Dreams.

Today Cincinnati Reds pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in Goodyear, Arizona, so I owe the internet a baseball illustration. It's tradition, after all! But I will be honest, I was stuck for a while. What baseball art could possibly meet the moment, when my government is being dismantled with gleeful hostility, in order to extract the highest possible harm to the most vulnerable people?

Then I remembered that we lost the great James Earl Jones last year, and inspiration struck. Baseball brings me joy. Art brings me joy. Stories bring me joy. We need joy right now.

Also! Never forget that  Field of Dreams is a movie about book banning. Be like Annie and fight for the right to read.

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024]

Still Life With Baseball Idioms (or Spring Training 2024)

Happy Pitchers and Catchers Report Day 2024! Has a baseball term ever made you hungry? This post's for you! How many idioms can you spot in this illustration?

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

The weather's not so fair.

It's a little bit this:

And a little bit this:

But mostly this: 

My team will be bad this season. But baseball's back. But being a fan of a losing team is agony. But even the worst teams win 60 games a year, and winning is thrilling. But there's no end in sight to the losing. But I love this beautiful, frustrating game. But but but but. 

Welcome back, baseball. Here we go again. 

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022]

Hey now, you're an all star

Since 2008, I've been creating a new baseball-themed illustration each year on the occasion of the start of Spring Training, celebrated on the day that pitchers and catchers report to camp-- the idea being that pitchers need a little bit longer to get ready than the hitters (and they can't do much of anything without their battery mates behind the plate.) 

This usually takes place in mid-February. But in early December, as negotiations began on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the MLB owners locked out the players, and the start of Spring Training was delayed. The two parties recently came to an agreement, so all our favorite players are now hanging out in Arizona and Florida, stretching and running drills and getting ready for the season to start next month, only a week or so behind the original schedule. But there was never an official "Pitchers and Catchers Report Day" like usual this year, so I've decided to squeeze this annual tradition in before exhibition games start up tomorrow.

I love baseball because I always have, because I was raised in a family that loved baseball and in a geographic spot that gave me easy access (both in-person and on the radio) to one of the game's most storied teams, the Cincinnati Reds. I watched a lot of losing teams in my formative fandom years (ages 13-26) and so I learned how to love the game without any expectation of "winning it all" or a "pennant chase" or... what exactly is a "World Series" anyway?

One thing I ❤️ about baseball is that even the worst teams win 60 games a year. Your team can be a disaster and still put on a hit parade on any given day. If being a fan is supposed to be fun, this seems like a big plus in baseball's favor that doesn't get discussed much.

— Elizabeth Metz (@finestmuffins) April 17, 2018

The Reds, after years of futility and rebuilding, made the playoffs in 2020 and were in the hunt for a playoff spot for most of 2021. And yet they're currently being dismantled for parts. The whimsical and colorful illustration above represents how the start of a new season usually makes me feel (momentum! stardust! POSSIBILITY!) But there's a 65% chance another beloved favorite will leave my team in the time it takes me to type this blog post, so I'll go ahead and also share a slapdash sketch from a few days ago that more accurately represents my feelings about baseball circa March 2022:

There's always next year, I guess? Meh. Okay.

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021]

P.S. Updated to add: the title of this post is a reference to this song that I will forever associate with my first favorite baseball team, the splendid but tragically doomed 1999 Cincinnati Reds.

Take me out to the ballgame (... someday!)

Last year for my annual spring training illustration, rather presciently, I drew a couple of kids playing indoors. 

A (very long) year later, I thought we'd check back in on these characters, see how they're feeling in 2021, now with masks and home haircuts and a bit of optimism for the year ahead.

Happy Pitchers and Catchers Report Day 2021! Here's to sunshine, new seasons, and dreams of celebrating wins together sometime soon.

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020]

I'm late, I'm late, but I'll still celebrate!

It's that time of year again... baseball's back, and with it, my annual illustration in honor of pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training camp. Unfortunately, my go-to online resource led me astray, so I missed my favorite team's actual official "Pitchers and Catchers Report Day" this morning.

Nevertheless, a tradition is a tradition, and I did have a piece underway, which I can now proudly present! Happy 2020, sports fans. Play indoors as winter wraps up, sure, but try not to break any cacti.

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019]

Pitchers and Catchers Report Today!

Happy spring! For this year's Pitchers and Catchers illustration, I thought I'd finally round out a collection I didn't set out to create. I've illustrated hitting, pitching, base running...

