Baseball And Harlequin: So Nice I'm Doing It Twice!

Ah, spring.  That magical time of year when you start fantasizing about pedicures, flip-flops and in my case?  Baseball.  Spring brings the promise of a new season, endless possibilities, and the hope that even if it is totally unrealistic?  Your team will win the World Series.

Last year, in an inexplicable burst of creative energy (I probably should have bottled it) - I came up with this great (OK, in my mind) idea to celebrate the return of baseball, America's pastime, by putting unsuspecting players for the Detroit Tigers in Harlequin category romances.  Because what does Wendy possibly love more than the Tigers and Harlequins?  Not a whole lot.  Plus, I didn't get sued last year - so decided why not press my luck?

For those of you who missed last year's extravaganza, here is a recap:

Miguel Cabrera in The Venezuelan's Sexy Bodyguard (Harlequin Presents)
Justin Verlander in Bring the Heat (Harlequin Blaze)
Prince Fielder in Daddy Doesn't Love Me (Harlequin SuperRomance)
Phil Coke in Good Time Phil (Harlequin Kiss)
Austin Jackson in Action Jackson (Harlequin Desire)
Victor Martinez in The Single Dad's Home Run (Harlequin Special Edition)

Six players, and Prince Fielder is the only one not on the current roster (having been traded to the Texas Rangers in the off-season).  At this rate I might run out of players - just not this year.  So sit back, relax and get ready to enjoy a return to my insanity all this week.  Same rules as last year - I'll take a kernel of truth about the players, mix in an exorbitant amount of fiction, and viola!  Four new players, four new stories, all new lines.  And yes, y'all are getting a secret baby this year.....

The Single Dad's Homerun

Don't you, forget about me.

Our Hero: Victor Martinez

What You Need To Know:  Was not drafted and signed as an amateur free agent with the Cleveland Indians.  Became their starting catcher in 2004, but while his bat was on fire, he wasn't exactly stunning with his defense.  Was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 2009, primarily playing first base and serving as a back-up to Jason Varitek.  As a free agent, he signed a four-year deal with the Tigers, serving as much needed protection in the batting order for Miguel Cabrera (who opposing pitchers were intentionally walking.....a lot).  He's a .300 clutch hitter, and just what the doctor ordered.  Sadly, he sat out all of 2012 thanks to an ACL injury but is back for 2013.

His Baggage:  Besides the injury?  He's got the cutest kid on the planet in Victor Jr.  This kid spends a lot of time at the ballpark with his Dad, even sporting his own miniature uniform.  When Victor was up for the "last chance" voting in the All-Star game in 2011, the Tigers had Jr. do a promotional video with Paws (the mascot) to get the fans out voting.  Ultimately he lost to Paul Konerko (who was, frustratingly, having a great year and was more than deserving), but we all got to bask in the cuteness that is Victor Jr.  Probably the hardest part of last year?  Not seeing that kid at the ballpark.  Seriously.

The Proposed Category  Romance Plot:  Tragically thrust into the role of single parent, he's trying to keep some semblance of balance and normalcy in his young son's life.  They seem to do fine when they're at the ballpark, but once they're home in the suburbs, things get more complicated.  When it's just the two of them, alone, his son becomes withdrawn.  Oh, and there's the small matter that our hero is a terrible cook.  At this rate if they don't starve to death they're going to overdose on take-out Chinese.  Lucky for him, he finds a savior in his pretty new next door neighbor.

Our Heroine:  A single mother to a teenage daughter, most of their days are filled with arguments about not completed homework, wearing too much make-up and boys.  She doesn't really have time for other peoples' problems, but something in the little boy's sad eyes tug at her heart.  What starts with a few shared cookies over the picket fence turn into cooking lessons with his handsome father.

What Category Romance Line?:  OK, I'm pretty sure Victor is married in real life.  Oh, and with his salary he could probably afford a nanny, a personal chef, and a very large home that would have a very tall, non-picket fence.  But this is my fiction therefore, he's a single dad.  A single dad who would buy a modest, nice home in the suburbs to give his kid some normalcy.  If that doesn't scream Harlequin Special Edition nothing does.

