Andrew Forbes

@utilityofboredom

Human, author. Field Work: On Baseball and Making a Living (@pressassembly.bsky.social). The Diapause (novel), McCurdle's Arm (novella) (@invisibooks.bsky.social). #SABR (Hanlan's Pt). He/him. 📍Peterborough, Ontario linktr.ee/andrewgforbes

331 Siguiendo338 Seguidores1077 Publicaciones

Bluesky

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Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 6h

Hello from the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr bats in a game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 1d

Enjoying The Blue Jays Way doc series on Sportsnet, I just wish they didn't use what looks an awful lot like AI slop. Correct me if I'm wrong, @sportsnetpr.bsky.social

A seemingly AI-generated cartoon image of seven baseball players in a courtroom being presided over by Dave Winfield in a judge's robe.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 1d

Thought I'd watch a bit of Koshien tournament action while sipping my coffee.

A screen ddisplays the crowd at a high school baseball game in Japan. Fans dressed in matching white baseball uniforms cheer and wave green plastic cones. The screen is 1/3 obscured by the silhouette of a cat.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 4d

Going to the bank with my jar full of pennies to get a money order to put in an envelope to send away to Tualatin, Oregon to get me the one and only Authentic Major League Baseball Cap for twelve dollars and ninety-five cents American.

An ad in the October 25, 1980 issue of The Sporting News says "Now you can wear the on and only authentic Major League Baseball cap / All 26 teams available / $12.95 / Allow 6 weeks for delivery," and includes an address in Oregon for the New Era Western company, an affiliate of New Era Cap Co.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 4d

Lakeside, looking over proofs of the 10th anniversary edition of The Utility of Boredom. I've written a new introduction and we've done a bit of tidying on the original text. New cover, too. It'll be available from @invisibooks.bsky.social wherever you get books October 13th.

A laptop on a table next to a beer can and a sweating cup. Visible on the laptop's screen is the title page of The Utility of Boredom: Baseball Essays by Andrew Forbes. A thick screen of trees behind the table obscures a lake.

Said title page, made bigger and clearer.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 6d

I see, yes, mmhm.

A Guardian headline touts "AI-generated stories rated better quality than human-written ones, study finds"

Another, earlier Guardian headline reads "Guardian Media Group announces strategic partnership with OpenAI"

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 9d

Cape Breton is not amazing and the views are unspectacular and the hikes aren't magical and the food isn't delicious and the beaches aren't gorgeous and the people aren't friendly and we didn't have the best time and you definitely should not go there.

God-rays spill out of clouds and onto the surface of the ocean.

A waterfall on a hike... somewhere in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Two teenage boys (my sons), me (a middle-aged man), and a lovely woman (my wife) smile into the camera in a selfie taken on the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton.

A moody photo taken at dusk of a saltbox house and a flagpole flying the Acadian flag at Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 13d

25 yrs ago I spent a sunny autumn afternoon in a cafe a few blocks from our 1st apartment reading a stack of magazines. It was a great pleasure then and a perfect memory now. I hope he hangs onto this moment like that, but I've learned that trying to curate your kids' memories is a fool's errand.

My 16 year old son swings in a hammock reading "The Wager" by David Grann. Behind him the sun shines on green grass and steep forested hillsides. Just out of frame the waves of the Gulf of St. Lawrence crash onto a rocky shore.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 14d

Goodnight from Meat Cove, Cape Breton.

Sunset over the ocean and an outcropping of rock at the northernmost settlement in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 14d

Roadside/oceanfront oysters with my buddy John on the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton. Delicious.

Two men tilt oyster shells to their mouths and slurp back the slippery, briny goodness held therein. The ocean is visible in the background.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 17d

Watched some of Dylan Cease's gem in a motel room in Antigonish, NS. Baseball, man.

A small TV hung on a wall in a motel room shows a baseball game.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· 22d

Canoe Cove, PEI, midnight. I won't be taking calls for a couple of weeks. [photo by my b-i-l]

A bright half moon sits low over the horizon, shining off the surface of the ocean. Two people are visible in silhouette on the beach in the foreground. Stars shine in the evening sky overhead.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jul 10

To paraphrase Jim Shepard, handcraftedness justifies itself as an expression of intimacy with the world.

My teenage sons hard at work building bookshelves. They stand beneath an apple tree, one working an electric hand planer over the surface of a 2" x 10" plank of pine lumber clamped to a work bench. The plank disappears from the frame at bottom left, but measures about six feet in length. The other young man stands by, his foot bracing the work bench's base, one hand on his knee, the other keeping the planer's cord out of harm's way.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jul 2

Canada Day thunderstorm blackout improvised dinner.

A barbecue grill with a frying pan full of tater tots, a basket of grilling vegetables, a foul packet containing a filet of salmon, and a sheet pan of about a dozen breaded fish sticks.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 30

Goodnight.

The Strawberry Moon reflecting off a lake.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 30

Baseball is weird, and is also the best.

A notification on my phone that reads:

7:20 p.m.

