There is one player who goes beyond legend though, in every way. Ty Cobb set almost 120 records, plenty of which are still unbroken almost a century later. He was the best at bat. He was the best on base. He was the best in the field. He was ferocious, relentless, fearless, untiring, unwavering and almost unbeatable for the 20 some odd years he played baseball. Even in his twilight years, he was one of the top players.

He was also the most vicious, vile men to play the game. He never stopped fighting the umpires, the other players, the owners, the fans. He beat one fan brutally, despite the fact that the man had no hands. He took on three muggers single-handedly and beat one to death with his pistol. He hated African-Americans. He railed against integration. He beat one black groundskeeper and then, when the man’s wife intervened, he beat her too.

There is no way to measure the amount of contempt and admiration he managed to garner during and after his career. He spiked other players and spiked the umpires. He stole home 35 times, a record that hasn’t even been approached.  He was sneaky and underhanded. He was a master tactician. He would play so hard that he would bleed and then he would play some more.

He was, with no exaggeration or hyperbole, the greatest baseball player to ever play in the major leagues. He was also, once again with no exaggeration or hyperbole, one the worst human beings to ever play the game.

It is my belief that an angel was ejected from Heaven and sent to Hell, but, on the way down, he decided to play some ball.

Dylan Charles

To me, even before I started my whole Baseball Project, this was unthinkable. Leave Fenway? But…it’s Fenway! It’s one of those places people think of when you say, “baseball.” It’s been around almost as long as the Red Sox have been around. It’s been the home to Babe Ruth and Ted Williams and that Yaz fellow. You can’t leave Fenway.

Since I’ve never been to a major league ballpark and since the season is still a ways out, I decided to take advantage of the Fenway Park Tours. After all, what better way to get acquainted with a ballpark than when it’s completely empty? When it’s full of screaming fans and vendors and balllplayers and reporters and crew, you don’t really get to appreciate it. You miss out on details that are going to be obscured by the excitement of the game.

But a ballfield without players is such an odd thing to see.

The view from the Green Monster.

The history of Fenway is apparent from the moment you walk through the gate. There are dates everywhere; marking the first series the Red Sox won (1903, which was also the first World Series ever) and the years they won the American League pennant. There are the old bleacher seats that have been there since 1934 and they show it: There’s no leg room. There’s no room between you and your neighbor. And, as our guide pointed out, there are no cupholders.

Everything has a story attached to it. There’s the red seat out behind right field, where Ted Williams’ home run landed, the longest homer hit in Fenway. There’s the Green Monster, where Carlton Fisk’s homerun safely landed after he willed it there.

The Green Monster in all its glory.

Fenway is both one of the oldest and one of the smallest ballparks in the major leagues. It’s crammed into a tiny space, surrounded on all sides. Fenway represents Boston, in the way that Boston embraces its past and the future on the same street corner. History and progress in one square block. To me, a newcomer to the game and its history, it’s unthinkable that they even contemplated building a new park.

I can’t wait to see it in action.

Dylan Charles

Those people should never be trusted, either inside the kitchen or out.

The Sandwich is something that can rise above and beyond its ingredients. In no situation is the term “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” more applicable. To make a Sandwich right, you have to work at it. It takes preparation. Time. And the willingness to get your hands dirty.

There is no “perfect sandwich”. A vegetarian would not be happy with one of my…creations. But there are ideal sandwiches for each individual. I made such a  sandwich today.

Since I ate my sandwich too quickly for it to be photographed, let me paint you a picture….with words.

First layer, bread. Then yellow mustard and a mild cheddar, sliced thin. Next, a layer of bacon, with some more, thinly sliced cheese. Then some roast beef and turkey. Another layer of cheese. Next, add a second layer of bacon. More cheese and mustard. Bread slice.

The final step involved frying the whole kit and kaboodle in bacon grease.

I’m not writing out this recipe so that you can make it yourself.

I’m writing it here to brag.

It was delicious.

Dylan Charles

Every bit of free time I have has become devoted to baseball, in one form or another. When I think about writing something, I always have my baseball on hand, so I have something to play with while I think. I think about going to Fenway constantly, which I can’t believe spellcheck isn’t recognizing right now. I’m trying to calculate how many games I’ll actually be able to attend, once the season starts. And that’s the thing, the scary thing; the season hasn’t even started yet and it’s already started to take over what and how I think.

I’ve had (another) nightmare about Ty Cobb. How many nightmares can a person have about Ty Cobb before that’s deemed an abnormal thing? I’m at two. And he SCARES me. I haven’t even read his biography yet, though it’s on my kitchen table. Waiting. Waiting for me.

On the one hand, I’m worried for my mental health. I have a constant stream of ERAs and WHIP’s and OPS flying through my head. So many numbers and so many names. I have the whole of baseball (almost two century’s worth) and I’m trying to cram it all into my brain in a two month period.

And you want to know the scary thing?

I’m loving it.

Dylan Charles

I knew there were numbers in Baseball. That’s kind of Baseball’s thing. It even has its own math associated with it. But, holy moley, I’m starting to get a little overwhelmed.

For the pitcher alone there are dozens of stats that you can follow. There’s the pitcher’s ERA (Earned Run Average), which measures how many runs he lets in per inning played. Simple enough. BUT, there’s the Adjusted ERA (or ERA+), which measures the pitcher’s performance based on the ballpark he’s pitching in. Since ballparks aren’t created equal, some of them favor pitchers and some favor hitters. If a pitcher does poorly in a ballpark that favors the pitcher, his Adjusted ERA will fall below 100.

So for his ERA, the lower the better. For his Adjusted ERA, the higher the better.

