tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29027537306206341892023-11-16T10:19:14.999-08:00Snowman On The Pitcher's MoundThis blog will focus on what it’s really like for a child to have a parent with cancer, and offer ways to help families cope with a cancer diagnosis. The blog will also discuss radio-immunotherapy, which has saved the lives of many people with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer.Jamie Renohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07503392544496379634noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2902753730620634189.post-82186128730834553432019-07-02T12:11:00.003-07:002019-07-02T12:17:59.261-07:00Welcome to the Pitcher's Mound!<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We're happy to have you here. This is the online home for my new book, <i>Snowman on the Pitcher’s Mound</i>,
which tells the story of Tyler Paulson, a 10-year-old boy growing up in
the Midwest who loves baseball and is coping with the cancer diagnosis
of his mom.</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">A cancer diagnosis affects the entire family, but
the emotional impact on a child whose parent has cancer often goes
unnoticed and unattended.</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">More than 300,000 parents of children under 18
in the United States alone were diagnosed with cancer in the last year,
yet many of them would admit that they don't always know how to talk to
their kids about their cancer or how to deal with their child’s anger,
sadness, confusion and fear.</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I hope to change that with this new
book and website. By explaining Tyler’s emotional changes, in the
child’s own voice and in an accessible, humorous and hopefully
entertaining way, I want to help young readers and their parents
understand a child’s natural course of emotions when a mom or dad is
diagnosed with cancer. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">My goal is to make a real and lasting difference
in the lives of children and their families touched by cancer.</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’ve been a professional writer for 25 years, and a longtime cancer patient advocate, but <i>Snowman on the Pitcher’s Mound</i> is
my most personal project, and the one of which I am the most proud. As a
loving dad and a four-time survivor of stage IV non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma,
I’ve had had many long talks with my daughter about my cancer battle. </span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The culmination of those talks, and of my spending thousands of hours in
the last decade with lymphoma patients, survivors and their loved ones,
is this book and website.<br /><br />On this blog I plan to initiate an
ongoing conversation with and for children and their families about what
it’s really like for a child to have a parent with cancer. Most
importantly, I'll be offering ways to help kids and their parents cope
and will be writing about all kinds of related issues and sharing
resources. We are proudly affiliated with the <a href="https://childrenstreehousefdn.org/">Children's Treehouse Foundation</a>, a global nonprofit 501c3 cancer organization whose sole mission is to support children and teens who have a mom or dad with cancer. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I welcome
your input about how we can help children who have a parent with cancer.
And I’m talking about any age kid, and any type of cancer. I want to
hear your stories, and with your permission I want to tell your stories
on this blog. I want to hear from you. My direct email is <span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="mailto:jreno@san.rr.com">jreno@san.rr.com</a></u></span>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you are interested in purchasing the book, or in just talking about
issues related to cancer, kids, parenting, or anything else, please drop
me a note. I will respond to you directly.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Soon, we will have an online eBook for everyone to enjoy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meantime, I welcome you to look around the site, and to check out <i>Snowman on the Pitcher’s Mound</i>. Whether you are a child or a grownup, I hope the book and this website are both of some value to you. It’s great to have you here on the Pitcher’s Mound.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br />Jamie Reno </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman"; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
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Jamie Renohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07503392544496379634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2902753730620634189.post-1851391839041670252018-06-18T04:15:00.001-07:002018-06-18T04:38:07.464-07:00Major League Baseballs Go On Strike Until Umpires Clean Up Their Act<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjd84YMGIPagklexdfjDmDYtCZQen3A-FYm7Y1ST_rYtfHyuOXGfkNOO2R6p0Xw5QroRTmD6X-rOx1hzLUYledC7mxkYEgAE9u8blk68otL0t7knxw8gnq7V8w8yeI3yumktIVvMhjuHqo/s1600/baseball+mascot+talking+one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjd84YMGIPagklexdfjDmDYtCZQen3A-FYm7Y1ST_rYtfHyuOXGfkNOO2R6p0Xw5QroRTmD6X-rOx1hzLUYledC7mxkYEgAE9u8blk68otL0t7knxw8gnq7V8w8yeI3yumktIVvMhjuHqo/s400/baseball+mascot+talking+one.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Dear Major League Baseball fans,</i></span></span><br />
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Skip Rawlings here. You may know me from my work as a baseball. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I had a relatively long career in The Show. The average lifespan for a baseball in the Big Leagues is about seven pitches. If you blink, you'll miss it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But I'm proud to say I lasted 12 pitches on Thursday, before the San Diego Padres pitcher threw me in the dirt and the umpire tossed me into the Atlanta Braves dugout.</span></div>
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<span class="" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Looks like they’re gonna use me for batting practice now. Or send me down to the minors, where recycled baseballs like me often see more playing time. But I'm ok with that. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It’s a living.</span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But that’s not why I’m writing you this letter. </span><span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I’m writing to tell you that we baseballs — all 1.2 million of us that are made each year at</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> the Rawlings plant down in Turrialba in Costa Rica — have had enough.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We baseballs love this game, a</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">nd </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">we hate to see the umpires blow it for everyone. What happened this past weekend at SunTrust Park, the Atlanta Braves’ new ballpark, was inexcusable.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The umpire crew collectively choked. They lost the ability to distinguish between a strike and a ball.</span></span><span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> We baseballs hate it when this happens. It makes us look bad. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Like when people insist we're juiced this year. I am not juiced, and neither are my brother baseballs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span class="">But I digress. </span><span class="">The four-game series between the Padres and Braves was the most incompetently officiated series I've seen. Not that I’ve seen many. But it was bad.</span></span></div>
