Volume 4, Issue 100: Mr. Ruggerio’s Neighborhood

"Log off, that cookies shit makes me nervous."

Here is a button where you can subscribe to this newsletter now, if you have not previously done so. I do hope that you enjoy it.

The next book will be turned in this May and will be published in May 2025, and I’m deep in the thicket of it right now, so, as you might expect, that’s occupying a large portion of my brain at the end of the year. But I do not want to let 2024 end without shouting out one more time The Time Has Come, my novel that was released this last May. I quite love this book, and there’s a little part of me that will always kind of wonder if it’s the best book I’ll ever write. I know it didn’t get around quite as much as How Lucky—which I also love and is plugging along quite well itself, it must be said—but I do think The Time Has Come is the purest distillation of my view of the world, and what I believe it still could be.

The paperback version of The Time Has Come is out this May—you can pre-order it here if you prefer paperbacks to hardcovers—so it’ll get one more run in a couple of months, but if you are a subscriber to this newsletter and find it useful each Saturday morning, I can’t see how you wouldn’t enjoy The Time Has Come as well, if you haven’t read it yet. So, you know, check it out. I like it, and if you haven’t read it, I think you would like it too.

As always, the last newsletter of the year is a clip show, when we look back at the year through the eyes of this newsletter. If you only started subscribing to this newsletter in the last year—and there are thousands of you that have—you might have missed some of the best stuff we made around these parts in 2023. So here’s a month-by-month look back at the highlights and lowlights.

This newsletter is going to be very long, by the way, perhaps so long that it’s cut off in your email. (That’s what Substack appears to be warning me about, anyway.) So, as always, you can find this and all of these newsletters right here.

JANUARY

Newsletters:

• On not being friends with doctors.

• On spelling bees.

• On not ceding to the young.

• On being laid off, and what comes next.

Publications:

• On Georgia winning championships, for WSLS Podcast.

• How quickly we moved on from worrying about Damar Hamlin, for New York.

• Interviewing John Hendrickson about his wonderful book “Life On Delay,” for Medium.

• Can we stave off AI chatbots, as writers? for Medium.

FEBRUARY

Newsletters:

• On seeing Bruce Springsteen with my parents.

• On trying to get you to pre-order The Time Has Come.

• On mascots.

• On having faith in the youth.

Publications:

• On the death of Billy Packer and the rise of the dull broadcaster, for New York.

• On Joe Biden having more energy than you, for Medium.

MARCH

Newsletters:

• On a The Time Has Come FAQ.

• On trying not to eat the lizard that is Twitter.

• On cursing around, and at, your kids.

• On growing up small when everything is big.

Publications:

• Rocky movies, ranked, for Vulture.

• The Ten Oldest Players in Baseball, for MLB.com.

• My cover story about Shaquille O’Neal, for Inc.

APRIL

Newsletters:

• On my first ever trip to a press box.

• On llamas.

• On the two great women who did the audio for The Time Has Come.

• On standarized tests.

• On texting with your kid.

Publications:

• Mike Petriello and I did our annual World Series winner draft (he won this year, with his 18th pick), for MLB.com.

• The women’s Final Four was so much better than the men’s Final Four, for New York.

• My first of several odes to the Knicks, for New York.

• Sports gambling ads are so terrible, for New York.

MAY

My book came out this month.

Newsletters:

• On encouraging my son to play guitar.

• On the beauty of true, blessed brilliance.

• On hating to sell things.

• On being the old man young writers grew up reading.

Publications:

• The true unbreakable baseball record is managerial ejections, for MLB.com.

• I wrote about the death of Don Denkinger, forgiveness and acceptance, for The Washington Post.

• Trump and Biden Are Returning to Make Families Fight Again, for The New York Times.

• Watching sports is about to become so expensive, for New York.

JUNE

Newsletters:

• On modern boys liking Eminem.

• On class reunions and making sense of the past.

• On Pride Night at sporting events.

• On being in London.

Publications:

• On the Scottie Pippen-Michael Jordan feud, for CNN.

• I’m still ranting about how bad gambling is, for New York.

• I unsuccessfully lobbied the Cardinals to trade Paul Goldschmidt, for MLB.com.

• What Messi’s arrival means for the MLS, for New York.

JULY

Newsletters:

• On Pat Sajak.

• On Defending Your Life, and not being overcome by fear.

• On being able to outwrite a robot.

• On the glories of being a tourist.

• On middle school.

Publications:

• Lance Armstrong is just the worst, for New York.

• AI broadcasters are inevitable, for The Atlantic.

AUGUST

Newsletters:

• On Josip Petrsoric’s last night at Sardi’s.

• On the slow death of local news.

• On Generation X nearing AARP age.

• On good books I read this summer.

Publications

• On the USWNT staying out of politics, and not wanting to blame them, for New York.

• On the Michael Oher story, for New York.

• There’s no such thing as a good sports owner, for New York.

• The last season of college football as we know it, for New York.

• College football should separate from the rest of college sports, for CNN.

SEPTEMBER

Newsletters:

• On lunatic parents storming school board meetings.

• On the misery of watching the 2023 St. Louis Cardinals.

• On Flossie Dickey and Stop Making Sense.

• On not looking at the numbers, ever.

• On cousins.

Publications:

• The NFL is indestructible, for New York.

• The best player at every age, for MLB.com.

• No one’s winning 200 games again, for MLB.com.

• The Deion Sanders train is about to derail (and it did), for New York.

OCTOBER

Newsletters:

• On being a former smoker, and regretting it.

• On Al Gore, and not giving in to despair.

• On once writing astrology columns.

• On Suzanne Somers, and living a long life.

Publications:

• I reviewed Dave Kindred’s Home Team, for The Wall Street Journal.

• The least-complain-y baseball season in memory, for New York.

