Life moves fast, but not necessarily on a personal blog. A lot has happened in the two years between posts. But this will focus on three things that have stayed the same: maps, baseball, and writing.
It’s been 20 years since the Google Maps API was released and I’ve been excited about it since Day One. A map is still the best way to communicate location-based information. For example, if you were a baseball fan, you might notice two old-timers named Dutch Leonard. And neither one is from Holland.
That’s when you make a map of the birthplaces of all baseball players named “Dutch” (embedded above, thanks to my friends at BatchGeo). You can see, quickly and visually, that most of the 23 Dutches in baseball history are from the United States. Only two are even from Europe, and they’re both German.
As this map shows, I’ve rekindled my baseball fandom in the last few years. Among the instigators is a daily trivia game called Immaculate Grid and a couple trips to Oracle Park in San Francisco to see my Giants play.
Most mornings I walk the neighborhood loop, come home to make some coffee, and consider the six teams or stats in The Grid. If I need a Gold Glove winner who also played at least one game at 1B, I’ll shy away from obvious choices like Keith Hernandez or even famous Giant Will Clark. Instead, I’d choose someone like Carlos Beltran, a great centerfielder who was once forced to play an inning at first.
Trivia is often trivial.
Another part of my daily routine involves writing. Sure, I write a lot in my work at EveryDeveloper, but I also started a personal project that gives me daily practice.
Starting January 1, I’ve posted a picture of one of my old baseball cards every day. To make it even more fun for a professional writer and editor, I make each description exactly 300 characters.
I called the account “Junk Card Boggs” (also on Insta) after Hall of Famer Wade Boggs and the concept that most of the cards that I own were produced in such quantities that they’re essentially worthless.
The exercise itself is anything but worthless. It keeps my skills sharp and provides a little brain teaser puzzle each day. Plus, it’s another way to connect to baseball, and gives me an excuse to look through my cards from time to time.
Most days I switch gears to more professional writing, which sometimes even includes map and location-related topics. Sometimes I manage to get my baseball fandom into work, as well, like when I shared how my encounter with a former pitcher could help marketers better understand developers.
