clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Failure is not an option

New, 21 comments

A new mission profile for the 2014 Baseball Prospect Book.

Apollo 13 Service Module after explosion of oxygen tank #2
Apollo 13 Service Module after explosion of oxygen tank #2

So I ran a test yesterday to see how my head would hold up, by writing the Billy Butler article. It was a good article. I am confident that my writing ability and my analysis skills are intact. 

However, while I will not go into the details, I paid for it. My brain rebelled last night and let me know in no uncertain terms that it is not ready. I am in better shape than I was a week ago, but my brain is far from operating at full capacity.


So it is time to admit a few things. The normal mission profile has to be changed.

Normally, the book gets done by working seven days a week, 10-12 hour days, for three months. And as you know, the book is the basis for the Top 20 Prospect Lists that are so popular here at Minor League Ball. The book is essentially the reference manual for everything that will happen on this website for the next year: the top 20 lists, the Top prospect lists, player reports and summaries, everything. The book is the foundation.

I am still going to write the book. I have no choice about that. At this point I am planning for the format to be the same, and the Top 20 lists and player reports and everything that you expect to see here at Minor League Ball will still happen.

But the insane moon-shot deadline I normally operate under, getting it finished by January 5, to have it at the printer in time for Feb 1 release, is not realistic under current conditions. My post-concussion brain simply can't sustain the workload.

Several people have asked how they can help. The main things I need are your patience and your faith. The book will come out, the prospect lists will get done, and I hope that it will be not-too-much later than normal. But I don't know the exact day, and I have to let go of the idea of keeping to a tight schedule.

The best thing you can do to help is, quite simply, to pre-order a copy. The whole project is financed with pre-orders, and it would help my peace of mind a lot if we had as many pre-orders as possible. It would be one less thing to worry about, and right now I have a lot on my plate.

Thanks for everything guys. I appreciate it more than you can know. We may not keep the normal schedule, but we WILL get this book written, this website up to speed, and the crew home. Failure is not an option.