  

... so now defense! 

I love a diving catch, a pick and throw, a robbed home run. Here's to highlight reel plays in every game of 2019.

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018]

Still Life with Cactus and Grapefruit (or Spring Training 2018)

Happy Pitchers and Catchers Report Day 2018! This year, I went with the first fully formed idea that popped into my brain. Sometimes (especially when one is in the middle of a difficult baseball-themed picture book dummy) it's nice to not think too hard about scenes and movement and characters, and just play around with color and shape and mark-making and wink-wink whimsy 

So go forth, young pitchers and grizzled catchers (and vice versa.) Get thee to the Cactus League of Arizona and the Grapefruit League of Florida. Bring on the baseball, universe. In so many ways, I'm ready for spring.

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017]

So long as you come home at the end of the day.

For my tenth (!!!???) year celebrating the start of spring training with an original baseball illustration, I've kept things simple. This is for one very practical reason: I made an inter-city move in the last year, my art supplies (along with many of my worldly possessions) have been in storage for the last few months, and I only just retrieved my pastels and paper over the weekend.

But in a year that saw me return to my hometown, I like the symbolism. I'm sure I'm not the first person to notice that home plate is shaped like a house. There's a lot of poetry in "getting him home," and "home run," and "safe at home." Heck, I got to repurpose a Hamilton (née Sorkin) lyric for my title up top, and it completely works. I just love this game so much, you guys. Happy spring training!

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016]

Fine art print of this illustration is available over here.

On Deck

Pitchers and catchers for my favorite baseball team report today to Goodyear, Arizona (in the, ahem, CACTUS League) which has long been regarded by the most devoted fans, and by this blog, as a celebrated holiday. It's been a long, dark winter, but finally spring is on the horizon... and also possibly (hopefully maybe someday eventually) a brighter future. It won't be a particularly good year for my guys, wins and losses-wise, but if there's baseball being played, I'm there. Let's go. Batter up.

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015]

Fine art print of this illustration is available right on over here.

Rally caps! (Spring training 2015)

Pitchers and catchers report today to Goodyear, Arizona, kicking off spring training (and therefore the 2015 baseball season!) for my favorite team.  Since 2008, I've marked this day by sharing a baseball illustration.  After several years spotlighting players for this annual illustration, this year I want to celebrate fans.

(I'm also using this an opportunity to play around with some character design for a picture book manuscript I have in the works.  This devoted baseball fan is named Ruby, and she's my protagonist.)

So let's hear it for the fans.  Fans who care about the game way more than is reasonable, who cheer on their team through good times (1999! 2010! 2012!) and bad (2000-2009), who follow hundreds of games over 6+ months, and who (like Ruby here) put on their rally caps in critical dramatic moments because they can't stand to not do something to influence the game they love so much.

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014]

Here we go, 2014.

Print available for purchase at Imagekind.

This is my seventh year commemorating the start of spring training ("pitchers and catchers report day" for my favorite team, the Cincinnati Reds) with an original baseball-themed illustration.

This year's gesture drawing-inspired illustration features the fastest player in baseball. Seriously, watch Billy Hamilton run. It's a thing of beauty. And he'll be a key factor, one way or the other, for my team this season. So on your mark, get set...  GO BASEBALL GO!!!

Also: I realized after drawing this that I've now done illustrations of the platonic ideals of running, hitting, and pitching (faceless, identity-less everyplayers who were, nevertheless, modeled on Reds!) Next year... defense?

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013]

The storm clouds are gathering.

Fine art prints available at Imagekind

Every year to mark the start of the Cincinnati Reds' spring training (noted by the day pitchers and catchers are required to report to camp) I do an original baseball-themed illustration.  This year I've re-imagined an old team photo using four of the 2013 team's top hitters.  It seemed appropriate since I've been doing portraits and focusing so much on the team's history this offseason.  Here's the original:

Image courtesy of ebay. I don't know who took the original photo
but let me know if you do, so I can credit a photographer!

For those not well versed in the Cincinnati Reds, introductions are in order:

• 1961 photo: Vada Pinson, Gus Bell, Jerry Lynch, Wally Post
• 2013 illustration: Shin-Soo Choo, Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce

So why do I celebrate this every year? Why do baseball fans get so excited about a day that's pretty meaningless? Why do we mark the start of over a month of practice and exhibition games?

