Today I was meditating, OK… I was really sitting around stoned on pain meds and watching the movie 'Gettysburg' when it came to me... WHAT is historically significant about US in our time that future peoples will look back on their ‘History Channel’ and learn about?

The nauseating conclusion is that there is really nothing that we (collectively) do today that is worthy (when compared to the ancients that we study). Today, we could never engineer an empire, or build an underworld, or be considered the 'greatest generation.' Really. What have we done? It would be funny if there wasn't any truth in it.

Here’s a list of future History Channel shows that will be most likely showcasing our pathetic contributions to the timeline of man:

• Ancient Reality TV: Anything Goes
• The Idolization of American Idol
• Steroid Sports and Criminal Competitors
• Internet Porn and the First Amendment
• The ‘Me’ Generation: A History of Entitlement
• Ebonic Nation: The Secret Language of Rap
• Illegal Immigration: Everyone's Doing It
• The 2008 Election: Great Slogans - No Substance
• Cultureless: America's Forgotten Past
• 300 Channels And Nothing's On
• Ice Truckers (*I assume there will still be ice and truckers)
  

Shave and shower.

Clean jammies. 

New sheets. 

Fresh bandages.

And a Priority Mail Envelope stuffed with a fresh copy of The Southern Cross hot off the press!

Things are finally looking up.

FYI: new book signing events in the works as I type including something with the U.S. Christian Commission Museum up in Gettysburg. (details to come)

Last week I mentioned a new side-book project that I am undertaking with our friend Eric Wittenberg on Major League Baseball’s Terrible Teams and Pathetic Players. The working title is ‘USTINK’ and I have only just begun to look into the outline. I have a fairly detailed plan of action, but I am also trying very hard to pace myself. This book will take a while, perhaps a year or more, as it will be an on-again – off-again project.

One aspect of the book will be the inclusion of sidebars that include a few ‘high points’ for some of the teams that we are covering. This will be a worthwhile tidbit as even the worst bunch of bums had a run at a lucky streak once in a while. One team (IMO) personified the best of the worst. That franchise was the St. Louis Browns. Several years ago, I wrote a short piece on this team of lovable losers for the St. Louis Brown’s Society’s ‘Pop Flies’ newsletter. Here is an excerpt, which will most surely end up in one of these sidebars:

The ‘44 “St. Louis Series” by M.Aubrecht

The ongoing war between the Allies and Axis powers certainly had an impact on Major League Baseball, but never like it did in 1944. Many of the games' best players were called away for tours of duty and the result was a seriously depleted pool of talent. During an interview with the St. Louis Dispatch Marty Marion of the Cardinals (and later the Browns) reflected on the '44 season stating "Common sense had to tell you the competition wasn't as good as it was before, but as a player, you don't notice that sort of thing at all. We just played the game like that was it. We never mentioned the War. You put out nine players, we put out nine players, and we played."

The top team in the American League that year was the St. Louis Browns who collectively batted .252 in route to their only pennant. They only had one .300 hitter in outfielder Mike Kreevich (who barely made it at .301), one man with twenty home runs, shortstop Vern Stephens (who hit exactly twenty); and one player over the eighty-five runs batted in mark, Stephens, who knocked in one-hundred nine runs. On the mound, the Browns boasted Nelson Potter and Jack Kramer who combined for a mediocre thirty-six victories. Despite running a close race for first, the Browns recorded the worst A.L. attendance in history on September 29th with a total of only 6,172 fans witnessing their sweep of a double header against the New York Yankees (thanks to outfielder Chet Laabs drilling two final-day homers).

The following day, attendance doubled to an slightly-less-embarrassing 12,982 as Dennis Galehouse went the distance, winning 2-0 for his ninth victory of the year. Amazingly, just two days later, the Browns were tied with the Detroit Tigers and boasted their first sellout in over twenty years as 37,815 packed Sportsman's Park to watch their "forgotten" team clinch the pennant on the final day of the season. The victory, combined with Detroit's loss to Washington, enabled St. Louis to finish one game ahead of the Tigers in the American League. Across town, the other Major League team from St. Louis was doing business as usual. In making off with their third straight National League pennant (leading by 14½ games over Pittsburgh), manager Billy Southworth's Cardinals had won one-hundred five games and ran their three-year victory total to three-hundred sixteen.

