The Base Ball Life of Patrick O'Farrell

[Big Six]

Originally Posted by Tyke

Big Six, I notice that the Keystone League is back in gear; does that mean Pat & co. will soon be with us again? [Please....please.... ]

Hey Tyke,

I'm getting a new Hall of Fame ballot ready, and when that's done, I'll post it in the HoF thread and move the story along a little more. I confess I had a case of writer's block, on top of the end of a semester (exams to grade), and the holidays (lots of time with family and friends). I learned long ago not to force myself to write when I'm in that mood. The results are never good.

Thanks for sticking with the story, Tyke. I really appreciate it.

[Tyke]

That's great news, Big Six. I was a teacher myself [now retired, which I recommend wholeheartedly!] so I know the pressures you are working under - and Pat & Co are worth waiting for.

[Jamee999]

Yay! Pat (and Mike) are back!

[Big Six]

Here are Mike O'Farrell's pitching ratings during the 1941 season.

It's my first attempt to post a screenshot on the forum, so I hope it's readable. (Thanks for your help, Jestor.)

[Big Six]

A side note for those of you who are reading the forum:

I've posted the ballot for the 1941 Hall of Fame election in the HoF thread I manage for my O'Farrell dynasty. There's a link to the thread in my signature.

I want to invite any and all of you to cast a ballot in the election. It doesn't matter if you're new to the story, or have followed it for a while. I post bios of the players on the ballot, so you'll be able to cast an intelligent vote.

It won't take but a few minutes, and I'd really appreciate your input.

Thanks!

[Big Six]

A shameless bump, hoping to get some Hall of Fame voters on board...

[Big Six]

For a while now, I've been thinking about the direction this story should take. When I started writing it, I never imagined that I'd still be at it almost five years later. Pat O'Farrell's story has never become boring to me. I've left the story for a while on several occasions, when life became busy and demanding, or when I devoted more time and attention to another dynasty or another game. I've always come back to this one, however, because I start to miss it.

I can see, however, how a thread that's over a thousand posts long can be, well, too long and unmanageable. I can imagine that a reader who is new to the forum would pass this thread by because it's just too long.

In a sense, I feel like this thread is a lot like a veteran ballplayer at the end of his career, the kind about whom people say..."You should have seen him back in the day." I think it might be time to move on; maybe try something new, perhaps with some of the same characters.

Just a few thoughts...

[Tyke]

Big Six, I suppose this was the post I hoped would not be coming, but I perfectly understand what you are saying. Many contributors to these boards over the years have repeated the advice to do something which is interesting & exciting for you, because that is what is most likely to interest and excite potential readers.

The Pat O'Farrell story has given me a great deal of pleasurable reading: you have created interesting and engaging characters and written about them with talent and a real sense of style. The quality of writing has remained remarkably consistent and you are to be congratulated for that, when you have a real life to live, as well as other dynasties to chronicle. If you feel you have now arrived at the point where you think you would be repeating yourself, then I - and your other regular readers, I am sure - will quite understand if you decide to draw The Baseball Life of Pat O'Farrell to a close. If that's the case, you have my heartfelt thanks for the pleasure your writing has already given me and I will wait in eager anticipation to see which direction your future work takes.

[weidner]

Hey Big Six. Just finished reading your entire dynasty to date. I must say I'm incredibly impressed. I first started reading your dynasty about William and Mary basketball with TCB. I thougth that was awesome and was very disappointed when you lost it (I think thats what happened). I had actually turned into a Tribe fan and constantly looked forward to reading the next post.
However this is fantastic I love how you went about it and although I can't stand the Red Sox, especially after they beat my Rockies in the World Series, you had me rooting for the O'Farrells the entire time.
I for one would be disappointed if you ended the dynasty at this point, but I understand if you decided to do it. 5 years is an awefully long time. But I would love to see your alternate history continue to present day just to see what would happen. Maybe you could start a new dynasty so to speak but just continue the story lines. I don't know, but you have certainly gotten a fan that will read all of your dynasties from here on out.
Thanks for the great read and keep up the great stories.

[darkenigma510]

You should seriously try to get this story published somewhere.

[William4192]

Big Six,

Any chance you'd come back to us?

[Renner]

Just a gentle bump

[Big Six]

Thanks for the bump, Renner.

It's been a long time since I started an OOTP dynasty story that really got off the ground. I'm going to try to revive my Nantucket Navigators team story, and I have an idea or two for a couple of dynasties that might bring back a few names from the past.

Stay tuned...

[Tyke]

This is great news, Big Six! I always like your stuff and look forward to seeing what you come up with

[Powderguy]

bump for others to read this great piece of work

[bucketsndimes]

Wow, so as I was perusing the forums a few days ago I came across this. I remember seeing it a few times, but never really getting into it because of the ridiculous post count.

However, this time I read the whole thing! And I must say that it has to be the best dynasty I have read! Big Six your writing is phenomenal and although sometimes I wanted to skip ahead to see what happened to pat I read every single post. Even though I read it in such short time I became very attached to the story and found myself feeling especially goodwhen Pat won his 1st MOB Award and his final World Series victory. This really makes me want to start a league in the 1800's or early 1900's.

Another thing...myself and Pat (or you also I guess) have extremely similar family histories. I remember you saying you named Pat after a relative of yours who moved form Ireland to Canada. Well, on my father's side my great great grandfather moved the family form Ireland to Canada. The next generation lived there and then moved to guess where? Pittsfield, Mass!!! It's where my dad grew up and where my grandparents still live.

Anyway, bump for anyone who hasn't seen this.

[Jamee999]

Yeah, this is a must-read.

[Big Six]

Thanks for your kind words (and for the bump).

I can't begin to count the hours I enjoyed in the company of Pat O'Farrell and his "base ball" world. One of these days I'll revisit it, in some form, because I still have some O'Farrell stories to tell.

Looking back, I wish I hadn't tried to move the O'Farrell files to OOTP7. They were messed up somehow in the transition, and I foolishly tried to play through them. I'd saved a backup, but by then I'd already written more of the history, and I didn't feel like I could go back and edit it then.

I know the length of the thread kept people from reading it, and I wasn't sure what to do about that. Maybe I should have written the story in volumes, each with its own thread. If I ever write another dynasty of that length, that's what I'll do.

Pat's league files actually still reside on an old computer I hardly ever use anymore; I think it's 1935 or so, which means that version of the story would be six or seven years behind the point where the original thread ended. One of these days I might have to open it up again.

Thanks again for your comments. It's good to see Pat back on the front page.

[malia_king]

Just read this epic over the space of several months - absolutely great writing and storyline... I will have to check out the other dynasties that you have written BigSix..

[bwburke94]

What's with the bump? Just putting an epic thread on the first page?