Jane Heller

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

  • About
    • Bio
    • FAQ
  • Publications
    • Books
      • Romantic Comedies
      • Caregiving
      • Baseball
      • TV Tie-In
    • Articles
  • Blogs
    • Mainly Jane
    • Confessions of a She-Fan
  • Media
    • Videos
    • Audio
    • Press
    • Press Materials/Three Blonde Mice
  • Speaking
  • Contact

Goodbye Tex and Goodbye 2016 Season

October 2, 2016

Photo: Danny Wild/USA TODAY Sports
Photo: Danny Wild/USA TODAY Sports

It would have been sweet if the Yankees had won their last game of the season and Teixeira’s last game as a professional baseball player, but it wasn’t to be. The Orioles got the better of us in terms of the score. Tex, however, had a lovely farewell from the Steinbrenners, his teammates and coaches and the fans. I’ll try to remember his earlier years in pinstripes when he was so productive at the plate and so skillful at first base, not the most recent years when he was injured so often.

In any case, it’s on to the playoffs for several teams while the Yankees braintrust figures out how to craft a winning team for the future. It’ll be interesting to see what, if any, moves are made in the off-season and I’ll certainly blog about any newsworthy events in Yankeeville. But for the most part, I guess I’ll be putting “Confessions” on hiatus. Feel free to stop by with any comments and I’ll be sure to respond and, as I said, check back after news breaks and I’ll weigh in.

Meanwhile, have a healthy and happy off-season!

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Mark Teixeira retirement, Orioles, playoffs, Yankees

Oh Well

September 29, 2016

-eliminated-

Even though the Yankees played great against the Red Sox, they were knocked out of the postseason for real tonight. How to evaluate….

Not enough offense. The team just didn’t score runs. Period. Yes, Cashman sent our key bullpen guys to contenders, but, relievers aside, the hitters just didn’t hit.

It’s sad to be left out of the postseason and I’d rather not make a habit of it, but it’s not a shock. The 2016 Yanks didn’t have the talent or the talent didn’t perform up to potential.

Will the kids turn us into winners next year? Probably not without the addition of key players. But they were the bright spot in an otherwise dreary season. Just the thought of Gary Sanchez makes me smile.

So it’s time to finish up against the Orioles this weekend and wait to see who plays whom in the playoffs. I usually root for the Dodgers if the Yankees are out of it, but this year? The Cubbies have to be the sentimental favorite.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Cubs, Dodgers, Elimination, Orioles, playoffs, Red Sox, Yankees

The Whole Wild Card Business

November 17, 2011

Selig announced the addition of two Wild Card teams today. Not sure when the new plan will go into effect (I think he said it could be as early as next year) and whether there will be a one-game playoff between them or a full-on series that would take baseball into November or December or the End Of Time.

I hate all this. I’m not a fan of the Wild Card system to begin with, but adding two more teams to the mix makes me crazy. Why? Because, as the article on MLB.com, states:

The new format means that 10 of the 30 teams will make the postseason.

Yup, that’s the part that gets me fuming. What’s special about a postseason in which virtually one third of the teams play in it? I understand that having more playoff teams means more excitement for the fans in those markets and more money for the teams/broadcast networks, but doesn’t all this dilute the integrity of the sport?

I know, I know. Other sports have multi-tiered playoff systems, but baseball isn’t just another sport. Not to me. I liked it the way it was. Bah humbug.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Baseball, Bud Selig, playoffs, postseason, Wild Card teams

Shelled

September 22, 2011

Nobody much cared that the Yankees lost tonight – at least I didn’t – but what did bother me was Colon. He looked cooked, done, toast.

It was sort of predictable that he’d go that route and I’m grateful to him for the fantastic first half he gave us, but what do we do now? Hughes won’t be able to pitch deep into games, if at all, and Garcia is totally hittable if his command is the slightest bit off and AJ is, well, AJ. So that leaves us with two reliable starters for the playoffs, and that scares me.

As for Scott Proctor, who also got shelled tonight, could we just say goodbye and send him back where he came from?

Betances didn’t exactly make an auspicious major league debut, but maybe he was nervous.

As for this weekend’s series against the Red Sox, it may not count as far as the Yankees are concerned but I hope Girardi puts together a real lineup and tries to win the games. Two reasons. One, I enjoy beating the Red Sox and would prefer not to see them in the playoffs. Two, I think it’s important to rest players but also to make sure nobody’s rusty. The teams that win in the postseason have momentum, not rust.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: playoffs, Rays, Red Sox, Yankees

From The Vault – My First-Ever “Confessions” Post

January 27, 2011

Before I move over to the new digs at my web site, I thought I’d go back to my first post at MLBlogs. It was from August of 2008 and it looked like this.

In May of 2007, when the Yankees were in last place, I couldn’t take it. All the losing was killing me, keeping me up at night, making me snap at complete strangers, giving me a really bad headache. One night, after a humiliating interleague loss against the Mets, I stormed into my office and wrote an article about divorcing the Yankees. The grounds? Mental cruelty. I didn’t have a blog then, so I vented to the New York Times, which published my article. (You can read it here.) As a result of that article I landed a book deal for a nonfiction account of what it really means to be a fan. It’s called “Confessions of a She-Fan” and it’ll be out in February.

Now that I’ve finished it, I’ve been feeling desperate to be in a community of Yankee fans – people to commiserate with and celebrate with. Writing books is a solitary business. You basically sit in a room all day by yourself, wondering why in the world you didn’t pick another line of work, waiting for your publisher to call with news about something (your manuscript, your cover, your sales). I’m hoping that blogging will fill the void and distract me from checking my hourly ranking on amazon and the occasional snarky review.