Like Chicago, New York and St. Louis before them, the "Gateway City" was electrified with the excitement of what was billed as the "St. Louis Showdown". Surprisingly, it was the eight-time National League champion Cardinals who were tenants of the American League's downtrodden Browns in Sportsman's Park which would be the venue for the entire contest. Perhaps as an answer to the lack of pre-game respect they had received in the papers, Luke Sewell's American League titleists came out swinging against their heavily favored rivals for the 2-1 opening victory. Denny Galehouse out-pitched Series vet, Mort Cooper and George McQuinn hit a clutch, fourth-inning, two-run homer that decided Game 1. Unfortunately, the blast would prove to be the Browns' only homer in World Series history.

The Cards answered back in Game 2 with Blix Donnelly's stellar relief pitching that tallied no runs, two hits and seven strikeouts in four innings. Ken O'Dea came up big as well with a run-scoring pinch single in the eleventh for the 3-2 victory. The underdogs prevailed again in Game 3 as Jack Kramer pitched a seven-hitter and struck out ten batters on the way to a 6-2 Brown's triumph. With the Americans ahead two games to one, the more experienced Nationals proceeded to show what it takes to play in the big show.

Sig Jakucki, the thirty-five-year-old who had won thirteen games for the '44 Browns after being away from baseball for five years, lasted only three innings in Game 4, a contest in which Cards lefthander Harry Brecheen, (16-5 in the regular season) kept the American Leaguers off stride. Stan Musial finished the job with a two-run homer for the 5-1 win. The following day, Cooper, who was coming off of a twenty-two-win season, beat Galehouse with a seven-hit, 2-0 shutout. In the Cardinals' 1942-1943-1944 stranglehold on the National League championship, Cooper had won sixty-five games and thrown twenty-three shutouts. For Game 6, it was Max Lanier and Ted Walks (who both had seventeen wins and shared a 2.65 ERA), that wrote the final chapter to the Brown's "Cinderella season" with a 3-1 victory that wrapped up the Cardinals' second Series title in three years. It was the eighth appearance in nineteen seasons for the World Champions, while it was the first (and last) Fall Classic in the Browns' 52-year history.

Musial later summed up the contest stating "The funny thing about that World Series (in 1944), the fans were rooting for the Browns, and it kind of surprised me because we drew more fans than the Browns during the season. The fans were rooting for the underdog, and I was surprised about that, but after you analyze the situation in St. Louis, the Browns in the old days had good clubs. They had great players like George Sisler and Kenny Williams, and the fans who were there were older fans, older men, old-time Brownie fans. But it was a tough series."

There have been a lot of articles and editorials published regarding the initial lack of interest in commemorating Confederate President Jefferson Davis’ birthday bicentennial. That ‘other’ president’s 200th birthday is also this year and of course he will deservedly get the spotlight, but I argue that Davis also deserves some respect and even in some cases, admiration. In fact, in some areas of political policy, Davis was actually more inclusive than his adversary. Here is an excerpt from 'The Southern Cross' devotional in the courage category:

But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. (Hebrews 3:6)

PROTESTANT PRESIDENT: Jefferson Davis was an American statesman who was appointed as the President of the Confederate States of America, for its entire history (1861 to 1865) during the American Civil War. A man of humble origins, he began his formal education at a small, one-room, log cabin school in the back woods of Mississippi. Two years later, his family moved and he entered the Catholic school of Saint Thomas at St. Rose Priory, which was operated by the Dominican Order of Kentucky. At the time, Davis was the only Protestant student in the entire institution, but his own acceptance, as well as an introduction to a different denomination, made a lasting impression on the Episcopalian. Later, as a West PointDavis prided himself on the military skills he had gained in the Mexican-American War as a colonel in a volunteer regiment and as U.S. Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. After rising to the highest chair in the newly established Confederate government, Davis made a concerted effort to bridge the spiritual and social gaps between citizens of different faiths. During the 19th Century, Catholics and Jews were often held in contempt and discriminated against by the country’s Protestant majority. President Davis did not share this sentiment and following his appointment to power, he set a precedent when he assembled the first administration in American history that included Protestants, Catholics and Jews. This courageous decision went against all previous political practices and ultimately sent shockwaves through all of the county’s governing bodies, as not even his contemporary, Abraham Lincoln, had appointed anyone other than Protestants to a high office. In his article Jefferson Davis, Religion and the Politics of Recognition, D. Jason Berggren stated that, “Davis practiced the politics of recognition by appointing individuals identified with persecuted religious minorities. In this regard, contrary to conventional wisdom, Jefferson Davis was a remarkable president, a president ahead of his time.”

