2009 in review

January 2, 2010 at 4:36 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

So here we are in a new year, and in a new home. Thanks for reading in 2009, whether you’ve been reading all along or you just joined my (meager) readership recently. Here’s what happened at Getting to First Base in 2009…

January
I had to root for the Sooners to be national champions, and it was painful. All the while, I missed the little things about baseball season.

These are one of those little things

February
I mused about the Rocky Mountain News’ closing – and shared the Reader’s Digest version of a school paper I wrote about the evolution of sports blogs – all in one post. That was quite the post. Later, I saw an incredible hockey game, from right behind the home team’s bench. My gallery of ridiculous Spring Training photos got linked by Deadspin.

Joel Zumaya leads the Tigers in a game of airplane. Then he goes on the disabled list. (AP/Tony Dejak)

March
I shared why I really don’t want to be a baseball wife anymore, got linked on Deadspin again with a story about Royals catcher and Cuban defector Brayan Pena, and mused about autographs and the people who seek them.

April
I giggled at April Fools Day shenanigans, hated my life after the Royals lost on Opening Day, and was hit surprisingly hard by Nick Adenhart’s death. (Public service reminder: Don’t drink and drive!)

Chilling.

May
I went to a thrilling, instant-classic Royals game (and shared some photos from it the next day), made up some new Wonderlic* questions, and shared my Baseball Prospectus Idol entry. Then I got mugged and rescued by my brother! Whew, what a month!

June
This was my favorite month in the history of the blog, mostly thanks to the MLB draft. On Draft Day, I made some decent predictions, tracked and analyzed the first 20 picks (part 1, part 2), and interviewed 2008 Royals draftee Tyler Sample about his own Draft experience and how potential picks should handle the experience.
Meanwhile, the College World Series teams got commemorated with galleries of sad players after each elimination.
That month, I also went to the game where Gil Meche’s arm died. It was fun at the time, though, and I had some amazing seats thanks to my favorite KC radio host!

July
I gave Juan Uribe an award for botching a perfect game (and later listened to an actual perfect game), felt awful for poor Erin Andrews, and made up a Baseball-Reference drinking game with my brothers.

August
Joe Posnanski got his well-deserved position at Sports Illustrated, so I shared how he changed my life. (Later that month, I got to hang out with him for a bit in Omaha. Pure bliss.) Later, I was greatly moved by a tour of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, and strongly disagreed with a stupid Royals TV commercial.

Me in the Memoral Stadium press box.

September
My name was in Posnanski’s book! AAAAHHHH! Here’s what Poz meant when he said I “almost” tracked down George Clooney for an interview. That weekend, I was heartbroken by Bo Pelini’s decisionmaking against Virginia Tech. With the start of the NFL season, I launched the Chiefs Fan Experiment series. The Huskers sold out their 300th consecutive home game, and I boasted.

That's my name!

October
Nebraska beat Missouri! The Chiefs won a game! I picked on Buzz Bissinger’s lack of understanding of sample sizes, then compiled some great #oneletterofffamousquotes ideas. And then I put Fievel’s hat on his twin, Jorge Posada.

...yep.

November
Nebraska and Oklahoma is an awesome rivalry, and here’s why. I was thankful for a bunch of stuff, then made a handy guide for reporting medical statuses of celebrities.

December
Barry Bonds was intentionally walked more in 2004 than almost everyone in baseball was in the entire decade. The Heisman voters are dumb and I don’t respect them. Here’s some awesome photos from a hockey game; here’s the opening shot in my battle against unfair MiLB wages, and a Venn diagram about marching bands.