Posts by Mike Walsh

Baseball Mud

Posted on by Mike Walsh

While Mr. David A. Kelly has helped me and Kate write the Ballpark Mysteries books, he also does some books on his own, including a really cool picture book called Miracle Mud: The Secret Mud that Changed Baseball. The book tells the story of this mud, that comes from a secret place (in New Jersey!) that is used by ALL major league baseball teams. Who knew? It’s a really neat picture book, so consider checking it out if you want to get muddy. If you want more info, check out this review of Miracle Mud that I just came across.

Miracle Mud

It’s a Ballpark Mysteries World Series!

Posted on by Mike Walsh

Wow! I hope you’ve all been watching this year’s World Series! In case you haven’t noticed, BOTH teams in the series are teams that Kate and I visited! We went to Kansas City first, to see the Kansas City Royals, and later on, we went to San Francisco to the see the Giants.

2014 World Series teams
2014 World Series teams

We had such a good time in both places that we can’t really pick our favorite team–so Kate’s rooting for one team, and I’m rooting for the other! I can’t wait to see who wins!

Stolen Turtles?

Posted on by Mike Walsh

Why would anyone want to steal turtles? Kate and I never thought about stolen turtles until we took a trip to the Miami Marlin’s neat baseball stadium with huge fish tanks. You can read about it in our book The Missing Marlin.

Book #8 in the Ballpark Mysteries series is set in Miami, Florida.
Book #8 in the Ballpark Mysteries series is set in Miami, Florida.

But we couldn’t believe it when we read a news story recently about a guy who tried to cross the boarder into Canada with more than 50 stolen turtles strapped to his body! Hopefully, they weren’t SNAPPING turtles!

Babe Ruth book

Posted on by Mike Walsh

Mr. David A. Kelly just sent me and Kate a copy of the first book he wrote — Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse. He wrote it in 2009, but a new version of it just came out. It’s got neat new facts in the back about the Red Sox and Babe Ruth. See for yourself:

Cool stuff at the end of Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse
Cool stuff at the end of Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse

The new version of the book has a new cover. Instead of a painting of Babe Ruth, it has a cool picture of Babe Ruth just after he hit a baseball. I’ll bet it’s a home run!

Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse-2014

(I keep trying to pretend I’m Babe Ruth but somehow the balls don’t go that far when I hit them.)

Kate and I really like this book. After we got back from our first adventure to Boston’s Fenway Park, I took it out of the library to read up on Babe Ruth. Kate read it when I was done. Then she came up with the great idea of asking Mr. Kelly to write about how we helped Boston’s Big D find his missing bat. Since then, we’ve let Mr. Kelly write about our all adventures at baseball stadiums. That way, we get to have fun, and he has to do all the work!

Fenway Foul-Up Missing Chapter

Posted on by Mike Walsh

Ballpark Mysteries or Red Sox fans will want to check out the latest addition to the Ballpark Mysteries website. It’s a missing chapter from the first Ballpark Mysteries book, The Fenway Foul-Up.

The Ted Williams red seat at Fenway Park in Boston. (photo credit: www.flikr.com/dbking)
The Ted Williams red seat at Fenway Park in Boston. (photo credit: www.flikr.com/dbking)

In the book, Kate and I had a great time visiting Boston and helping Big D find his missing bat. But even if you read the book, you didn’t catch all the action. Check out the missing chapter from The Fenway Foul-Up to see what happened after the book ended.

The San Francisco Giants Mystery!

Posted on by Mike Walsh

When Kate and I travel to different ballpark, we know that we’ll see a baseball game. But when we went to San Francisco last year, we never thought we’d go kayaking in San Francisco bay! Turns out the bay is right next to the San Francisco Giants’ ballpark! It’s really cool, since home runs get hit over the stadium wall and fly into the bay! They’re called Splash Hits!If you’re out there in a kayak or boat, you can actually catch one!

BPM-7-Cover-The SF Splash-Large

So Kate and I were kayaking in the bay when our San Francisco Splash mystery started. We heard a splash nearby, and before we knew it, we were investigating a missing World Series ring and chasing the thief all over San Francisco!

The Chicago Cubs Mystery!

Posted on by Mike Walsh

The Chicago Cubs are one of the oldest teams in baseball. They also have one of the old stadiums–Wrigley Field. It’s really famous for the green ivy that covers the outfield wall. That’s why Kate and I were really surprised to discover that someone had been cutting holes in their ivy and possibly running their winning streak! It’s all in our latest Ballpark Mystery, which just went on sale today. It’s called The Wrigley Riddle.

BPM-6-Cover-The Wrigley Riddle-Medium
In it, Kate and I visit Chicago. We get to solve an ago-old riddle about treasure buried in Wrigley Field! And don’t tell anyone, but chewing gum ends up being a pretty important part of the story. I love gum! You’ll see why when you read the book.

What Does Outer Space Smell Like?

Posted on by Mike Walsh

I’d much rather be playing baseball or watching TV than cleaning up. I mean, why put your clothes away if you’re just going to wear them again? But sometimes, when my room starts to smell, my mom makes me clean it up. I’m guessing she’d want our astronauts to clean up outer space for the same reason. According to an article I just read, astronauts (like Commander Nick Rice in Ballpark Mysteries #4 – The Astro Outlaw) say that outer space smells like burned steak and hot metal!

(photo credit: David A. Kelly)