Darren Wieters felt the butterflies in his stomach. The 39 year old had been working toward this moment for his entire career. It was the final game of the season, and Wieters had entered the game with 2994 career hits. The sports world was resigned to the fact that Wieters would have to come back […]

I make no secret of the fact that I’m a big fan of crime writer Lawrence Block.  I’ve profiled him in one article and placed him atop my baker’s dozen list of favorite authors.  He has written novels, short stories, and even writes a monthly column in a philately magazine.  Additionally, he has written books […]

Could it be? A brand new story? Yep! Andrew sighed as he pressed his face against the window and watched the rain fall. It was going to be another dreary day inside cell block K. He had been rousted from his bed far earlier than he would have liked, and after the morning’s calisthenics, he […]

First basemen Albert Pujols of the Cardinals and Prince Fielder of the Brewers will hit the free agent market this off-season, unless they are re-signed by their current teams.  The Yankees (Mark Teixeira) and Red Sox (Adrian Gonzalez) already have significant money tied up in their first basemen, and are not likely to chase after them, which […]

I don’t usually do personal dedications in my articles.  However, this article is dedicated to the woman who declared that she was too educated to be kicked off a train after the conductor asked her to keep her noise level down. What, exactly, does is mean to be “educated”? It’s not a piece of paper […]

If you’ve been reading The Soap Boxers very long, then you know that I’m a big baseball fan.  Major league baseball has been around since 1876, and teams play a game almost every day, so there’s an almost bottomless well of trivia to tap into.  So without further ado, let’s jump in. All question refer […]

I should be getting back to writing new short stories in a few weeks, but until then, I’ll share this re-run with you.  It originally ran on January 1, 2010.   Jay Maxwell grabbed a cloth and polished the exterior of the machine. It wasn’t really necessary for the machine to shine, but Jay took […]