Short Relief

Short Relief: Making Something Good

by Beth Davies-Stofka, Kate Preusser, and Justin Klugh 2/21

At some point in every artist’s life, they find a purpose or meaning that forces their hand to make something new, something inspiring. To create something so unique that when people see it for the first time, their imagination lights up. For me, that inspiration started by taking ordinary items that people throw away and...

Short Relief: The Farce Has Begun

by Rich MacLeod, Nathan Bishop, and Matt Ellis 2/20

You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, Twilight Zone Baseball. Submitted for your approval: The worst team ever assembled. A team so remarkably inept that history wouldn’t allow them to be forgotten. A team...

Short Relief: Play On

by Mike Bates, Demetrius Bell, and Mary Craig 2/19

Reader, last week in this space, James Fegan, a fine man and colleague whose opinion is to be respected, wrote that Spring Training is “a false liferaft amid a sea of boredom and unwanted college football recruiting updates.” He calls it “lame,” “meaningless,” and “incredibly long.” He is, I’m sorry to say, right on most...

Short Relief: Close-Knit

by RJ McDaniel, Krystal Languell, and Holly M Wendt 2/18

During my time as the lone, underpaid employee of a knitting store, I was privy to a great many arguments and bitching sessions between the wealthy middle-aged women who passed the hours there in each other’s company. Even as someone who was, at the time, fresh out of high school, I was unprepared for the...

Short Relief: Spring Rituals

by Beth Davies-Stofka, Matt Sussman, and James Fegan 2/15

The ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia fell annually on February 15th. It was a great deal of fun by all accounts, and was celebrated for centuries, drawing a willing and rowdy crowd. It was a lewd, rude, and wildly popular festival that survived imperial Christianity until late into the 5th century. The day began at...

Short Relief: Fear and Loathing in Free Agency

by Roger Cormier and Kazuto Yamazaki 2/14

“Cash, it’s Girsch. I know Voit isn’t available. I know I blew that, haha. I’m calling about Bird. Really.” Same phone call for months now, different locale. Arizona in the spring used to be about promise. Girsch found a possibly friendly ear attached to a man in sunglasses and a blonde wig at the local...

Short Relief: Timing is Everything

by Justin Klugh, Matt Ellis, and Nathan Bishop 2/13

You didn’t know this, but Derek Jeter has never played in a baseball game on a losing team. When Derek Jeter scratches off a losing lottery ticket, he responds, “No,” and eats it like a hamster. If you are dining with Derek Jeter and finish before him, he quietly orders two more entrees and begins...

Short Relief: Places of Learning

by Holly M Wendt, Mary Craig, and Demetrius Bell 2/12

On July 19, 2008, on the seemingly hottest day of that summer, I stepped into Yankee Stadium for the first time. It would also be the last time, too; new Yankee Stadium was already nearly complete across the street, and The House That Ruth Built would close its gates forever at the season’s end. This...

Short Relief: The Perfect Number

by Jarrett Seidler, James Fegan, and Mike Bates 2/11

I am BP’s senior prospect writer. In that role, I must be able to give objective evaluations of players, without biases conscious or subconscious. These evaluations aren’t always positive, but it’s really fun when you find a dude that nobody else is on and he turns out to be pretty good. This is one of...

Short Relief: Please, Imagine

by Roger Cormier, Beth Davies-Stofka, and Kate Preusser 2/07

The Simpsons. I know you have heard of this television program. FXX runs the show five days a week. Half the time the four-hour blocks are connected by some tenuous, begrudgingly appreciated theme (tonight’s theme: Moe). Tuesdays are weird. I’m not going to bother explaining what they do on Tuesdays. Mondays and Fridays are six-hour...

Short Relief: On the Edge

by Nathan Bishop and Matt Ellis 2/06

Far from my backyard, if you squint, you can just make out the edge of the Puget Sound. It lies to the east of us, and as weather systems blow in from the north or southwest our modest little view lets us see the winter storms not as they approach, but as they depart; our...

Short Relief: Things Get Dark

by Demetrius Bell, Mary Craig, and Mike Bates 2/05

September 30, 1999 is an important if somewhat forgettable day in San Francisco sports history. That’s the day when the Giants played their final home game at Candlestick Park, and the day that stadium became a football-only venue. The Giants have spent their last 19 seasons playing in the stadium now known as Oracle Park....

Short Relief: Dispatches from the Animal Kingdom

by Holly M Wendt and Patrick Dubuque 2/04

On January 29, 2019, Freddy Galvis became a Blue Jay. The blue jay is a member of the family Corvidae, to which crows also belong. Though tool use is not especially noted in blue jays, they can use their feet and beaks dexterously to open seeds, and their crow cousins are highly adept at using...

Short Relief: We Are Underway

by Krystal Languell, Matt Sussman, and James Fegan 2/01

“And springtime brought me the frightful laugh of an idiot.” -Arthur Rimbaud And Pat Hughes says: As we pause 10 seconds for station identification. He says mental lapses are a thing of the past. It doesn’t hurt to raise his left arm. There was a playfulness— And Ron Santo says: I’m only eating a hot...

Short Relief: No Exit, Except Maybe the Obvious One

by Kate Preusser, Justin Klugh, and Beth Davies-Stofka 1/31

(English translation: No Exit from Arbitration) SCENE A conference room in Deadball Era style. A massive bronze pitch clock stands on the mantelpiece. ARENADO [Enters, accompanied by Tony Clark]: Hm! So here we are? CLARK: Yes, Mr. Arenado. ARENADO: [Taking in the surroundings] And some get used to this? Even after the tweets? CLARK: Tweets?...

Short Relief: It’s Going To Have Been A Hit

by Nathan Bishop, Patrick Dubuque, and Matt Ellis 1/30

Through the generosity of a good friend I recently came into possession of one (1) Official Scorebook for the 1969 Seattle Pilots. The year is both vital for establishing cultural context, and completely unnecessary, as the 1969 Seattle Pilots were the only Seattle Pilots. The next season they left for Milwaukee, and Seattle has only...