Action Jackson!

Bald and beautiful baby!

Our Hero:  Austin Jackson

What You Need To Know:  Drafted by the New York Yankees in 2005, he took a record signing bonus for an 8th round pick and dumped the idea of attending Georgia Tech.  He pretty much spent the bulk of his years with New York hanging out in their minor league system, and he was considered a valuable prospect.  In 2009 he was part of the three-team trade that sent my boyfriend, Curtis Granderson, to the Yankees.  Austin was one of the players the Yankees gave us in return.  He's proven to be a competent lead-off man and he's dynamite defensively, patrolling a center field in Detroit that in it's spare time doubles for Yellowstone National Park.

His Baggage: Jackson plays center field.  Curtis Granderson also plays center field.  Curtis Granderson was crazy popular in Detroit.  The son of teachers, raised in Chicago, he's an intelligent, hard-working, black man playing baseball in Detroit.  He was MLB PR's wet dream.  And now he's a Yankee.  The Granderson trade was really unpopular with a lot of fans in Detroit, at the time.  My own father CALLED ME AT WORK, just to make sure I was doing OK.  My Big Sis called The Bat Cave and suggested to My Man that he start hiding the kitchen knives.  Yeah, it was kind of like that.  Turns out, it was win-win for everybody.  We got a legit lead-off hitter, and Jackson is, I think, better defensively than Granderson (who wasn't a slouch for us).  New York got a guy who can jack homeruns over that Little League wall they call right field.

The Proposed Category Romance Plot: Against his mother's wishes, he gave up the chance at a college education to play big league baseball.  But four years toiling in the minor leagues, and constant comparisons to Mickey Mantle are starting to wear him down.  When he's traded, he's asked to replace one of his new team's most popular players.  His confidence is starting to flag as is, and now he finds himself falling for a woman that many of his new teammates consider bad news.

Our Heroine:  Boy, date a couple of professional baseball players and watch how fast a girl gets labelled as a groupie.  Well she's had enough!  She's no groupie.  She's got smarts!  She's got self-respect!  And to prove that to herself and everyone else, she's declaring a moratorium on men.  And when she is ready to get back in the saddle?  Absolutely, positively, no baseball players.  None.  She's going to keep working as a limo driver, hit the books to get her accounting degree, and stay away from distractions.  That is until she looks down at her phone and realizes that her next pick up is none other than the hometown team's new center fielder.  Dear Lord why does he have to be so sexy?  And nice?!?!  Why oh why does he have to be so bloody nice?!?!  It's official.  God hates her.

Baseball be damned!

What Category Romance Line:  This one was tough.  Jackson is from Texas, so at first I thought Harlequin American.  Unfortunately all those Texans tend to be cowboys or ranchers - and as much as I love Jackson?  I can't see him in a cowboy hat.  So yeah, we're going with Harlequin Desire.  Once he settles in with his new team, gets his bat going, his confidence is going to go way up - which means he'll be all Won't Take No For An Answer Alpha on the heroine.  Poor girl, doesn't have a prayer.

Good Time Phil

You might lose 'em here Wendy

Our Hero:  Phil Coke

What You Need To Know:  Drafted by the New York Yankees in 2002 in the 26th round.  Spent time, on and off, with the big club and earned a World Series ring in 2009 when they beat the Philadelphia Phillies.  He was traded to the Tigers in 2011 in the deal that sent my boyfriend, Curtis Granderson, to New York.  He's primarily a relief pitcher, but someone in the Tigers organization had the boneheaded idea to try him out as a starter in 2011.  A move Wendy hated, and ultimately didn't work.  Phil went back to the bullpen and is one of our more reliable relievers.  He even closed a few games last year after our closer lost his damn mind and forgot how to pitch.

