Dear Me

What if you could write a letter to your 16-year-old self? What would you say? The answers to those questions comprise the substance of Dear Me, a book of letters written by well-known people to the teenage versions of themselves. Most of the letters include advice and encouragement, while touching upon a whole range of emotions.

Here is a video introduction to the book from its editor, Joseph Galliano:

There is much I would like to say to the 16-year-old me, including something James Woods wrote in his letter: “Listen more than you may be inclined to do. Talk less.”

But, even if such time-traveling correspondence were possible, it might not have made a difference in my case. It’s not like I lacked for good advice at that age. It was the transferring of such advice into wise decisions where I often fell short. So it is possible that the teenage me would not have heeded the wisdom of his balder future self. Sigh.

On the other hand, knowing the winners of 26 future Super Bowls might have yielded some interesting results.

Andy Rooney ponders e-readers

In one of his final segments on 60 Minutes last year, Andy Rooney commented on the rising popularity of e-readers. Like Andy I prefer to read printed books, though I acknowledge the positive impact created by these electronic devices. Especially since they promote reading among a broader segment of the population. Nonetheless, I find myself sympathetic to Andy's viewpoint in this segment--especially his first statement and his last statement.

By the way, The All-American King and Men Among Giants are available for your Kindle.

Tim Tebow and the All-American King

Last Sunday quarterback Tim Tebow threw an 80-yard touchdown pass in overtime to propel the Denver Broncos past the defending AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Thus continues a phenomenon that began in the 2011 regular season when the young QB led his team to a series of dramatic 4th quarter victories. Adding to the significance of his latest feat, Tebow threw for 316 yards against the Steelers. In college, Tebow, who is not shy about sharing his Christian faith, often wore "John 3:16" in his eyeblack. For many of his growing number of fans, the 316 yards last Sunday was no coincidence. Some believe that Tebow and his team have benefitted from divine intervention on the football field. This thinking even inspired a Saturday Night Live sketch in which Jesus shows up in the Denver locker room to reveal that he has in fact been helping the Broncos win games. Tebow, of course, is not without his detractors. Many football commentators and experts maintain that Tebow is a mediocre passer who will not last in the NFL. And a lot of critics aren't too keen on the outward expressions of faith, including Tebowing.

The rise of Tim Tebow reminds me of Dave King, the main character in my novel The All-American King. Like Tebow, Dave King is a Christian quarterback who led his college team to the Sugar Bowl, before going on to star in the NFL. Both QBs could also run the ball effectively, even in the pros. At the time of his retirement in 1990, King led all quarterbacks in career rushing yards (see the table below for a comparison of King's stats with several other Hall of Fame QBs). 

On Saturday Denver faces the powerful New England Patriots. Is Tebow Time running out or

just getting started?

Book Giveaway

Win a free copy of Men Among Giants at Goodreads. The deadline for entering this book giveaway is November 30, 2011. See below for more details.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Men Among Giants

by Kent Krause

Giveaway ends November 30, 2011.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Reflections from a Cardinals Fan

“It’s hard to explain how this happened.” – Tony LaRussa.

I agree. I’m a Cardinal fan, but I admit I did not see this coming. Certainly not in August when St. Louis dropped two of three to the Cubs and then got swept at home by the Dodgers. Milwaukee’s lead had reached double digits and there was no way my beloved birds were going to catch them. But they did catch Atlanta for the Wild Card after the Braves dropped their last five games of the season. The Cards then vanquished the Phillies, Brewers, and Rangers to win their 11th world championship. It was an improbable conclusion to one of baseball’s most memorable seasons. Below are some reflections and random thoughts about what happened:

David Freese truly deserved his World Series MVP. In 2007, the Cardinals traded Jim Edmonds to get him from San Diego. Four years later, that move is paying big dividends. Edmonds was one of the all-time Cardinal greats, and in retirement he is the gift that keeps on giving.

Tony LaRussa (and baseball managers in general) usually receive too much credit for victories and too much blame for defeats. It’s the players who decide the outcome of the games. That said, TLR made some nice moves to help his team win this postseason. Most notably, the relief pitchers he deployed in the NLCS did an outstanding job of neutralizing the Brewers big bats. On the other hand, Game 5 against the Rangers was one of the worst managed games in WS history. Had St. Louis not eventually prevailed in the Series, the dark cloud of those poor decisions could have lingered over Busch Stadium all winter. As it is, Phonegate is now little more than a footnote.

