So I'm reading this, and then I'm like "Oh God. Peter is Fontenot." And then I pretty much died.
Also, oh my god this story made me so happy you would not even believe. The way you blended Real Life Cub Things and Heroes just. Damn. I approve! *flails some more, happily*
I was sold the minute Charlie showed up and started talkin' about WHIP. I sort of imagine her having all of the things Bill James has ever written in her house somewhere. I bet she has a Baseball Prospectus subscription.
Parkman the catcher! Oh gosh. So perfect! I love the little jokes about how it's like he reads people's minds. (Is he taking the place of Koyie Hill in this verse? The Cubs aren't my main team, so I don't know all the AAAA-type players.)
Claude being all mysterious. The kind of ball player who shows up in novels about baseball. Like he walked straight out of something from WP Kinsella, man.
Loved DL the outfielder. It suits him so perfectly. And ahahaha the guys being all unbelieving, still, that he married a stripper. So baseball, and yet so HeroesAnd Ted! with the hilarious off-field injury because he's angry. (I love the terrible reasons for DL-stints, like the time Rich Harden messed up his shoulder turning off his alarm clock, or the time Joel Zumaya messed up his wrist because he
( ... )
Peter = Fontenot because YES of COURSE the parallel is a utility infielder! One who's JUST AS SHORT AS PETER! Possibly the better choice would have been Mark DeRosa, but there's no narrative arc in that one
( ... )
I write/read some baseball RPF as well (which may or may not be skeevy to you, and I apologize if it is!) and when I first got into it, I was like "the problem with RPF is what's the canon?" and candle-beck said, basically, we have canon, and it is called box scores. :D The thing is taking the box scores and also showing everyone how baseball is basically made out of magic. Which you did! All the things about this story I loved are the little things, and those are the things that always make me love a good baseball story. the little anecdotes or sometimes the numbers, or just the little asides
( ... )
I'm, like, not a baseball person at all. But this fic, when I read the draft... marvelously perfect and it hurts in the beginning and you fix it in the end.
This is one of the best AUs I've ever read - like just about everyone else, I don't know that much about baseball, but this came off as incredibly knowledgeable in a transparent way, not a show-offy way, and the weaving of the characters into this world was just about flawless. I particularly loved the little asides like Claude not driving (everyone take a step backwards!), and the intensity of his focus. I can just see those grey eyes over the edge of the mitt...it'd be a little intimidating to be on a bedroom wall.
There's a whole world here, and I'm sorry to leave it. There's so much more to be explored - back story with Claude and Bennet most particularly.
And an opportunity to use my rarely used Keith Olbermann icon, too.
Thank you for your comments. I was stitching together my own canon the whole way, praying it would all work out. I'm so glad it worked for you.
Also, re: Claude's scary eyes: Peter's an athlete, see. Claude's scary eyes would just psyche him up for the next game. Also, Peter is weird.
There is nothing better than imagining the details of a character's shady background. Anything you imagine is probably more interesting that what really happened. :)
I am so far away from being any kind of baseball fan it's not even funny, but I *adored* this. It managed to capture all of the messiness and complication that is the inside of Peter's head, and the half-easy, half-contentious way that Peter and Claude have, in a completely alien environment. I don't care if I didn't understand about half of it, I still loved it to pieces. Fantastic work.
I'm glad you liked it. I'm just overwhelmed with how many non-baseball people have read the story and gotten into it. It's good to know that the essentials of the game translate, even if the specifics don't. :)
Two: ok, ok, ok, so I'm from central Illinois, where the biggest baseball fan division is between Chicago fans and St. Louis fans, so I have VERY STRANGE LOYALTIES and am also a White Sox fan. Um. You can feel free to take back any compliments if you need to. But A.J. Pierzynski is my man. As well as Soriano. I'm very complicated!
Three: I'm SO GLAD you liked it, despite the drawbacks!
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Also, oh my god this story made me so happy you would not even believe. The way you blended Real Life Cub Things and Heroes just. Damn. I approve! *flails some more, happily*
Reply
I was sold the minute Charlie showed up and started talkin' about WHIP. I sort of imagine her having all of the things Bill James has ever written in her house somewhere. I bet she has a Baseball Prospectus subscription.
Parkman the catcher! Oh gosh. So perfect! I love the little jokes about how it's like he reads people's minds. (Is he taking the place of Koyie Hill in this verse? The Cubs aren't my main team, so I don't know all the AAAA-type players.)
Claude being all mysterious. The kind of ball player who shows up in novels about baseball. Like he walked straight out of something from WP Kinsella, man.
Loved DL the outfielder. It suits him so perfectly. And ahahaha the guys being all unbelieving, still, that he married a stripper. So baseball, and yet so HeroesAnd Ted! with the hilarious off-field injury because he's angry. (I love the terrible reasons for DL-stints, like the time Rich Harden messed up his shoulder turning off his alarm clock, or the time Joel Zumaya messed up his wrist because he ( ... )
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There's a whole world here, and I'm sorry to leave it. There's so much more to be explored - back story with Claude and Bennet most particularly.
And an opportunity to use my rarely used Keith Olbermann icon, too.
Reply
Also, re: Claude's scary eyes: Peter's an athlete, see. Claude's scary eyes would just psyche him up for the next game. Also, Peter is weird.
There is nothing better than imagining the details of a character's shady background. Anything you imagine is probably more interesting that what really happened. :)
Reply
Well, yeah, there's always that!
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(The comment has been removed)
Two: ok, ok, ok, so I'm from central Illinois, where the biggest baseball fan division is between Chicago fans and St. Louis fans, so I have VERY STRANGE LOYALTIES and am also a White Sox fan. Um. You can feel free to take back any compliments if you need to. But A.J. Pierzynski is my man. As well as Soriano. I'm very complicated!
Three: I'm SO GLAD you liked it, despite the drawbacks!
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