Second verse, same as the first...

Can't believe it's been two weeks since I last spoke to you in more than 140-character bursts. Oh, well, that's the life I lead. As everyone else begins to relax and take a little vacay, I tend to get busy keeping myself organized. Probably why I love baseball so much. It feeds right into my obsessive compulsions. There's no shortage of stats or highlights or sabermetrics to keep my mind occupied until the wee morning hours as I stare out the window wondering... "Do I dare to eat a peach?"

This, of course, is a very long-winded — Dickensian, if you will — manner of apologizing for leaving you hanging. But then again, I sincerely doubt you lacked for online entertainment in my absence from the blogosphere. There are, as I've discovered, other baseball blogs out there. Besides, the mini-hiatus gave me time to come to a few epiphanies about our 2011 San Francisco Giants, and damned if I don't feel a little lighter in the shoulder region. I'll share them with you now in the stead of another cookie-cutter midseason report...

The "Daily" 140: An Open Letter to Mat Latos

As a way of reconciling my day job and inordinate amount of extracurricular activities with my desire to regularly wax philosophical in this space, I've come up with a fun challenge for myself: Take one of my numerous daily tweets of 140 characters or less and convert it to a blog of 140 words or less.

If it catches on (and I keep it up), I'll make it a permanent fixture of the blog. If not, who cares? It's on the Internet. I'll just try something else.

So, without further ado, here's today's tweet of inspiration...

Dear Mat, Because you've gone from throwing balls at coaches to playing pranks w/ @HeathBell21 does not mean you've matured. Love, Butch (10:36 AM, 2/21)

...and my 140-word rewrite:

An Open Letter to Mat Latos

Dear Mat,

I caught an intriguing headline from @SportingNews on Monday, so I followed the link and read this little yarn about your personal growth with help from practical jokes with Heath Bell. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Anthony Witrado didn't find this tidbit as part of his obviously extensive research for the SN story. I'll also assume Mr. Witrado didn't catch this little nugget from late in the 2010 season.

I encourage you to celebrate overcoming the trials of youth that provoked you to hurl baseballs at opposing coaches and throw temper tantrums on the mound. Take pride in a tremendous MLB debut season, even if it didn’t end how you hoped. Then, suck it up, bite your tongue, and play ball. 5,000 Padres fans are counting on you.

Love,

Butch