The Team from Nowhere

They literally came out of nowhere.
Yes, the entire minor league baseball team seemed to have just popped up in a field in the middle of nowhere. At the risk of alienating anyone living anywhere lets just keep the location as the middle of nowhere.

During the preseason, questions without answers hovered over the team like carrion. Once the season started no one seemed to care. These guys were good.

Even to the novice fan these guys seemed special, almost magical. Every steal that was attempted always ended with the perpetrator popping up in his slide firmly planted on the bag. Every bat swung either connected for a hit or a foul. No one seemed to strike out. Well no team is that perfect. They struck out every once in a while but those were lost among the hits and a few walks. But they didn’t strike out enough for anyone to really remember them.

Fans are like that when their team is winning. Winning was not an accurate term to describe what these guys were doing. They were killing it. They were on an unbeaten streak since well, since the start of the season. No fan could think of any losses in the preseason either but then again the fans were just caught up in the novelty of the new team. Nobody could recall their win-loss record in the preseason. The only question was how long could they keep this up? They were bound to have a losing streak.

Coach Mickey Brown wasn’t worried about that. Those worries were small potatoes. He was worried that someone was going to start asking tougher questions. Questions about where exactly did they come from….

More Quotes From Writers and My Response.

You know the drill. I call out a quote by a famous or not so famous writer (there are more not so famous writers than stars under heaven) and then my version or response to it.

“In order to write the book you want to write, in the end you have to become the person you need to become to write that book.”
― Junot Diaz

My Response: “WTF, To write a book you must become a writer?”
Thank you captain obvious.

“Just me, my music, and the voices in my head.”― Christie Silvers

My Version: “Just me and the voices in my head who are demanding music.”

“I prefer to be on the side of losers, the misunderstood or lonely people rather than writing about the strong and powerful.”
― Núria Añó

My Response: “The strong and powerful will always get their story told, whether it’s fact or fiction is another story.”

“I write to believe in goodness.”
― Red Haircrow

My Response: “Goodness can write itself it’s evil that is much more interesting.”

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou

My Version: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, unless it’s extremely stupid,
People will forget what you did, unless insurance and/or the police are involved,
but people will never forget how you made them feel. Especially if that feeling is feeling superior to you.”

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”
― Elbert Hubbard

My Version: “A friend is someone who knows all about you and yet never brings up the topic of blackmail.”

“Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there’s an explosion—that’s Plot.”
—Leigh Brackett, WD

My Response : “Anyone else need a cold shower?”

or “Hard to believe it was Science Fiction that she wrote.”

“Don’t expect the puppets of your mind to become the people of your story. If they are not realities in your own mind, there is no mysterious alchemy in ink and paper that will turn wooden figures into flesh and blood.”
—Leslie Gordon Barnard, WD

My Response: “There is a fine line between creative writing and being mentally disturbed and quite often that line is not solid” -Dan

“I don’t need an alarm clock. My ideas wake me.”
—Ray Bradbury (WD)

My Response: “My ideas wake me but it’s tough to write while curled up in the fetal position.”


“Ink, a Drug.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, Bend Sinister
My Response: “Those crazy Russians will smoke/drink anything and then start chasing after age inappropriate females.”

“A writer’s life is never boring when you have imaginary friends to play with!”
― Christie Silvers
My Response: “My other personalities say that quite often”

“A writer’s brain is like a magician’s hat. If you’re going to get anything out of it, you have to put something in it first”
― Louis L’Amour
My Response: “Put something in it? Aha that’s my problem”

“Don’t walk in front of me… I may not follow
Don’t walk behind me… I may not lead
Walk beside me… just be my friend”
― Albert Camus (French Philosopher)

My Version: “Don’t walk in front of me… It makes it harder to share a flask.
Don’t walk behind me… I have no clue as to where I’m going(Did I mention the flask?).
Walk beside me… I’ve had to much to drink and I may need to lean on you.”

“For your born writer, nothing is so healing as the realization that he has come upon the right word.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen
My Version: “All Hail the Thesaurus!” -Dan

“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
― Oscar Wilde
My Version: “Never forgive your enemies. A good grudge is a sad thing to waste.”

“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.”
― William W. Purkey

My Response: “For gods sake if you’re going to dance put your clothes on. Someone could be watching.”