[Davis has also been said to have been the greatest and most influential Secretary of Defense in U.S. History.] 

My very good friend and collaborator Richard Williams recently posted a response to our friend Harry Smeltzer’s post about reviewing 'Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story' for America's Civil War magazine, which enticed other bloggers to comment on their reviews and thoughts on the film. Clearly, Richard and Ken don’t need me to defend their work and everyone is certainly entitled to their opinions, but I do want to post my two-cents here as I think this is an important factor that is far too often neglected when discussing Christian-projects:

I’m actually surprised to see this film being reviewed in such a ‘secular publication.’ I am sure that presented a challenge to you. It is good to see everyone chatting about ‘Still Standing.’ HOWEVER, one issue that people are continuing to neglect in their discussions (and I made a point of putting in my review for the Free Lance-Star) is that this is a CHRISTIAN MOVIE made by a CHRISTIAN MOVIE COMPANY. Yes, it features familiar experts, but it’s ultimately created for a Christian audience to see the power of the Holy Spirit in a man’s heart and what that can do. This story (as presented in ‘SS’) is not about challenging scholarship, or uncovering new ground-breaking factoids, it’s about witnessing for our Lord and Savior.

I would bet that most (secular people) had never heard of the film company Franklin Springs Family Media or Director Ken Carpenter, yet they are the ‘DreamWorks’ of the Christian film realm and Ken has won more awards than Spielberg. So although I fully understand your comments, I think everyone needs to keep the story and the movie in context. ‘SS’ tells of a fervently pious man who introduced those held in bondage to the pathway to eternal salvation. That’s it. Maybe they would have found it otherwise, but he did it and their souls were ultimately saved by it. It’s like 'The Passion,' you either ‘get it’ and its intent or you don’t.

'Still Standing' teaches us about spreading the Good News of the Gospel to everyone, regardless of their status or social standing. I would never expect someone to analyze a lot of my work, including ‘The Southern Cross,’ which is foremost a Devotional, as anything other than an inspirational testament for Christ using empowering stories from the Civil War. Education AND enlightenment is possible. There is a difference in context though when it comes to secular and religious films. If you are a believer, or searching for examples of how faith impacts people, ‘Still Standing’ will be just what you are looking for.

If you’re looking for the Holy Grail on the complex and contradictive life of Thomas Jackson that will satisfy both the Christian and academic world… keep wishing…that movie will never be made.

Those of you that are familiar with the field correspondence of Confederate cavalry commander General J.E.B. Stuart will understand the term “headquarters in the saddle,” which he used to identify his ‘HQ location’ while on the move. It is with great pleasure that I too use this term as I am up, out of bed, and on the move myself...so to speak. It is a step in the right direction and I type this message to you not from my laptop in bed, but from my office desktop computer (OK, it’s only a few feet away…).

My strength is still lacking, but I am responding well to the new medication and certainly headed in the right direction. Today, I spent some time on the phone, answering emails, coordinating advertising material for an upcoming speaking engagement, and getting caught up on reading everybody’s blog. (Who knew CWi’s friendly little list of the 'Top 50 CW Books' would ignite such a firestorm of debate. Whoa!)

Over the last week I have suffered terribly and I have prevailed. I finished reading a wonderful short-biography on Thomas Jefferson that I’ve been casually reading for months. (I am shocked at the similarities between the political bickering that took place then and now.) I watched about a gazillion hours of the History and Military History Channel and should now be considered an expert on Adolph Hitler and the occult. (They need more material.) I am rehearsing my Lee’s Hill talk, which will be in 2 weeks and (thanks to my publisher at Patriot Press) I am very much looking forward to seeing the final printed page-galleys for The Southern Cross tomorrow. The next time I see them, they will be arriving in cases as books.

I am also looking forward to compiling info for the baseball book project that I am sharing with Eric Wittenberg. I already have a nice introduction ‘assembled’ in my mind. That will be an on-going piece as time permits. The doctor said that I have to learn to slow down and pace myself. After surgery #4, I believe him. I am beginning to feel my age for sure. Recovery from spinal-surgery at 35 is a lot different than it was at 30, 31, and 33.

