What a difference a month makes! The corn no longer rustles to sing its song in the wind because there isn’t any. Rather than wandering rural Iowa, TELOMUGS are tucked away in pockets of anonymity. The Young Guns are eagerly aiming for next fall’s action in a Major League ballpark. The Rookies have dried off and graduated. And Montreal is home to some well deserved No Bats XXXV awards.

Director Madeleine Farley has been working with care and diligence creating our little film, which will soon be finished. I look forward to seeing it, especially the scenes involving the Not Ready for Game Time Players. You will recognize these performers when you see them. I have no idea what it will look like—Maddie is working behind an iron curtain of secrecy—although I have been summoned to identify photographed athletes.

No Bats XXXV was way more memorable than I expected. After all the kindness, friendship, and support you have shown me through the years, I was determined to do my best not to let you guys down. Cabron was my righthand guy, freeing me to focus on planning things—including how to juggle a record number of participants—and making sure that everyone had a great time, on and off the field. Schnake did everything imaginable to create an environment that shared our history, brotherhood, and set a nice stage to hand off the baseball from one generation to the next. Those two guys were amazing. As I walk away and focus on me for a while, I hope the club continues. Safely, of course, with no names added to the club DL.

I discussed No Bats XXXV with Maddie for nearly a year ahead of Dyersville, prepping her (and our hostess, Morgan Thein at FOD) that the circus was coming to town. Maddie wasn’t sure what to expect, but soon realized she had never seen anything like you guys. I am guessing her affection for you and respect for the club will come through in her film, which she promises will be finished soon. We haven’t discussed what she’s doing or how she’s doing it, so I will be surprised and excited to see it, perhaps a bit scared too. I hope it proves an homage to each and every one of you, a permanent record of one weekend in life when all of us were kings.

The abracadabra of No Bats Baseball isn’t what it is or does, but rather what it creates. By helping each other and folks in need, we make fond memories and cherished friends. I am immensely proud of that.

Leaving, I fear the next generation will mistake winning a meaningless pickup game as being important. It’s not and never has been. A great No Bats weekend is where teams are 100% balanced, games are all decided by one run, everyone wakes up Saturday morning with a shot at the World Title, and umps are not needed. Cliques are poison too. When the right people are there for the right reasons, everyone can feel better leaving than when he or she arrived. That’s what No Bats success looks like. That is, and always has been, the No Bats Way. Lessons of the past taught us that if you need a course correction, you change whatever you must to get back to the core of what makes this club unique. Reinvent it, back to the future.

All 35 No Bats weekends have created stories worth telling. This one was special. Dyersville created a mosaic of millions. Watching you guys was life magic: fathers and sons and daughters; the finest rookie Canadians the country possibly could have sent; old friends reuniting, many for the final time; geezers swapping lies about years past; Dylan and Nellie knocking ears of corn off stalks a very long way, Dobbins getting there in BP.

Our evening events were sprinkled with pixie dust of celebration. Our brotherhood of goodness strengthened; and pointed toward the future.

After Maddie’s film comes out, I’ll see what’s left to say as the year winds down and I fade away. I sign off proud of you and optimistic about all the right things. Thank you for that.

P.S. The film is now out and can be viewed by clicking here and going to the Videos section