Greetings from Baltimore: The final wrap

Meant to post this earlier in the week, but life, you know?

I am a casual conventioneer. By that I mean I don’t feel the need to fill my dance card and attend every session possible, even if I hang out in the lobby for an hour rather than go to something which don’t interest me just for the sake of “taking it all in.” Unfortunately, Baltimore was desolate, due in no small part to the lingering effects of the pandemic and I didn’t have to comfort level to just around as I might in say, Boston or Chicago. But that’s just life in the pandemic era, I suppose.

The awards luncheon, with Tim Kurkjian as the keynote speaker, did not appeal to me. He was the guest on one of my first Bookshelf Conversations so I already knew him to be a great storyteller and the thought of paying $75 for the vegetarian option, no, thanks. So I was happy to volunteer to man the registration desk for the duration. I also served as “timekeeper” for a couple of presentations, for which I was amply rewarded.

That bobble head is actually appropriate: When I worked at a summer camp in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec as a 20-something in the late 1970s, my nickname was Brooks, since I came from Brooklyn, NY.

My family chastised me for not participating more. I totally forgot about the trivia contest on Thursday and passed on watching the finals on Saturday night. And while my proposal to do a presentation on the “Freddie Gray game” was not accepted, I did do an impromptu bit at the Baseball and Arts Committee meeting about my Covid song parody, “The New Ball Game,” which will appear in Turnstyle 3 (T3,) the SABR Journal of Baseball Art, so I did get involved a little. My main goal was to chat with authors and publishers about their work, some of which you may have seen before, so mission accomplished.

Here are a few more.

Jay Goldberg, former proprietor of the estimable Bergino Baseball Clubhouse of which I have very fond recollections, is embarked on a new gig dealing with baseball memories. In fact, perhaps my favorite session dealt with how baseball memories can comfort people suffering from Alzheimer’s. It seems like a very worthy project and I’m hoping to set something for that up in my area.

Gary Cieradkowski, artiste extraordinaire and creator of 21: Illustrated Journal of Outsider Baseball, now in its second edition. This is example of someone with whom I corresponded for years before meeting in person.

Maxwell Kates, a bon vivant from our neighbor to the north and editor of Time for Expansion Baseball.

As is often the case, the time just flew by.  My main regret is I missed out on the chance to have the coconut cream stuffed French toast and strawberry & pineapple biscuits with house-ade strawberry lime jalapeño jam at Miss Shirley’s. Next time.