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<span class=""><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Umpiring isn't an easy gig. And most of them do a great job. But this series was a new low. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And it isn't just this series. My baseball buddies are chiming in from The Bronx to Miami to Chicago to Denver to Seattle. </span></div>
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<span class=""><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It’s clear to me and my fellow baseballs that the quality of umpiring throughout the league is dropping faster than a Zach Britton sinker. </span></span></div>
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<span class=""><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Officiating in baseball needs reforming. Big Time. There are some guys who just can't cut it, and others who were great once but should now retire.</span></span></div>
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<span class=""><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It appears that umpires are employed virtually for life. Like a Supreme Court justice. Or someone who works at the DMV or the VA.</span></span></div>
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<span class=""><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Too many Major League Baseball games are being decided by bad calls. Even with the replay system, things are getting ugly, folks.</span> Bottom line? The umpiring crew in Atlanta this past weekend was collectively crummy. It was an embarrassment to all of us baseballs who love our game.</span></div>
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<span class="" data-offset-key="1kdm3-0-0"><span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There were at least a half-dozen pitches clearly off the plate that this umpire crew called strikes. Actually more like a dozen. </span></span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">happened again and again and again. </span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We take pride in our construction and our consistency, and then these umpires make these horrific calls and people get to talking. I've never seen a regular-season series with more bad calls than this one. I’m not one to name names, but they know who they are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I don't blame Padres manager Andy Green for losing his cool on Friday. He had every right to be mad. He got yanked from the game, but he did what he had to do.</span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In Sunday's game, there were men on second and third with two outs and a full count on the Padres’ Corey Spangenberg. Atlanta threw a pitch that was way outside, not even close to a strike. </span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But the ump rang Corey up. It ended the inning and pretty much ended any chance the Padres had of coming back and winning the game and tying the series. </span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Even the Padres' TV announcers Don Orsillo and Mark Grant, both professional, good-natured guys who rarely call out the umps, were incensed by the number of bad calls. </span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They rightly noted that all the poor calls essentially forced batters to take a hack at virtually everything to protect.</span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The umpiring in this series and in other games throughout Major League Baseball this season has convinced us to take action:</span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As of today, all major league baseballs have decided to go on strike. Let them use Whiffle balls, we say. If the games continue on Monday, just know that they are using scab baseballs. </span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">These baseballs are picket-line crossers!</span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We love the game too much to just stand by and watch what some umpires are doing to it, and to us. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We will return if and when the umpires agree to three conditions:</span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>1 -</b> <i>Allow both teams to challenge three strikes-and-balls calls per game.</i></span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>2 - </b><i>Require that every umpire visit a league-sanctioned optometrist and get their vision checked and addressed.</i></span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>3 - </b><i>Suspend each umpire in the notorious Braves-Padres series for a week without pay.</i></span></div>
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<span class=""><span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Meantime, I’m gonna enjoy the time off. It’ll give me a chance to write some letters, pay a few bills, maybe do a little fishing, and check in with my fellow baseballs around the country.</span></span><br />
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<span class=""><span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Sometimes my fellow baseballs are caught by fans in the stands and taken home. That’s our favorite thing. Especially when it's a kid.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span class="" style="color: #222222;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span class=""><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span class="" style="color: #222222;">One of my baseball buddies </span><span style="color: #222222;">was caught at a recent Chicago Cubs game along the third-base line by a 12-year-old pitcher from Iowa who plays Little League baseball and whose mother is fighting cancer. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"> It gave him lots of joy to catch that ball in the stands and take the ball home and put it </span><span style="color: #222222;">on the top of his dresser. He's a really courageous kid.</span></span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Some baseballs have all the luck. </span></div>
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Jamie Renohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07503392544496379634noreply@blogger.com0