I never liked Lance Berkman much when he was with the Astros all those years. Now that he is wearing the Birds on the Bat, he’s one of my favorite players. Funny how that goes.

That was really nice of Prince Fielder to give the Cardinals home field advantage in the World Series. Thank you, Mr. Fielder.

Wonder how many analysts picked the Cards to win the World Series after they lost their best pitcher Adam Wainwright for the entire season.

Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson reminds me of Garret Dillahunt from Raising Hope.

I’m glad the World Series ended in October. That’s the way it should be. Baseball in November is just not right. Abner Doubleday would agree with me. I know he did not invent baseball, but still, he and most other Civil War generals would not want to see World Series games played in the same month as Thanksgiving. I don’t like the Super Bowl in February either.

Football may be more popular and basketball has a faster pace, but baseball is the best sport. The drama, the tension, the moves and countermoves, the duels, the plots and the subplots—there’s just nothing like baseball. It’s true today, just as it was true a hundred years ago. The only time it’s not true is when teams I don’t like win the World Series.

I’ve seen it a hundred times, but that Taco Bell chalupa commercial with Brian Wilson still cracks me up. “Because I’m Black Ops!”

I feel bad for the Rangers, even more so after seeing the images of a forlorn Nolan Ryan late in Game 7. Hopefully Ron Washington and his team will someday win a title for this organization. The Rangers lineup is loaded, so it could happen next year.

With the Cardinals overcoming such insurmountable odds to win the championship, I may have to abandon the usual pessimism I harbor when watching baseball. This pessimism, I should point out, was cultivated by Cardinal postseason failures in 1985, 1987, 1996, 2000-2002, 2004-2005, and 2009. Does this season make up for all those disappointments? Yeah, it kinda does. Especially when factoring in their other improbable world championship in 2006.

Pujols belongs in a Cardinals uniform.

Wow, it was a lot of fun watching baseball this October.

Spring Training is less than four months away!

Men Among Giants Book Tour

On Saturday, October 15th, I will be signing copies of Men Among Giants from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm at Barnes & Noble SouthPointe (2910 Pine Lake Road) in Lincoln, Nebraska.

On Saturday, December 3rd, I will be signing Men Among Giants from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm at James Arthur Vineyards in Raymond, Nebraska.

Hope to see you there!

All-Time Greatest Baseball Players

Have you ever thought about your favorite team’s all-time greatest players? Of course you have. Me too. In fact, I have selected the best ballplayers, by position, for all 30 of the major league franchises. Click on the links below to view the teams.

NATIONAL LEAGUE                                          AMERICAN LEAGUE

Arizona Diamondbacks                                     Baltimore Orioles/St. Louis Browns
Atlanta/Milwaukee/Boston Braves                    Boston Red Sox
Chicago Cubs                                                     Chicago White Sox
Cincinnati Reds                                                  Cleveland Indians
Colorado Rockies                                              Detroit Tigers
Florida Marlins                                                    Kansas City Royals
Houston Astros                                                    Los Angeles/Anaheim/California Angels
Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers                        Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators
Milwaukee Brewers/Seattle Pilots                    New York Yankees
New York Mets                                                    Oakland/KC/Philadelphia Athletics
Philadelphia Phillies                                           Seattle Mariners
Pittsburgh Pirates                                               Tampa Bay Rays
St. Louis Cardinals                                             Texas Rangers/Washington Senators
San Diego Padres                                              Toronto Blue Jays
San Francisco/New York Giants
Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos

When selecting players, I followed the following rules:

1. To be eligible for inclusion on a team, a player had to play at least FIVE seasons for that team.
2. Player statistics from before 1900 were not considered. Baseball was a different game in the 19th century (e.g. no foul strike rule until 1901). My apologies to fans of Cap Anson and Wee Willie Keeler.
3. A team may include no more than one pitcher who played more than half his career before 1920.
4. To be eligible for the DH spot, a player had to have been a DH for at least 20 games for that team.
5. The Bench spot is not for players who spent much time on the bench. It’s actually more like a "best-of-the-rest" position that allowed me to include one more great player on a team’s roster.
6. Only one team per franchise. So, for example, the Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Browns are the same team. 

Exceptions to the five-year requirement in Rule # 1:

• For expansion teams that joined the league in 1977 or later, I dropped the requirement to 4 years; for the most recent arrivals to MLB, the Rays and Diamondbacks, I had to drop the requirement to 3 years.
• For closers the requirement is only 4 years; it’s a relatively new position and closers tend to move around a lot.