Sarah Smile
If you haven’t heard of Sarah Morris, the creator of Sarah’s Dodger Place, you should get to know her. She garnered national attention for her analysis of the Los Angeles Dodgers, so much so that she earned a job writing “Sarah’s Take” for the team’s official website. She’s accomplished this while having cerebral palsy.
She would be the first to tell you that this isn’t the most important fact about her, the characteristic that determines her life’s meaning or worth. What is essential to know is that she makes a living writing about one of the things she loves most in her life. Not many people can say they have attained this.
Similar to when the Henry ownership group came to Boston, Dodger fans must feel as if they are on the cusp of reattaining the luster of the team’s storied past. It’s an exciting time for that California team because of the budding rivalry with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for loyalty, the new owner Frank McCourt trying to maneuver in the West Coast baseball community, and the new general manager Paul DePodesta flexing his mainframe brain. The Dodgers are also a team I follow more closely than others because it has the highest ranking woman in a baseball operations staff, Kim Ng, as its assistant general manager.
I’m tempted to start a correspondence with her, since Derek Lowe has gone to the Dodgers. But actually, I’m more than a bit intimated by Sarah. If I had the courage she had, I would have already sent her my thoughts on Lowe, new ownership, women in baseball, anything, everything. Perhaps someday I might have the resolve and bravery that she has shown and drop her a line. Until then, she’ll be an example to me of how achieve my goals, learn the craft, and defy the odds.
Comments
Don't be shy, Empy! You should totally try to do it. Intimidation and you? Don't be ridiculous! You're a damn good baseball analyzer...Go for it! :D
And now, I must take that same advice with my paper for Writing
Anonymous ∙ 1 February 2005 ∙ 9:05 PM
BTW, it's me, PTH who wrote that
Anonymous ∙ 1 February 2005 ∙ 9:05 PM
Thanks for the encouragement. My thought was to put something together about pitchers similar to Lowe that have pitched at Dodger Stadium and their success. However, the "similar to" links in baseball-reference.com are based on wins, ERA, etc., NOT anything that would show groundout ratios. I guess my best bet would be to go through the Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers for the anecdotal accounts of sinkerball pitchers, then from there see who has pitched in Chavez Ravine a lot. It gets tricky, though, because I'd have to adjust for the infield defense....
It might be simpler to write a "you're great, I'm a fan" letter to Sarah. :)
Empyreal ∙ 1 February 2005 ∙ 9:31 PM
I'll make you a deal right here, right now......you e-mail her and I will e-mail my new state rep and ask for a job.......Deal????
Mike
beat ∙ 1 February 2005 ∙ 9:36 PM
Here's what I just sent to Sarah; thanks for the encouragement!
Hi Sarah,
I just wanted to drop you a line and say that I have been following your career since I read about you in Bill Plaschke's article. Although I'm not a Dodgers fan (I'm a Red Sox fan first, and baseball fan second), your team is one I follow because of its place in history and because of its dynamic new ownership and baseball operations staff. You can see the success the new owners have brought to Boston, and I wish the Dodgers the same, up until a possible confrontation with my preferred team in the World Series, of course.
Wanting to write more and share my thoughts on baseball, I recently started my own blog. I knew at some point I wanted to write about you, and have done so recently (permalink here). Our teams now have something in common with Derek Lowe signing there, and since he played a significant role in the championship team, I'll continue to follow him. You might find him to be somewhat erratic, but I think he'll thrive with the superior infield defense the Dodgers have.
Best of luck in the coming season, both for your team and your career. I look forward to reading more of your columns on the Dodgers' website.
Warm Regards,
Empyreal
Empyreal ∙ 1 February 2005 ∙ 9:52 PM
Wow...I guess I need to shoot off my e-mail asking for a new job, new career and the start of my dream.....
Mike
beat ∙ 1 February 2005 ∙ 9:57 PM
She wrote back! :)
It is a nice article. Thank you. I had a difficult off-season because I often disagreed with the signings made by Paul DePodesta. I love the acquisition of Derek Lowe, but I wish Lowe was in Los Angeles in 2004 when the Dodgers had the best defensive infield in major leagues. This off-season the Dodgers have switched their focus from defense to offense.
Sarah D. Morris
Empyreal ∙ 3 February 2005 ∙ 7:41 PM