His Baggage:  Phil's an interesting guy.  He has a reputation for being a goof-ball in the clubhouse and in the bullpen.  He's also, typically, a fun interview.  He's got a good sense of humor and gets his kicks ribbing his teammates.  That said, don't let that fool you into thinking he's Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky when it comes to his job.  He's an intense guy.  When he's called in from the bullpen to pitch?  Yeah, he runs to the pitcher's mound in a full out sprint.  And when the rest of the team was celebrating their victory in the ALCS?  That's Phil stomping around the pitcher's mound doing his best (or is that worst?) Hulk impression.  Hey, he pitched the final half inning, so he can stomp around all he damn well pleases.

Also, neither here nor there, he is currently the player on the active roster I would most like to have a beer with.  Every team should have at least one of those guys - and Phil Coke is mine.

The Proposed Category Romance Plot:  He may work hard, but he also believes in playing hard - which is why he's never been one to settle down.  He likes spending time with women, he just doesn't see himself settling down with one woman for the rest of his days.  When he's not busy with work, he's too busy having fun.  Light, fun, and a good-time - that's what he's after when he's not giving it his all out on the diamond.  So why does it grate on his nerves so badly when some pretty, albeit uptight, nursing student seems to look down her nose at him?

Yes.  Yes, he will.

Our Heroine:  She has no time for fun and games.  A single mom, raising a baseball-loving young son on her own, she's tired of rubbing pennies together and hauling her dead-beat Baby Daddy into court.  She's working a menial job and clawing her way through nursing school.  It's while she's pulling clinicals in a pediatric ward that she runs into our hero, who is there visiting the sick kids as part of his charity work.  While his appearance at the hospital is admirable, he still smacks her as all flash and no substance.  Our girl has no time to play around with men, especially ones who don't seem inclined to stick around for the long haul.  But when he promises her he'll get her box seats for her and her son for the All-Star game?  She realizes that she'd do anything for her kid, even if that does mean spending time with a man she's not all that sure she should be surrendering her heart to.

What Category Romance Line?:  I'm going with the newcomer, Harlequin Kiss.  It's fun, it's flirty, I can see Phil doing OK there.

Daddy Doesn't Love Me

You hate my contract and you still pick me?

Our Hero: Prince Fielder

What You Need To Know:  Drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002, Fielder joined the big club in 2005 and was anchored at first base until 2011. Upon becoming a free agent, he left Milwaukee for Detroit where he ended up signing a 9-year (which makes me slightly insane) contract worth $214 million (Prince, will you adopt me?).  He's a power hitter who is surprisingly light on his feet for a guy who looks morbidly obese.  He's also a bit of an iron man, having not missed a game since September 13, 2010.  Remember, there are 162 games in the regular season.  There are also many people (myself included) that believe a big reason Miguel Cabrera nabbed the first Triple Crown in 45 years is because Prince Fielder was hitting behind him in the lineup.

His Baggage:  One as old as time - Daddy Issues. Prince's Daddy is Cecil Fielder, who was with the Tigers from 1990-1996.  Prince was a fixture around the Tigers clubhouse as a kid, even taking batting practice.  Urban legend has him smashing homeruns at old Tiger Stadium as a 12-year-old.  Things started going downhill after Cecil left the game.  Gambling problems and his divorce from Prince's mama made for hard feelings.  Also the minor detail that when Cecil helped Prince negotiate his first major league contract that Cecil made damn sure that Cecil got paid.  Father and son reportedly stopped speaking, although depending on what story you read these days they're mending fences.

The Proposed Category Romance Plot:  He's achieved the dream he's had since he was a little boy, to be one of the best baseball players on the planet.  Although it's led to a lot of sacrifices and hard feelings, he is rewarded when he signs a lucrative free agent contract in the off-season. However it's with the team that made his father, a former big league ballplayer, famous.  Estranged, he now finds himself back in the city where the old man still casts a long shadow, where everyone comes up to him and wants to regal him with memories of Daddy's greatness.  It's a road that holds nothing but painful memories, and now because it was the best deal, the most money, and with a team laden with talent - he's back in the one place he never wanted to come back to in the first place.