I see my surgeon on Thursday and will let you know how it goes. I should be back to work fulltime (either from home or at the office) in 2 weeks. I have to be very cautious and not overdo it now. So that will be all for today. I will have something not about me to post in next day or two. Perhaps I will respond to the current discussions that are circulating over the lack of interest in Jefferson Davis commemorations with a post on the man that may surprise you. I know my brothers in the SCV have been addressing that issue with some nice programs. Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

First off, I want to thank each and every one of you for your ‘Get-Well’ emails, and cards. I am overwhelmed to say the least, and the Lord has certainly gifted me with a wonderful group of family, friends, and associates. The prayer notes from entire churches that had added me to their weekly petitions were especially touching. I must confess that I had started to feel quite sorry for myself as this particular case of Stenosis, a degenerative disease, has become severe in recent years. In essence, there is nothing that I can really do to prevent further deterioration and with this being my fourth back surgery, it was far too easy for me to become self-centered. This of course is ridiculous when there are so many other people out there who are much more worthy of your prayers than me. So I thank you all for lifting my spirits, and I also thank you for giving me some perspective on the matter. I am most blessed.

I had mentioned last week that this could not have come at a worse time as I have two books coming out and several lectures scheduled. Well, thanks to the great work of my neurosurgeon, Dr. Charles Azzam, I am home after only two-days in the hospital. I will be at home recovering for the next couple weeks, en route towards meeting my scheduled obligations. [The post-op pain is rather severe, although I am medicated and resting semi-comfortably. In fact, I had forgotten how bad this hurts. I pre-typed most of this post on Sunday and it is a good thing as it takes quite a while to type these updates with one finger.] At this point I have an 8” inch incision that runs from my bottom up to my middle back. The fusion hardware (6 screws) stayed the same from previous procedures, but I had another lumbar lamenectomy, and a spinal decompression. (My insurance company has had it with me for sure.) If everything worked according to the plan, the pain and numbness will be gone and my legs with have their full strength back. Then I can return to work! As you can see by the photo my father snapped, I am sleeping whenever possible. After all, it takes me 10 min. to get to the bathroom.

Before I went in to the hospital, I had several conversations with another author who proposed the concept for a new book project – a BASEBALL book project. After sharing a phone conversation and a few emails; I knew that it had the potential to be something very special. Although my attention has been strictly on publishing Civil War material for the last few years, I still get calls to do the occasional radio show as a noted ‘expert’ on the history of America’s national pastime. Over the years I had written close to 400 studies on the game for Baseball-Almanac including the entire histories of the All-Star Game, World Series, Year in Review and more. This book calls on my experience as a baseball-writer but with a VERY different approach…

The working-title of the book is “USTINK: Major League Baseball’s Terrible Teams and Pathetic Players.” The author that I’m working on it with is none other than our good friend and CW-historian extraordinaire Mr. Eric Wittenberg. This highly original study will present the storied legacies of the worst teams ever to hit the diamond. In addition it will have some of the sorriest player performances, a Hall of Shame, comparisons with some of the best teams ever, and newspaper excerpts from homer-writers tearing their own teams to shreds. There will be plenty of stats, photos, and quotes from players, as well as fans. The data will be deep, but the presentation will be light-hearted and fun. I think Eric’s idea is ingenious and as one who spent years writing about the ‘best of,’ it will be a unique and enjoyable challenge to pen a book on ‘the worst.’ Stay tuned for details on this wonderful project which will be ongoing. Eric and I will still be doing our usual stuff, but this will be a side-project that our readers also most certainly enjoy.

UPDATE 2/28: Michael will be having emergency surgery Monday morning. He will be in recovery for a week or so. Check back after that as I'm sure he'll have plenty to talk about.

OK that’s it. The prelims from my MRIs and X-Rays came in and the prognosis is not good at all. At 11 a.m. tomorrow (Thurs.), I will be meeting with my neurosurgeon and by the time that CWi’s ‘This Week In Blogs’ updates their site, I may be in the hospital. I have received a bunch of emails in recent days, some well-wishes, and other work-related. Thank you all. I am holding off an answering the requests for speaking and publishing reviews until I know exactly what is going on. Blog-wise, I will have my wife update you again if I can’t. Project-wise, I’ll still have the laptop and will be in touch with those who I need to. Frankly, today has been my worse day and by now I’m to the point where I can barely stand and walk. Typing this hurts. So whatever is going down, it better be soon. Thanks for the prayers friends. Be back soon.