There's a scene in an early episode of the late, great TV show Sports Night where new producer Jeremy is cutting his first highlight segment for the show, a routine review of a routine baseball game. Problem is, he can't bear to cut anything.  Every moment is important to him. So he ends up with an 8 minute highlight reel. Anchor Casey tries to help him out, and we get this scene:

Casey: Okay, this section here where the batter taps dirt off his shoe and spits four times...
Jeremy: We can't cut that!
Casey: Jeremy.
Jeremy: No! The storm clouds are gathering.
Casey: [sighs] All right.  Just out of curiosity, what voiceover would you have me write for this moment?
Jeremy: What's wrong with "the storm clouds are gathering"? 

That's spring training for me. The storm clouds are gathering. The pace of baseball is uneven. I know that. It's sometimes all about waiting. There's lots of getting ready, of settling into stances, of positioning yourself in the field, of winding up to throw.  But if you know the game, you know the value of those slow times.  You know who to watch, and what to expect, and what to wait for.  And then... something happens.

Yes, Opening Day isn't until April. But baseball is being talked about, and soon it'll be played, and then it'll be played and will count.  I'm so excited, I can't stop smiling. Happy pitchers and catchers report day, internet!

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012]

The Old Ballgame

Fine art prints available!

"That's the true harbinger of spring, not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of a bat on a ball."  
- Bill Veeck

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." - A. Bartlett Giametti

"Baseball, it is said, is only a game.  True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona."  -George F. Will

For any baseball fan, "Pitchers and Catchers Report Day," the dawn of spring training and thus a new season, is a veritable feast day. I've celebrated the last four years by creating an original baseball-themed illustration.  After highlighting the hitter last year, I thought I'd focus this year on the pitcher, for a few reasons:  (1)  they're the ones reporting to Arizona today, along with their battery mates, and (2) for the first time since I can remember, I'm excited for the Reds' pitching.  Seriously, you guys, I have a good feeling about this year.  Go Reds!

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011]

Pitchers? Check. Catchers? Check. Spring? It's here!

Like it so much you want to take it home? (Get it? Home?) Fine art prints available!

People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball.  I'll tell you what I do.  I stare out the window and wait for spring.  

Rogers Hornsby

Today officially kicks off my Cincinnati Reds' quest to defend their 2010 National League Central Division title (yeah, it's still a little surreal!)  To celebrate the opening of spring training camp in Goodyear, AZ, I give you my fourth annual Pitchers and Catchers Report Day illustration.  Can't you just hear the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the sound of play-by-play on the radio (or in my case, computer)?  Baseball's back, ladies and gentlemen, and with it-- spring!  

[Memory lane:  2008, 2009, 2010]

Happy spring!

Purchase a print of this illustration.
Purchase a t-shirt or mug of this illustration.

There may be a foot of snow outside my front door right now, but it's here-comes-the-sun beautiful in Goodyear, Arizona. Today marks the official start of spring training for my beloved Cincinnati Reds, and for the third year in a row (we can call it a tradition now, right?) I've commemorated this "pitchers and catchers report" day with an illustration.
[Memory lane: 2009, 2008]

"It's a great day for baseball. Let's play two." -Ernie Banks
----
Edit: This week's Illustration Friday word is "propagate." I think this works with this illustration on a few levels. (1) It's about spring, a time for growth and new life and spreading sunshine--all propagations of one sort or another. (2) The Catholic Church uses the term "propagation of the faith," and we're all familiar with the word "propaganda." I'm nothing if not a baseball evangelist. :)

Illustration Friday: CELEBRATE

You can keep your Valentine's Day. I'm celebrating Pitchers and Catchers Report Day. Happy spring (training)--and go Reds!

Illustration Friday: THEORY

Happy Pitchers-and-Catchers-Report-Day! Today is the unofficial start of spring and the official start of spring training (and therefore baseball season). Get excited!

Baseball lends itself to superstitions and theories. In 1999, the last time the Reds contended, I was 16 and completely convinced that the things I did affected my team immensely (as do all fans at one time or another, right?) That summer, I spent a disproportionate amount of time away from Cincinnati, and somehow, whenever I left town the team started doing really well. The clearest example of this was when my family went on a 3 week vacation out west. The day we left town, the Reds overtook the Astros for first place. They remained in first place, tied or alone, until the day we drove home. Coincidence? Probably, but I considered asking the team to send me to Europe... for the good of the team.

Here's hoping for a great season, one that belongs to the Reds. :)