CANADA ROCKS!!!!!
OK that's out of my system for now anyway but back to the subject at hand. As well as watching the hockey game, I'm also reading Slow Heat by Jill Shalvis. Overall I'm enjoying this book, but I've just got to a scene that shows the author doesn't know baseball.
The hero is the catcher for a major league baseball team. It's the first game of the season - keep this in mind - FIRST game of the season - and the pitcher is the hero of her previous book. It's the ninth inning and Pace is still pitching. There is not a chance in hell that in the FIRST game of the season, they would have the starting pitcher in for nine innings.
AUTHOR FAIL
16 comments:
Well...unless the pitcher is Roy Halladay. He has gone 9 innings in the first game of the season before (he's done it against my Tigers, which is how I know) - but yeah, he's a freak of nature. But yeah, you're right. In today's game it's a RARITY that a guy goes all nine innings regardless of where they are in the season unless, again, he's Roy Halladay (did I mention he's a freak?).
Here's my thing. The book opens at the start of the baseball season? I'm assuming it doesn't jump ahead in time? Has the author looked at a MLB schedule? How the heck is the catcher going to have TIME for a romance during the REGULAR SEASON?!?!?! It's a 162 games long. It's a grind. They're on the road half the time. When the heck is this guy supposed to have time to woo a chick, unless he has an injury that puts him on the DL.
I have a hard time with sports-themed romances for this reason. Some readers dissect the Regency era, for me it's sports.
Yes, Canada does rock. A well-deserved win and Congratulations!
And yes, complete games get rarer all the time. It's rare for a pitcher to be that loose opening day. Teams spend too much money on their relief corps not to use them.
Roy Halladay. Hey! He's a Phillie now! I know him :-) :-) :-)
Huh.
I would have never even noticed about the pitcher thing--but I would have wondered about the regular season part. One of the few things I know about baseball is how grueling the playing schedule is during regular season.
And Canada rocks, indeed--huge congrats, Kristie!
Hey, congrats to Canada on their gold. Great game.
the first baseball Shalvis book had lots of errors if u know baseball, I heard. it was a DNF for me but I didnt get far enough to comment much on it. It just felt inauthentic right from the first.
Phyl: Sure - rub it in!! I cried when they traded him. The Jays just won't be the same without him.
Wendy: Well - the heroine is the marketing director for the team. I don't know if she'll travel with the team or not, so I won't consider that a fail. But to have the pitcher starting the game lasting nine innings in a non no hitter and on top of that, in the previous book he was the hero and if I remember right, had a bum arm, it ain't gonna happen that he stays in all game. On top of that - it's the National League and I may be wrong since I don't follow the National League as much - but don't they switch pitchers even more??? It's a real close game so they ARE NOT going to keep a pitcher - one whose arm probably isn't that strong yet - in for nine innings.
I'm with you - when it comes to historicals I miss a lot - but try to slip a sports error by me and I'll notice!!
Seton: It was a great game!! It didn't take me long to really get into it and either team could have won. The US team should be very proud too.
And so far the first one is a DNF - though I'm not ruling going back and finishing it later. But the part I just read really did irritate me. If you are going to write sports - get it right!!
AL - if it had been basketball, she could have slipped anything by me - but baseball and hockey - not gonna happen!!!
And we set the record for most gold medals!! The US had the most medals so I think it was a nice split for us North Americans!!
Two thumbs up for Canada! I suppose I should be upset that we Americans came in second, but the Canadian team seriously deserved it. Luckily I live near DC so at least I'm near the best US team...
Good heavens - the National League? And it's a close game? There's no designated hitter in the NL, so the pitchers hit. So chances are the pitcher would have been pulled during one of his at-bats in favor of a pinch hitter. ESPECIALLY in a close game where the manager/coach is trying to manufacture some runs. The moment a player is yanked in favor or a pinch hitter (or runner) they're riding the bench the rest of the game. They are done.
For me, I'm pretty anal retentive about football and baseball. Hockey, soccer and basketball - not quite as much....
Streets of Vancouver were a giant party today! Now, back to the giant flying moose cheesiness of closing ceremonies (hopefully no more horribly embarrassing attempts at French).
Liz
Liz - aren't they a riot!! I imagine they WERE a rockin' place - and here I am in SW Ontario - home city of Tessa Virtue *g*
Wendy: Yep!! Can you imagine how much that pulled me out!! If she plans on any more baseball romance - she needs to study up more on the game.
D.L. So you have Ovechkin then *g*. I know he's considered quite the douche bag but there something in me that (yikes!!) finds him sexy. And you wouldn't have noticed it - but I think one of the main cries across the country was Canada had to win Gold - so I'm glad they did - but for me the bigger thrill was when Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue won gold in Ice Dancing
I noticed a similar problem in the first baseball book of that series. A four man rotation all season? Um, not in at least twenty years. And for a pitcher to "routinely" have 20 win seasons? There's nothing routine about at 20 win season...unless you are maybe Curt Schilling. These things are not utterly impossible, but they are unlikely in modern baseball, and it threw me off, felt like the author had done some research but not quite enough.
JMC!!! I remember that now!! I did get that far in the book and it did leave me scratching my head and thinking the author doesn't really know her baseball. It wasn't quite as jarring for me as the scene in Slow Heat - maybe because it wasn't pointed out as much in Double Play
I just have to say, THANK YOU! I remember having the exact same problem when I read the book. I think there were a couple of other things along those lines that bothered me too, but that one in particular made me extra annoyed.
LOL, when USA tied up the game, I was: there we go, we just lost... but now, I realized it was Fate who wanted to turn Crosby into a hero :P
Seriously, that's the problem with sport romance books... research.
YAH for Canada! And I wouldn't have noticed about the pitcher issue either as I know next to nothing about baseball. Rugby on the other hand...
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