Home and a chick's name.  That works.

Our Heroine:  Like our hero she grew up around baseball, the daughter of a well-respected bench/utility player.  When her mother died of cancer, her father fought her grandparents over custody, even when they argued that major league baseball locker rooms were no place for little girls to grow up.  Her father was determined to keep them together, to not split up their family, and she spent her life traveling with Daddy, watching games from the owner's box, and when she was old enough to get a summer job?  She started working with the grounds crew.  Now she's the head groundskeeper, and her childhood playmate, the hero, is back in the city that holds many unhappy memories for him.  Even if he is the $200 million man, he sure doesn't look like he wants to be there, but she sure is happy to see him back home.

What Category Romance Line?:  Reunited childhood sweethearts?  Daddy Issues?  A heroine who wants to help the hero work through his baggage?  We have ourselves a Harlequin Superromance.

Bring The Heat

This better be good.

Our Hero:  Justin Verlander

What You Need To Know:  Second overall pick by the Tigers in 2004, Verlander is a power pitcher with a live arm and the freakish athletic ability to have his pitches gain speed in the later innings of a game.  He played his first full season with the Tigers in 2005 and hasn't looked back since.  In 2011 he not only won the Cy Young Award (the highest honor for pitchers) but he also took home the MVP (Most Valuable Player) - a rare feat since many voters believe that pitchers shouldn't win that award.  Getting his ass handed to him on a platter by the San Francisco Giants in the World Series aside - you can make the argument that Verlander is the best pitcher in all of baseball.  And if you don't believe that?  You still have to put him in your top five.

His Baggage:  A high draft pick, the Tigers were able to sign him with the promise of a nice signing bonus.  He drives a Porsche (at least he used to), he plays (well) in Pro-Am golf tournaments, and he's been linked to model Kate Upton, although she recently said in some TV interview that she's "single."

Yeah, I'm sorry to do this to you JV - but to make this work, you're going to have to go down.

The Proposed Category Romance Plot:  Once one of the greatest pitchers in baseball, he's grown accustomed to a life filled with adoring fans, numerous awards, and fawning interviewers.  But it all goes to hell when the one thing he could always rely on suddenly vanishes.  He's lost his fastball.  The 95+ mph heater that could make grown men, professional hitters, drop to their knees and beg for mercy.  Once one of the greatest pitchers in baseball, he's now getting his ass handed to him every fifth day.  Now there are rumors that the team is looking to unload him.

So this guy is a boxer.  Minor detail.

The Heroine:  A fan through and through, she spends her free time working with local youth baseball organizations and arranging trips for the kids to go to big league games.  It's on one of these outings she meets the hero.  Oh, she knows all about his troubles, and she thinks she can help him get out of his own head and find his way back to the pitcher he used to be.  He's more than a little skeptical, but when the sports psychologist assigned by the team fails to fix him, he figures what the hell?  The writing is on the wall and he's got nothing left to lose.  But how is he going to get his head back in the game when his amateur shrink is proving to be a very sexy distraction?

What Category Romance Line?:  Harlequin Blaze.  Of course Verlander is kind of a hairy guy - he's going to have to wax for the cover shoot.

The Venezuelan's Sexy Bodyguard

Why is she starting with me first?!?!

Our Hero: Miguel Cabrera

What You Need To Know: Miguel "Miggy" Cabrera  has been a highly touted player from the moment he broke through with the Florida Marlins organization in 2003.  During one of their annual fire sales (the 2007 one), the Marlins off-loaded Miggy to Detroit for a number of prospects who are now either 1) playing elsewhere or 2) have faded away.  He's been a great player for Detroit, culminating in the 2012 season when he won the MVP (Most Valuable Player) and the Triple Crown, leading the American League in homeruns, batting average and runs-batted-in (RBIs) - a feat that hadn't been accomplished in 45 years.  Oh, and he did all this after switching back to playing third base (a position he hadn't played since leaving Florida) and leading the team to a World Series.