Moving on, there’s WHIP (Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched), which measures hits AND walked batters. It’s a more rigorous stat than the ERA and counts every batter that gets to base, not just the earned runs.

There’s the pitcher’s win/loss record, the complete game stat (number of games where the pitcher was the only one to pitch), balks, blown saves, innings pitched, pitches thrown, strike-outs, wild pitches, hits allowed and home runs allowed.

And this is just for one position.

I’m in danger of being overwhelmed here. So many numbers being thrown around (ha! pun). But I will march through the numbers by golly. By the time I watch my first major league game, I will know what’s going on.

Or die trying.

Or…more likely, be kind of confused occasionally.

Dylan Charles

I decided on a hat, because I don’t really want to have to wear a parka all through Summer to indicate that, yes, I follow the Red Sox and, yes, I am incapable of planning ahead. A hat is perfect. It works in all seasons. It’s visible. And it can be taken off rapidly if you’re about to run into a huge group of Yankee fans.

Browsing the large selection of hats on the MLB website, I found one and I immediately fell in love with it. It’s chic and has pretty colors and it has style. Look at it!

I’ve become obsessed with it. It glimmers in the virtual shop window like some kind of…hat glimmery thing. I want it. I want to show off my (extremely) new-found allegiance. I want to get into tussles. I want to brag about something I have absolutely no control over. And then…and then…a jersey! So I can show which player I choose to represent me!

“Why yes, I DO consider myself the Dustin Pedroia of retail, how did you know?”

This might, just might, be in danger of turning into a major illness. Is this how it is for all sports fans? Does it all start with a hat?

Dylan Charles

So, here’s the deal: I’m going to lay out my beliefs in a clear and honest manner. I will do so without denigrating the other side. In the interest of spreading political discussion and not arguments or even debates, here is what I believe:

I believe that women should have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. As a man, I feel it’s not my place to decide whether or not a woman can terminate a pregnancy.

I believe that religion has no place in government. Now, more than any other point in history, I feel it’s important to not tread on the beliefs of our citizens. One of the most enduring strengths of this country is that we’re not some homogeneous culture, but a blend of a hundred different peoples. Prayer, creationist theories (without scientific evidence) and a Judeo-Christian teaching of history do not belong in our public schools.

I believe that the death sentence is not an effective method of reducing crime. For more on my thoughts about that, check out this earlier entry and this one as well.

I believe that marijuana should be legalized, if only so people will stop talking about it.

I believe that gay men and women should be allowed to marry each other, simply because I do not believe it is the government’s role to legislate whether or not two consenting adults can marry one another.

I believe that everyone should pay taxes based on their income. If you make more money, you pay more taxes. This society, as we have built it, cannot survive without a constant influx of money. We are currently engaged in two wars. We have a huge number of social programs to support. We have an infrastructure to support. Cut the wars, the infrastructure costs, or the social programs and then, and only then, consider reducing taxes.

These are my core political beliefs, for the most part. There are other things, but we’re already at 400 words. So let’s leave it at this for now.

Dylan Charles

At school, I stayed away from extracurricular activities. No latin club for this cool cat! I never went to a major sporting event in either high school or at UNC. I tried to stay away from cliques at school and work.

Part of the point of the Baseball Project is that I’m finally, grudgingly, acknowledging that it can be fun to be on the inside. When I watched the Superbowl in a bahr with a bunch of other yelling Patriots fans, it was fun. I mean, it was depressing as hell that they lost, but that was also good. Not the losing, the being depressed.

As weird as it sounds, I’m looking forward to the wins AND the losses of following the Red Sox, just because it’ll mean I’m part of a group, willingly too!

Dylan Charles

1. I need to write a new blog entry, but I don’t want to do a lot of work.

2. I know of at least a couple of people that just started reading my blog and who are new to the wonder that is my writing.

An idea struck! I should do a “Best of the Blog” blog entry! Minimal work for me, maximum enjoyment for you! Win-win! Plus, this way I don’t have to talk about the Superbowl. Goddamn Giants.

So, in no order, some of my favorite blog entries:

A Mopsy Proposal: This is one of the highest viewed entries on my site for some truly terrible reasons. I get a lot of people searching for pet rabbit related information (“bunny habitat” being a popular search term) and then stumbling across this post. Probably not my best foot forward for gaining new fans.

Quittin’ Time: I wrote this blog entry ten days after I quit smoking and I was feelin’ it at that point. A huge part of why I even wrote the entry was to help keep me on track. So yay to not smoking.

Retail Employee’s Lament: I wrote this during a dark time in my life. I had transferred to Borders Downtown Crossing after closing the Back Bay Borders (which was the second store I closed) and I was dangerously close to burning out. I think a few weeks AFTER this post, I found out that the whole company was going down and I would be closing my third and final Borders store. Please be nice to retail, you have no idea what they’ve been through.

Isolated Moments on a Long Road: This is probably one of my favorite blog entries, because it came the closest to what I had in my head and it was especially important that I got it right.

Don’t Know the Words: Another popular blog entry. I was really bummed out when I wrote this, as you can probably tell. It still drives me crazy that I’m better with words when I’m writing than when I’m talking.

In Defense of Eve: I rarely write about religion, but I had a bee in my bonnet about this. Eve is awesome. If you don’t agree, read my blog post.

A Long Walk: Last entry, written when I worked at the Borders at Chestnut Hill during the snowiest winter in years. Good times.

I hope you new people enjoy the entries. Those are among the best ones I wrote and cover a wide range of hilarious to insightful to hilariously insightful.

Dylan Charles

Addendum: This took as long to write as a real blog entry. Hell’s bells.

Dylan Charles

Posted from bed.