned thing, I understand this significant accomplishment and how tickled you must be to see your name on the cover. Look forward to reading it. Can Terry Gross be far away?
March 14, 2007 at 8:36 am
That’s awesome! Before I even got to the comments page I was thinking, “Awesome!” What a beautiful cover photo. Who gets credit for that picture, Geoff? Nice dedication; what a cool Grandma.
Excuse me, but I have to go order a few books now.
March 14, 2007 at 8:47 am
Just ordered mine. Congratulations Geoff. How cool!
March 14, 2007 at 9:06 am
Ordering mine now. When’s the book signing?
[additional content removed]
March 14, 2007 at 9:12 am
Thanks, guys. Crazy, crazy day here. Trying to get the word out as much as possible w/o being a complete slut.
#3: Pat, that’s one of mine. Wife and I went over to Coronado last weekend and took a bazillion shots. Glad you like it.
March 14, 2007 at 9:16 am
Congratulations, Geoff. I was mighty impressed by the part I got to see.
I’ll do what I can to help on the slut front. I’m sending emails to fellow Padre fans.
March 14, 2007 at 9:49 am
Very cool–just ordered my copy.
March 14, 2007 at 10:04 am
Congratulations GY. I’ve ordered my books as presents for my sons. Can’t wait to read it.
March 14, 2007 at 10:16 am
Congrats Geoff…looks like you took that photo about 3 blocks from my house…thanks for the shout out.
This has to be very exciting for all those in the Young household!!!
March 14, 2007 at 10:22 am
Congrats, Geoff! Just downloaded mine. (Saved a tree, but probably contributed to the soon-to-be-discovered problem of depixelation!)
In any case, looking forward to the read. Thanks!
March 14, 2007 at 10:28 am
Congratulations, Geoff. Grandma would be proud.
March 14, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Congratulations, Geoff. And don’t be afraid to pimp yourself out; you should send out copies to the guys on 1090 and channel 4, they might talk you up on the air.
March 14, 2007 at 12:31 pm
That’s a great idea, Vinay. Maybe GY could get the book stocked in the Padre store too.
March 14, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Ordered mine earlier today, looking forward to it. The trees can take another one for the team for this book.
March 14, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Congrats G.Y!
As far as pimping yourself out send a copy of the book to Matty V. He has given ducksnorts some love on the channel 4 broadcast before and he is also a big stat nerd.
March 14, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Add 1 to your sales; look forward to it.
March 14, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Thanks for the help, guys, and all the excellent suggestions. Keep ‘em coming!
March 14, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Jake was back to being his old self today. 5 IP, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk, 2 hits, one a HR. Welcome back, Jake.
March 14, 2007 at 3:18 pm
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/bo.....=270314125
HRs by Cruz, Adrian, Greene … good day … so far …
March 14, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Can’t wait to see this move, the 3-2:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/ne.....;type=lgns
March 14, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Congratulations, Geoff. Can’t wait to get a copy in my hands!
March 14, 2007 at 9:40 pm
It’s articles like these that make me love the Giants.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....;fext=.jsp
It’s suggesting that having Russ Ortiz in the starting rotation is going to be a good thing. That having Russ Ortiz as the fifth starter represents a matchup advantage with other teams’ number 5’s. This is the Ortiz who’s 65th percentile PECOTA projection is about replacement level.
March 14, 2007 at 9:43 pm
12 hours from now, I will be stepping off a plane in Phoenix, AZ, walking to the rental car counter, and driving my sorry butt to a ballgame. Yes, Spring Training for Coronado Mike has arrived.
Do not be jealous or envious…only be happy for me that baseball will be seen by my eyes in person. 4 days of Glorious Baseball…4 games of unadulterated experiencing of God’s Chosen Sport.
In life, there are the things that should be and things that are…when I walk into Spring Training, it will be one of the few moments in life where those two collide. What is and what should be will be one.
March 14, 2007 at 10:36 pm
That is a beautiful picture Geoff. Well done.
Lots of great ideas on promoting the book. I think getting it into the hands of radio and TV personalitites is excellent. Promoting it to the Padres store is a good idea, too. I know there aren’t many left, but I’d suggest contacting any small, locally owned book stores to see if they’d be willing to stock it. Probably not much of a chance to get B&N or Borders to put them out, but Upstart Crow down in Seaport Village would be a natural fit with its proximity to Petco. There must be a few other local stores around. What about SDSU, USD, UCSD, and other college bookstores? Worth a shot.
Hey, how about setting up a table at Spring Training while you’re over there? Not sure how you’d work that out with the Padres or with Peoria, but it’s something to think about.
March 14, 2007 at 11:20 pm
I liked this article on the Pads site:
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com.....mp;c_id=sd
Good perspective on Wells, Black and the pitching staff in general.
March 15, 2007 at 5:04 am
Good story and a good book for baseball fans. Here is another one-SWAP by Sam Moffie.
March 15, 2007 at 7:26 am
Hey, Geoff, what about baseball/sports memorabilia shops? There’s a nice one in Fashion Valley and therre are probably others around which might stock the book. Just call me your Pimp Daddy, Ho.
March 15, 2007 at 11:14 am
Why wouldn’t the larger bookstores - B&N, Borders - carry it? They always have a local authors/local interest section?
March 15, 2007 at 11:21 am
Hey Geoff,
Huge congrats from a fan of you, if not of baseball!
March 15, 2007 at 7:17 pm
I’ll be ordering mine as well as one extra for a friend who is a huge Padres fan who I’m trying to get to come visit all of us here…hopefully after getting the book he’ll become a regular visitor..
March 15, 2007 at 9:48 pm
I don’t know Matt. Maybe you’re right. I was sort of thinking they are so corporate that everything is probably centralized with no local decision making power. If I was to just walk into one in SD and ask them to stock my book, I was assuming they would not have the power to make that decision. But you’re right, GY shouldn’t just rule it out without looking into it. Good catch; thanks.
March 16, 2007 at 9:33 am
It might be the kind of thing that coffee shops in the area would carry up front by their cash registers. I mean if Starbucks can sell CD’s then they should be able to sell baseball books right? Might be smart to give the Living Room a call to start with.
March 16, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Aaron Gleeman plugged the book today.
March 16, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Congrads Jeff. I’ve been lurking this blog for ages but never post. I’ll be buying ASAP.
May 6, 2007 at 10:52 am
Geoff, I’m still kind of new to the site. But, I’ve been blogging everyday since Matty mentioned Ducksnorts on SD4. Ordered my book today. Congrats and keep up the good work.
Respectfully,
Rick Schroder