His Baggage: A case where Miggy has some real-life issues that could work in a romance novel.  He's an intensely private person, and by some media accounts dislikes being embarrassed or saying the wrong thing (which is why he will sometimes use an interpreter for interviews and such even though he does speak English fairly well).  He's reportedly a good teammate, a hard worker, and gets on well with his coaches - it's just he's very distrustful of people he doesn't know AKA "outsiders."  Which is why what fans know about Miggy, outside of the ballpark, is mostly wrapped up with his alcohol issues.  After a night out on the town in 2009, he arrived home, got into an argument with his wife, and the police were called.  Then in 2011, right before his scheduled arrival at the Tigers Spring Training facility, cops encountered him and his disabled car on the side of the road.  Miggy apparently kicked up a bit of a fuss, and was arrested on a DUI.  Since this last incident he has been on the straight and narrow - sitting out the various raucous post-season champagne soaked celebrations the Tigers took part in last post season.  Adding to the belief that he's working on his alcohol issues?  Since laying off the sauce he's been in fabulous shape.  Last year he looked great and this spring he looks even better.

The Proposed Category Romance Plot: A star player that the team has invested considerable time and money in, the front office is worried that he'll fall off the wagon.  Yes, he's in recovery - but that's no guarantee that he'll stay on the right path.  To ensure he continues to toe-the-line, they hire a security team to babysit him - a development he deeply resents.  However things start looking  up when he meets the head of the security detail.  Yep, a woman.  A seeeeexxxxxxxxyyyyyy woman.

Don't mind my stealing....

The Heroine: Working for a well-respected security company that caters to high-profile clientele, she's used to being underestimated.  Not only is she a woman in a man's world, she's a bit of a glamour girl.  A beautiful woman who likes designer clothes?  Yeah she's either a gold-digger or a brain-dead ninny.  She lets the fools think what they want, as long as her boss and clients believe in her abilities the rest can go to Hell.  However, when she meets her latest assignment, she knows she's got her work cut out for her.  She believes he's determined to work on his sobriety, now all she has to do is convince him that their relationship needs to stay strictly business.  But ooooh, it's not going to be easy.

What Category Romance Line?:  This is what old-timey baseball types would call a Can Of Corn.  Cabrera is Venezuelan, doesn't trust easily and as evidenced by this parody spoof he made last year for MLB, a fan of telenovelas.  Yeah, Harlequin Presents all day long.

Baseball And Harlequin, Like Chocolate And Peanut Butter

Anyone who stumbles across this blog for the first time probably picks up fairly quickly that Wendy loves two things: baseball and romance novels.  Or, more specifically, Wendy loves the Detroit Tigers and category romance.

Every year, right about this time, I start thinking about what I'm going to blog about to commemorate Opening Day for the Major League Baseball season.  It really is a magical, hopeful time of year.  It's the beginning of a very long season (162 games!), and it's that one time of year where anybody, any fan, can legitimately think that their team could go all the way.

Yes, even Cubs fans.

Opening Day is April 1, and I just don't have it in me to channel my inner Kevin Costner and wax poetic about baseball.  No, instead I'm going to take the two things that I love, toss them in a blender, and probably make a big ol' mess.

Yes, folks - I'm going to do it.  I'm going to take the Detroit Tigers and drag them kicking and screaming into.....

Harlequin category romance novels.

Starting tomorrow and running through Sunday, I will take a player on the current Tigers roster, give you a little factual information about them, then toss in a motherlode of fiction to concoct them their very own Harlequin story (the fiction is key as I'm pretty sure most of the guys I've chosen as potential heroes are married with children in Real Life).

Yes, it really is going to be as twisted as it sounds.  This is either going to be the greatest series of posts I've ever come up with in my ten years of blogging, or it's going to get me sued.  Stay tuned!