I'm going to go back and do a closer read and hopefully leave comments on each part (at least theoretically), but here's the brain download from my first readthrough
( ... )
I hold that real baseball fandom is a total research thing. The saber geeks being the most extreme example, but we're in there too, in our own weird, shunned way. ;) That said, thank god for Baseball Reference.
Baseball players are often very bad at great romance.
Ah, Maribel. I always get a little worried writing the wives/girlfriends at all, since they aren't public figures on quite the same level as the players themselves, but in the end I couldn't not write her in, not with a storyline following Pudge's life as closely as this did, you know? And she canonically put up with him for over 15 years, I think it would have been much harder to writ her as weak or stupid or whatever, heh.
I had to put Kenny in! The fact that they played together for so long, and then for multiple different stints in Texas, and then again in Detroit... it was just too much for me to ignore. IT WANTED TO BE WRITTEN.
I've had this sitting open in a tab since the day caruso recced it, and I read it basically in one night. I've been trying to come up with a comment that expresses how very much I enjoyed this, but in the end I think I'll just give up on that pretense. I'm so blown away by the attention to detail and level of research, which I should have expected having read Front Offices and assorted other things you have written. That said, it's still amazing to see 85,000 words of evidence.
Kenny Rogers was categorically my favorite part. His interaction with Pudge, kind of a running theme throughout the story. Just wonderfully rendered. Bravo.
Thank you! I'm impressed you got through it in one night-- I don't think I can reread it in one night anymore, ha ha.
I always feel a little guilty with the research... on the one hand, yeah, it is a lot of work, but on the other hand it's kind of cheating to write a story based on a real timeline with real life anchor events in it, instead of having to make everything up yourself. I dunno. Whatever, I'll probably keep doing it. This is why I write fic instead of, you know, trying to be a real author. :P
Okay, just read it through in one sitting because I couldn't NOT keep reading and...amazing. Just amazing. I'm so glad I finally had some time to read it.
Some of the many things I loved: The actual baseball, the funny bits, the not-so-funny bits, Nolan effing Ryan, and Pudge. <3
(p.s. - i'm friending you - don't know why i haven't already.)
Thank you! Nolan Ryan's presence in RPS seems to be disturbing/intriguing several people, which is either a neat thing or an 'oops I should probably be apologizing for that one' kind of thing. ;)
Friended right back atcha... more baseball fic people in my internet life is always a good thing!
So, I totally failed at going back and line-by-lining this and I'm not even going to try anymore. There's just so much I loved about it, particularly the moment Pudge sees Ryan with his kids, the nuances to each relationship he has (including the relationship with his wife), the characterizations, etc. What I really, really loved about this, though, was the relationship with Kenny and Pudge and how it offset Pudge's other relationships. It really felt like an anchor to me, like here's Pudge and all these other relationships, but oh, there's Kenny to give him some perspective or whatever.
I love that you ended it where you did and how you did. Baseball is home. Perfect. And the epilogue, especially the moment with Pudge touching Ryan's plaque, was poignant without being over the top.
No need to LBL, really. :) With a beast of a fic like this you'd be nuts to even try, ha ha.
When you're writing about a career as long as Pudge's it should be hard to work in a BFF character, but Kenny really had been around so often, it worked out too well to not be used.
The epilogue was so self-indulgent, ha, buuuut after all those many words tied to real-life events, I wanted to make something up, and the future's the way to go for that, right? Right.
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Baseball players are often very bad at great romance.
Ah, Maribel. I always get a little worried writing the wives/girlfriends at all, since they aren't public figures on quite the same level as the players themselves, but in the end I couldn't not write her in, not with a storyline following Pudge's life as closely as this did, you know? And she canonically put up with him for over 15 years, I think it would have been much harder to writ her as weak or stupid or whatever, heh.
I had to put Kenny in! The fact that they played together for so long, and then for multiple different stints in Texas, and then again in Detroit... it was just too much for me to ignore. IT WANTED TO BE WRITTEN.
lol, a law for or against Nolan Ryan slash? ;)
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Kenny Rogers was categorically my favorite part. His interaction with Pudge, kind of a running theme throughout the story. Just wonderfully rendered. Bravo.
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I always feel a little guilty with the research... on the one hand, yeah, it is a lot of work, but on the other hand it's kind of cheating to write a story based on a real timeline with real life anchor events in it, instead of having to make everything up yourself. I dunno. Whatever, I'll probably keep doing it. This is why I write fic instead of, you know, trying to be a real author. :P
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Some of the many things I loved: The actual baseball, the funny bits, the not-so-funny bits, Nolan effing Ryan, and Pudge. <3
(p.s. - i'm friending you - don't know why i haven't already.)
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Friended right back atcha... more baseball fic people in my internet life is always a good thing!
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I love that you ended it where you did and how you did. Baseball is home. Perfect. And the epilogue, especially the moment with Pudge touching Ryan's plaque, was poignant without being over the top.
Wonderful, wonderful. Much love for this.
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When you're writing about a career as long as Pudge's it should be hard to work in a BFF character, but Kenny really had been around so often, it worked out too well to not be used.
The epilogue was so self-indulgent, ha, buuuut after all those many words tied to real-life events, I wanted to make something up, and the future's the way to go for that, right? Right.
Thank yooouuu!
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