Yes, it’s late in the season, but today’s game was a revelation. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to beat a team not named the Mariners or Orioles. I’ve been second-guessing Girardi all year – from not starting Kennedy because it might rain, only to use him in relief…to resting Damon when we desperately needed his hot bat…to giving non-answers to questions about players injuries. But he looked like a genius today, juggling the bullpen and sending Giambi up to pinch hit. Taking the finale against the Red Sox wasn’t as satisfying as sweeping them would have been, but it was sweet nevertheless.

Do the Yankees have a prayer of making the postseason? I gave up on them last year and vowed I wouldn’t do it again. But it’s looking bleak. Seriously. A.J. Burnett and Roy Halladay loom this weekend. My heart tells me the Yanks can pull off a miracle comeback, but my husband says I’ve been drinking the Kool Aid.

My heart was wrong, as it turned out. The Yankees didn’t make the playoffs in ’08. Funny how I was so worried about A.J. Burnett as a Blue Jay; now I’m worried about him for a whole different reason. And it’s weird reading about Ian Kennedy; it’s almost as if he never existed.

Will the 2011 Yankees be non-contenders like the 2008 Yankees or will they have the playoff magic of the 2009 championship team? Obviously, I’m hoping for the latter.

As for blogging, I’ll be doing it win or lose. I blogged during the wildfires here in California. I blogged while Michael was in the hospital having surgery. I blogged when I should have been writing a book. There’s no reason to think I’ll stop now.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: 2008 team, A.J. Burnett, blogging, Ian Kennedy, playoffs, Yankees

From The Vault – My First-Ever "Confessions" Post

January 27, 2011

Before I move over to the new digs at my web site, I thought I’d go back to my first post at MLBlogs. It was from August of 2008 and it looked like this.

In May of 2007, when the Yankees were in last place, I couldn’t take it. All the losing was killing me, keeping me up at night, making me snap at complete strangers, giving me a really bad headache. One night, after a humiliating interleague loss against the Mets, I stormed into my office and wrote an article about divorcing the Yankees. The grounds? Mental cruelty. I didn’t have a blog then, so I vented to the New York Times, which published my article. (You can read it here.) As a result of that article I landed a book deal for a nonfiction account of what it really means to be a fan. It’s called “Confessions of a She-Fan” and it’ll be out in February.

Now that I’ve finished it, I’ve been feeling desperate to be in a community of Yankee fans – people to commiserate with and celebrate with. Writing books is a solitary business. You basically sit in a room all day by yourself, wondering why in the world you didn’t pick another line of work, waiting for your publisher to call with news about something (your manuscript, your cover, your sales). I’m hoping that blogging will fill the void and distract me from checking my hourly ranking on amazon and the occasional snarky review.

Yes, it’s late in the season, but today’s game was a revelation. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to beat a team not named the Mariners or Orioles. I’ve been second-guessing Girardi all year – from not starting Kennedy because it might rain, only to use him in relief…to resting Damon when we desperately needed his hot bat…to giving non-answers to questions about players injuries. But he looked like a genius today, juggling the bullpen and sending Giambi up to pinch hit. Taking the finale against the Red Sox wasn’t as satisfying as sweeping them would have been, but it was sweet nevertheless.

Do the Yankees have a prayer of making the postseason? I gave up on them last year and vowed I wouldn’t do it again. But it’s looking bleak. Seriously. A.J. Burnett and Roy Halladay loom this weekend. My heart tells me the Yanks can pull off a miracle comeback, but my husband says I’ve been drinking the Kool Aid.

My heart was wrong, as it turned out. The Yankees didn’t make the playoffs in ’08. Funny how I was so worried about A.J. Burnett as a Blue Jay; now I’m worried about him for a whole different reason. And it’s weird reading about Ian Kennedy; it’s almost as if he never existed.

Will the 2011 Yankees be non-contenders like the 2008 Yankees or will they have the playoff magic of the 2009 championship team? Obviously, I’m hoping for the latter.

As for blogging, I’ll be doing it win or lose. I blogged during the wildfires here in California. I blogged while Michael was in the hospital having surgery. I blogged when I should have been writing a book. There’s no reason to think I’ll stop now.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: 2008 team, A.J. Burnett, blogging, Ian Kennedy, playoffs, Yankees

Search

Archives

Food and recipes

  • Epicurious
  • Food Network
  • Seriously Simple

Hollywood

  • Company Town
  • Deadline Hollywood
  • The Bold and the Beautiful
  • The Envelope
  • The Film Geek Confidential
  • The Vulture Pages
  • The Wrap

My California Writing Buddies

  • Ciji Ware
  • Deborah Hutchison
  • Gayle Lynds
  • Jenna McCarthy
  • Laurie Burrows Grad
  • Margo Candela
  • Melodie Johnson Howe
  • Starshine Roshell

My New Connecticut Writing Buddies

  • Lauren Lipton
  • Marie Bostwick

News, politics, pop culture

  • The Daily Beast
  • The Huffington Post

Writing and publishing

  • eBookNewser
  • GalleyCat
  • Gawker
  • Publishers Lunch
  • Publishers Weekly

Follow Me!

  • Jane Heller on Goodreads
  • Jane Heller on Pinterest
  • Jane Heller on Facebook
  • Jane Heller on Twitter

Get in touch!

I’d love to hear from you! Contact me!

About Jane Heller

Jane Heller is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her fourteen breezy, witty novels of romantic comedy and suspense are now entertaining millions of readers around the world, along with her two books of nonfiction.

Copyright © 2021 Jane Heller