For those of you who know me, or have frequented my blog for sometime, it’s probably no surprise to hear that I don’t ‘idle’ well. Here I am, practically bed ridden, yet I have managed to sneak my laptop, and truly get the benefit of the WiFi/Fios Internet that my wife made us get a few months ago. She’s thinking twice about it now.

Anyway, I am also OCD. And although I was relieved that my ‘To-Do’ list with all of the books, articles, interviews, lectures, website updates, PowerPoints etc. had finally been completed after burning the midnight oil for the last few months, I was far from being satisfied. I do have one talk left to research and write for our local CW Round Table (in May) and the final files for HOH to ship to the publisher, but that’s it. Other articles that I’ve committed to won’t be written for a few months. Still, I just checked off my last item and I'm already bored.

A normal person would sit back, relax, and enjoy the fruits of their labor for a little while. What do I do? I sit here in the dark contemplating what’s next? And I worry about it. A lot. I even sent an email blast out to all of my local commitments pledging to go on despite whatever stage of recovery I am in as I am confident that my newly freed-up schedule will allow me time to heal.

So what exactly is next? Fortunately there are plenty of other lunatics like me out there who also cannot seem to stop writing. One is a particularly brilliant author and historian who seems to share my love of history, baseball, and most importantly, author-holic behavior. He is also into long-term projects and recently pitched an idea that would incorporate much of my own expertise and experience.

The project is baseball-history related, very original (darn near ingenious), and has the potential to be something very special. The big plus for me is to have the opportunity to work in some capacity with a tremendous writer whose work I have admired for a very long time.

As the book is ultimately his idea, I will let him broach the subject publicly as he sees fit. Just know that we are sharing an ongoing discussion and that a wonderful piece of work may result from it. I have already begun formulating an outline in my mind and am thankful for that as it gives me something to do.

As a Christian, I always pray over publishing projects and this one feels like a really good one. Stay tuned for more details. 

At the risk of getting roped into another one of those online ‘mud marches,’ I have no choice but to post this while I can. As promised, I made a faithful effort to avoid blogs that I’ve had public disagreements with in the past. However, after browsing in bed over the last few days I came upon a post that has since then evolved into something that I could not, and would not let go, because I think that it is very important to remind all of us that what we do here in the blogosphere can be very selfish and insensitive at times.

I don’t even have to name names, but one blogger recently posted a thread that questioned the integrity of several individual’s work (on Black Confederates). Now please let me state that there is NOTHING wrong with intelligently questioning and/or criticizing other people’s work. This may even be a fair analysis, I don’t know enough about the subject to make a judgment. However, in this case one of these individual's children were shot and killed just two weeks ago.

Now I am sure that the blogger had no idea, so I sent a very short and friendly email to him kindly informing him of the tragedy and proposing that perhaps it would be in better taste to remove this individual from his list for the time being as he is a decent guy who is hurting beyond measure. I at no time questioned the validity of the post, just the timing as being poor. In essence, I was trying to protect both parties from a potentially uncomfortable moment.

Unfortunatley, here we are, two + days later... New posts and an update on the subject have gone up since then and yet this gentleman’s name and link to his website remains. Apparently the blogger has no sense of sympathy for a man who is grieving the loss of a child. I was very upset to find that my email had indeed been read (verified at 5:41 a.m. on AOL), and then totally disregarded. In fact, no reply was sent or action taken. Surely the increased web traffic hits alone will lead this grieving parent back to the source that publicly chastises the work that he shared with his son.

Perhaps I am over-reacting, but what kind of person does that? What kind of person ignores that? What kind of person believes that their opinion on a particular subject is so important, that removing someone’s name from a list in that post is beyond question? What kind of person would feel the need to disregard a grieving parent rather than compromise their own blog posting? Apparently this one does and as a Christian it makes it very difficult to forgive such uncompassionate behavior.

Critiques are good, challenges, questions, and the sharing of ideas and opinions are what blogging is all about. However, people at the other end of the pipeline are still people, and their feelings in times of tragedy should always be taken into consideration. Say whatever you want, flame me on the other blogger’s comments section. I don’t care. This isn’t about me.

We're better than that people. And in the grand scheme of life, none of our opinions really matter as much as we sometimes like to think. Just some food for thought friends. Let's be good to one another.