October 9, 2026

I blinked, and summer went poof

Geez, it’s been over six months since I last sent out a newsletter? That’s just how my summer has gone – it’s all a blur. I ran survived a 50K trail race in May. I took a trip to Minneapolis. I watched the Tigers blow about 1 billion leads after the 7th inning.

And I shipped a lot of books, both Square and Small. Quite a few scorecard prints. Lots of tagged photos – you all had some great ballpark moments.

Your support continues to amaze me, and I greatly appreciate each and every one of you.

Take me out to the ballgame(s)

I had to cancel my annual weekend baseball trip with my brother – this year was going to be Pittsburgh/Cleveland – which was a bummer. The summer craziness just got the better of me. (I’m hoping to do better next year, if we get baseball.)

I did make it to two games. I had some Tigers tickets fall into my lap in June, and I always like to hit a Twins game when visiting family in Minneapolis.

(I know this is tooting my own horn, but these Small Ball books are awesome when going to a ballgame. They tuck nicely in a sling/bag, and they allow the use of both arms when eating.)

I was in some weddings, kinda

Every once in a while I’ll get an email from someone with a custom project outside the box. I got two of those requests this summer, these were both really fun.

Camron was getting married, and he messaged me about making custom Small Ball books for his bachelor party at Dodger Stadium. All it took was a slight change to my monogram sticker, and we were golden:

Next came a message from Maya, and this was so crazy I couldn’t say no. She was getting married to Talbot in June, and both huge baseball fans (and both Square Scorebook owners). So of course the couple wanted a custom Square Scorebook they could use for their guestbook at the wedding.

Challenge accepted.

It is a house divided – Maya roots for the Giants, Talbot the Dodgers – and I created lots of fun Easter eggs throughout the book. Box scores of the World Series wins in the margins, hand-scored games of the clinchers, etc.

It truly was an honor to be asked. Zero chance I could say no to this one :-)

The lesson: always ask.

Scorecard prints

I had some really fun scorecard print commissions this summer – this is one of my favorite things to work on, and looking back on these puts a huge smile on my face.

Chicago Cubs @ Los Angeles Dodgers – September 9, 1965
Commissioned by Marshall

Sandy Koufax goes perfect for the Dodgers AND Bob Hendley throws a one-hitter for the Cubs. This could be considered the greatest game ever pitched – so much so the matchup is featured heavily in this biography of Koufax.

Arlington Catholic @ Wayland – May 19, 2026
Commissioned by Chris

Special one here. Chris is the head coach of the Wayland High School baseball team. He reached out because PJ (a senior, team assistant and Square Scorebook user) was graduating, and the coach wanted to give him a gift at the year-end banquet.

(Funny story. This game was in reality rained out, so I had to make up the play-by-play. Of course it was a walk-off win for Wayland. I batted for the other team and went 0-2 with a walk.)

Rochester Red Wings @ Toledo Mud Hens – June 20, 2026
Commissioned by Scott

Rochester sends 17 men to the plate and drops 11 runs in the bottom of the 6th, and then Scott’s brother-in-law proposed to his girlfriend. (Eagle eyes will spot the ring icon at the end of the inning.)

Can you imagine waiting to propose for that whole half-inning?

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Chicago Cubs – August 4, 2026
Commissioned by Hilary

Skubal’s first game as a Dodger – yes, I was rooting against him – and it also happened to be the same night Cookie Monster sang the “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”.

Anything involving Muppets will make me drop everything.

If you had a great ballpark experience this year, I’d love to create a scorecard print for you.

Quite a summer

Wow, when you lay it all out like that, it was a heck of a summer. If you’re team is still alive in the playoffs, best of luck the rest of the way.

For the rest of us, we have to hope we get baseball next year. Fingers crossed a deal gets done.

– Eric