Today was a good day.
For one thing, my first check from this site arrived today: $147.10, courtesy of a few advertisers. I’d write here for free, happily, but it’s cool to know I can make a few bucks. My goal is to eventually pay my Internet bill through proceeds from this site.
I also did some research on Joe Marty, a former player I’m considering writing a book on. Marty played in the majors from 1937 to 1941, and I have been wondering if any of his former teammates are still alive. Well, through the magic of Baseball Reference, Baseball Almanac, Wikipedia and the willingness to spend a few hours in front of the computer, I checked the bios of every single one of his teammates and confirmed that four are still alive. Better, they all have listed phone numbers. They’re all in their nineties, among the oldest former players still living, but I’m hopeful I can get at least one or two good interviews out of the group. Old players love to reminisce, I learned early on. I think it’s one reason many have listed numbers.
Feeling invigorated after getting the first four numbers, I went one step further and checked the biographies of every one of Marty’s teammates from the Pacific Coast League. He begun with the San Francisco Seals from 1934 to 1936, where he teamed with Joe DiMaggio. Later, following his career in the big leagues and a few years thereafter serving in World War II, Marty returned to his hometown to play for the Sacramento Solons from 1946 to 1952. I was unable to confirm if any of his Seals teammates are still alive (the chance of which seems slim), though I found at least 13 former Solon teammates that are still around. A few of those guys definitely have listed numbers as well.
If possible, I’d like to interview all of Marty’s living teammates. I’m undecided if this will ultimately be a book or just an awesome post for this site, but I’m hopeful about the road I’m embarking on.
The upshot is that I literally spent nine hours in front of my computer punching in names. My eyes are weary from the flicker of my laptop. It was the kind of day where I had something I needed to do in the evening, and I didn’t want to leave my computer and couldn’t wait to return home. I don’t work this hard at my typical day job.