Mets @ Blue Jays

George Springer triples in the bottom of the 1st, George Springer scores. The Blue Jays now lead the Mets, 1-0.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 22

I get a steady trickle of those AI-generated emails promising to boost my book’s sales/reviews, or secure me access to giant book clubs, and I delete them as soon as they hit my inbox. Sometimes they credit me with writing someone else’s book, but this is something new… 1/4

An email reading:

Hello Andrew Forbes,

What stands out in The Lost Diamonds of the Frontier Leagues is how the baseball diamond stops being a sporting structure and becomes a kind of temporary civic architecture something communities built, inhabited, and eventually let return to the landscape.

The most powerful thread is the way these fields carry layered biographies: not just of players, but of towns shaped by industry cycles, migration, and the slow erosion of economic certainty. Each diamond feels less like a venue and more like a residue of collective attention where labor, leisure, and local identity briefly overlapped before dispersing again into geography.

There is also a quiet tension running through the work between visibility and disappearance. Big-league history tends to preserve itself through records and myth, but these frontier leagues survive differently through weathered ground, partial memory, and the stories that remain unarchived. That makes the narrative feel less like sports history and more like cultural archaeology.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 22

BEST Father's Day weekend. Took a jog up north to Halfway Lake PP, where the eldest child works. Hiked, swam, got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Waterfalls, moose scat (though no moose seen), possible Eastern wolf sighting, ravens the size of DC-3s. Good times with the best family. I'm a fortunate man.

Three people are seen from behind hiking through a forest, with ferns, birch trees, and leaf-covered ground. A vertical rock wall rises to their left.

A waterfall on a river, white water spilling over rocks, with dense green vegetation on either side, and a blue sky with fluffy white clouds overhead.

A family selfie featuring me, my two teenage sons, my wife, and my 19 year-old daughter. We're in the woods, standing in front of a camping trailer.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 14

In Brunson we trust

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 13

Hello from Arnold Anderson Stadium, located in Cockshutt Park, home of the Brantford Red Sox. The Hamilton Cardinals are in town this afternoon. It's a hot one. This is the 9th and final stop on my CBL odyssey, and I think I can now remark on the complete absence of a single raindrop. I'm 9 for 9.

The back of the grandstand at Arnold Anderson Stadium, redeemed with a sign indicating it as the home of the Brantford Red Sox, and with a long list of the club's pennants and titles.

The baseball diamond at the stadium, with some red seats visible behind home plate.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 13

If you've asking yourself, "Should I go to a ballgame in London?" I'm here to give you the nudge that you need.

The grandstand of Labatt Park backlit by the setting sun.

The baseball field at Labatt Memorial Park in London, Ontario in the twilight, its light towers illuminated, and tall buildings visible in the distance.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 12

Hello from Labatt Memorial Park, situated at the fork of the Thames River in London, Ontario. The field is the "World's Oldest Baseball Grounds," as the sign has it. Est. 1877. Tonight the Welland Jackfish are in town to face the Majors. Lovely evening, unsurpassed setting. Like a postcard.

The covered grandstand at Labatt Park in London, a small baseball stadium with a mix of fold down seats and aluminum benches. We're looking at it from the stands along the right field line. The roof of the main grandstand has a large screen atop it to protect the houses huddled close behind the park.

The same park as viewed from the stands behind home plate, just towards first base. The seats are in shaded darkness while the field is brilliant green below a blue sky. Beyond the outfield fence there is a screen of mature trees, and in the background several highrise buildings.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 12

Tigers win!

The same ball diamond viewed from the third base side, seen at night, lights buzzing warmly on a sultry summer night.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 11

Some U22 ball on a gorgeous Thursday evening, Peterborough Tigers tangling with the Kendal Eagles, at historic Riverside Park in Peterborough.

Bleachers, backstop, ball field, and big, beautiful sunset.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 6

Remember a few weeks ago when everyone became aware of the Cdn Baseball League because Toronto had signed a former NL All-Star? And he homered twice in his debut? Let's check in to see how things are going... They haven't won since. He has 1 more HR. They're in last place. And last night...

Box score of a baseball game showing the final score:

Toronto - 1
Hamilton - 23

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 6

Cautiously thrilled right now

A screen onto which is being projected Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and the Spurs.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 5

Quick stop before I dash home: George Taylor Field in St. Catharines, fka Community Park, home of the NY-Penn Lg Stompers, 1986-99. Jays affiliate. Now hosts uni, collegiate summer lg, etc. Also pictured: the author in Stompers fauxback cap, picked up at the Welland Jackfish game last night.

A baseball park viewed from the outfield, the stands a combination of blue bucket seats and aluminum benches.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 5

I mean c'mon

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 4

Hello from Welland Stadium, home of the Welland Jackfish, who are all set to entertain the Brantford Red Sox. It's Umpire Appreciation Night AND $5 tallboy night. Should be fun.

The sun drenched baseball field of Welland Stadium, framed by the ballpark itself, and overseen by a peerless blue sky.

Andrew Forbes@utilityofboredom· Jun 3

I wish you could smell this lilac bush right now.