Touch 'Em All: A Recap Of A Wild Year In The MLB And A Thank You To The Readers
When I was a kid, my dream job was to play for the Boston Red Sox. After several (modestly) glorious years in the Hampton Youth Association and Winnacunnet High School, I realized my desire to get to the MLB was miles ahead of my ability to get there. So I strove for Plan B: becoming a play-by-play analyst for the team.
Through several twists and turns, that dream didn’t come to fruition either (life sucks sometimes, doesn't it?). But without it, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to write this column which, in no uncertain terms, has been a massive blessing.
I mean seriously, how many people get to live out a desire they’ve had since they were a kid - as their job? I get to write about frickin’ baseball for a living, and not just the standard parts of the sport we see in the box score and morning recaps. I feel incredibly lucky, luckier than this A's fans who caught three foul balls in the first inning of a game.
(Okay, maybe not that lucky, but still).
My goal was to focus on the wild stuff that happens in the sport and deepen you guys’ (and my) love for the game - and boy did I have fun doing it.
Some Of The Best Moments Of A Wild Year In The MLB
From the get-go, you guys were invested in this. For my very first column back in May, a fan named George sent in a song that he himself wrote to celebrate whenever his hometown Chicago Cubs would win a game.
This is exactly the kind of content I wanted. And through a combination of you guys sending stuff in and the (sometimes) wonderful world of social media, I got plenty more.
We saw Philadelphia Phillies superstar Bryce Harper help a fan out with a prom-posal.
Angel Hernandez announced his retirement in May and somehow managed to make the worst call in the league - by a wide margin.
Instead of singing the national anthem, a Baltimore Orioles fan whistled the "Star Spangled Banner" (which is wildly impressive if you ask me).
A fan landed a backflip while getting tased.
Bob Uecker - the Milwaukee Brewers announcer - announced in hilarious shock that he peed his pants when the Brew Crew won the NL Central.
That could easily have been the funniest instance of a fan celebrating a division crown, but I think it was overtaken by this Phillies fan.
Time would fail to tell of the rise (and fall) of Grimace and how he saved the New York Mets season (it's a scientific fact they got to the NLCS because of him), Jose Altuve going barefoot on the diamond, Shohei Ohtani's 50/50 season, the Oakland A’s emotional final home game, or Caitlin Clark dipping her toes into the world of broadcasting. The point is, over the course of the entire season, we saw countless things that shed some unusual life on the fans and moments in America’s game that don’t often get talked about. We really did honor the name of the column and touch all the bases.
Some Thank Yous To The Readers And My Co-Workers
Thank you to every fan who made my work feel like it was worth it by engaging with my articles and sending emails to john.simmons@outkick.com. I did it for you guys, and those responses helped me know for sure that I was providing value and a little bit of fun to your MLB fandom. Next season, I’m going to continue to work extra hard to make sure I bring more of this type of content for you guys.
To my editors - Gary Schreir and Patricia Babcock McGraw. Thank you guys for allowing me to run with this idea in the first place, and for providing story ideas and lots of encouragement over the year. Also, none of this would have happened without the invaluable Joe Kinsey, who taught me how to write with a looser tone and who provided other points of feedback along the way.
Lastly, I must thank the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yes, this column was fun to write. But could you imagine if I had to spend my last regular column analyzing a New York Yankees World Series win? I shudder at the thought of it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for preventing that from happening.
Now come the bleak winter months where we don’t have any baseball (sad). But don’t worry folks, those months will soon melt into spring, when baseball and the magic of another season will begin sooner than we know it.
And once that happens, we’ll get ready to "Touch ‘Em All" again.