I recently wrote a spur-of-the-moment article for a blog called The Lefty Catcher. The idea popped into my head at a Starbucks. Here’s that process:
2:55 p.m. — How to Get a Credit Card – Tips & Requirements
I’m preparing for a job interview. I take notes in a moleskin journal.
2:59 p.m. — https://www.google.com/search?q=the+worst+homer+of+2021
2:59 p.m. — Who hit the most irrelevant home run of the 2021 MLB season? | FOX Sports
If you know me casually, you might not know I like baseball. Recently a friend of three years messaged me, “Do you actually keep up with baseball?”
If you know me well, you know I’m obsessed. I wasn’t planning on preparing for the interview too much longer, but as soon as this thought popped into my head, interview prep went out the window.
After a quick google search, I found that no one had answered my question (the Fox Sports article was close, but not exact).
It’s time to write an article.
3:03 p.m. — Baseball Savant: Trending MLB Players, Statcast and Visualizations | baseballsavant.com
If you have a random question about baseball, this is the holy grail. From 2015 onward, they have random stats about literally everything baseball.
3:04 p.m. — Statcast Search | baseballsavant.com
I go straight to the search feature. I’ve used it a few times for other random questions, and I know just enough to limit what I’m looking for.
3:11 p.m. — Baseball Savant Videos | baseballsavant.com
After the search engine takes minutes to load (it was sifting through 5,944 results), I find a home run that fits what I’m looking for.
3:15 p.m. — Reds » Win Probability » Tuesday, June 1, 2021 | FanGraphs Baseball
Unfortunately, it’s not bad enough. I look up the date of the game and see the impact of that homer. It means something. Bummer.
3:18 p.m. — Baseball Savant Videos | baseballsavant.com
I find a second home run. After running a similar search to the one I did at 3:15, I find out that it’s actually a more meaningful homer.
3:28 p.m. — Golden sombrero – Wikipedia
I make an analogy to what I’m going through on my journey for the worst homer through a baseball term. I have just found another homer that’s even better than the previous two. I realize this phrase might be specific only to a super small subculture.
It isn’t—it has its own Wikipedia page. I hyperlink it to my article.
3:42 p.m. — vinny capra – Google Search
In my search for the game log of another homer I’ve found, I come across the name “Vinny Capra.”
I’ve been playing a lot of MLB: The Show recently, and he’s on the roster of the franchise I’m playing with. I had no idea he was a real person.
3:43 p.m. — 5/7 andros blue jays fangraphs – Google Search
I meant to search “Astros” instead of “andros.” I’m not quite sure how this spelling mistake happened. Neither the S nor T keys are close to the N and D keys, respectively.
3:54 p.m. — Baseball Savant Videos | baseballsavant.com
3:54 p.m. — Yankees » Win Probability » Tuesday, April 6, 2021 | FanGraphs Baseball
Eighth time’s a charm, as they say. I’ve found exactly what I was looking for. I double-check Fangraphs to confirm my suspicions and am overjoyed to find them correct.
I download the video and insert it into my article. Time to send it out.
4:00 p.m. — Gmail
I’m with my girlfriend’s brother at Starbucks, and I’d promised to take him to the YMCA when we leave. I tell him I’m almost done.
Then I realize I forgot to attach videos to my introduction.
4:11 p.m. — Baseball Savant Videos | baseballsavant.com
I have to wait ten minutes because my laptop is starting to get overheated and I need Baseball Savant to add quantifiers to the search and reverse the order. Whoops.
4:15 p.m. — Inbox (4) [emailaddressredacted]@gmail.com – Gmail
I send my article out for review.
5:26 p.m. — postcalvinjan_barbee – Google Docs
I complete this post.
The day before, I’d been disappointed with myself for not writing enough. I worried I wouldn’t be able to cut it in a world that wants articles churned out daily.
I don’t expect myself to write two blogs/articles that combine for over 1600 words in an hour-and-a-half span, but it’s encouraging to know that I can.
Hopefully, I can take this confidence into my next job interview.
Mitchell Barbee graduated from Calvin University with a B.A. in writing in 2021. Originally from Boone, North Carolina, he is currently residing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He enjoys hanging out with the few friends who stayed, wearing grey hoodies, and hoping that he doesn’t get sucked into the nightly wormhole of watching a baseball game.