• Travis Kelce is a much better face of the NFL than Aaron Rodgers, for New York.

• Martin Scorsese movies, ranked, for Vulture.

• Leonardo DiCaprio movies, ranked, for Vulture.

• Banning Palestinian flags from MLS games is just the beginning, for New York.

NOVEMBER

Newsletters:

• On Pat McAfee, Devon Rodriguez and the emptiness of the desperately thirsty.

• On how there couldn’t be a “Siskel & Ebert” today.

• On the paparazzi the day my first son was born.

• On Junebug and the people who have known you the longest.

Publications:

• I interviewed “Among the Bros” author Max Marshall, for New York.

• On no one caring about Bill Belichick anymore, for New York.

• I reviewed books about Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, for The Wall Street Journal.

• MVPs, ranked, for MLB.com.

DECEMBER

Newsletters:

• On Deadspin somehow still being “alive.”

• On telling young people things they don’t want to hear.

• On conversations.

• On the best 10 movies of 2023.

Publications:

• What the Sports Illustrated AI debacle says about sports media today, for CNN.

• The Shohei Ohtani Contract Is Insane, for New York.

• The 50 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time, for Vulture.

Oh, and in the interest of full transparency (and efficient scrolling and clicking), here are one man’s Will Leitch Newsletter Rankings For 2023:

1. Denial, Anger, Acceptance, July 8. (The One About Defending Your Life, and fighting fear.)

2. A Bowl and a Pudding, November 4. (The One About internet virality meaning absolutely nothing and being a sign of existential emptiness.)

3. Mr. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Present, December 9. (The One About telling young people things they don’t want to hear.)

4. Mike Shannon, February 4. (The One About Springsteen.)

5. Rat Pack, August 5. (The One About Sardi’s.)

6. Employee of the Month, September 23. (The One About not staring at traffic numbers.)

7. Infinite Surprise, October 14. (The One About not giving in to despair.)

8. Pittsburgh, November 25. (The One About Junebug and going home.)

9. The Ride, July 22. (The One About being a happy tourist.)

10. Jordan Walker, February 25. (The One About visiting with the youth, and having faith.)

11. Jon Jay, January 28. (The One About getting laid off, and still moving forward.)

12. Red Schoendienst, January 21. (The One about not stepping out of the way for next generation.)

13. Mayham, August 19. (The One About Generation X and the AARP.)

14. Sentimental Education, September 2. (The One About crazy people trying to ruin school for our kids.)

15. Levee, November 11. (The One About the good ole days of “Siskel & Ebert.)

16. Meant to Be, December 2. (The One About Zombie Deadspin.)

17. Ten Dead, October 7. (The One About heart scans and being a former smoker.)

18. Jeff Weaver, April 8. (The One About llamas.)

19. The Happy Wanderer, June 24. (The One About London.)

20. Gary Gaetti, April 15. (The One About my audiobook narrators.)

21. Jose Oquendo, April 1. (The One About trying to stay out of the press box when possible.)

22. Bob Gibson, March 18. (The One About trying to keep your temper around your children.)

23. Luxury Lounge, June 17. (The One About Pride Night and your kids.)

24. Moe ‘n’ Joe, July 15. (The One About outwriting robots.)

25. Down Neck, September 9. (The One About the terrible 2023 St. Louis Cardinals.)

26. Jim Edmonds, March 11. (The One About self-destructedness.)

27. Bud Smith, April 22. (The One About standardized tests.)

28. Chris Carpenter, March 25. (The One About being a small child in a big world.)

29. Sopranos Home Movies, December 16. (The One About conversations.)

30. Sunlight Ends, October 28. (The One About understanding just how old is old.)

31. Joe McEwing, May 6. (The One About hoping your kid becomes a musician.)

32. Fortunate Son, July 1. (The One About Pat Sajak.)

33. Mark McGwire, April 29. (The One About texting with your kid, and your parents.)

34. Adam Wainwright, May 27. (The One About people growing up reading Deadspin.)

35. Fredbird, February 18. (The One About mascots, mostly mascots in pain.)

36. Mark Rzepczynski, January 14. (The One about spelling bees.)

37. Irregular Around the Margins, July 29. (The One About middle school.)

38. Albert Pujols, May 13. (The One About finding genius in the world.)

39. John Tudor, May 20. (The One About hating to sell things.)

40. No Show, August 12. (The One About the struggles of local news.)

41. Yadier Molina, June 10. (The One About high school reunions.)

42. Soldier Child, November 18. (The One About paparazzi and Blue Ivy.)

43. Another Toothpick, December 23. (The One About my top 10 movies of 2023.)

44. Nolan Arenado, June 3. (The One About Eminem.)

45. David Freese, February 11. (The One where I solicited The Time Has Come pre-orders.)

46. Cold Stones, September 16. (The One About Flossie Dickey and Stop Making Sense.)

47. Evicted, October 21. (The One About my former astrology column.)

48. Jamie Garcia, January 7. (The One About doctors and your body breaking down.)

49. Cousin, September 30. (The One About cousins.)

50. From Where to Eternity, August 26. (The One About books I read this summer.)

51. Jack Buck, March 4. (The One With a The Time Has Come FAQ.)

52. Mr. Ruggerio’s Neighborhood, December 30. (The One you’re reading right now.)

Honestly: This newsletter is my favorite thing I get to do, and I have you to thank for it. So thank you. You got me through this year. You get me through every year. Have a wonderful New Years. And Go Illini.

Here is a numerical breakdown of all the things I wrote this week, in order of what I believe to be their quality. (None of these are great this week, it’s the last week before New Years, the brain was mostly shut off.)

1. The Ten Biggest Sports Stories of 2023, New York. The annual countdown.

2. The Seven Most Important Athletes of 2023, New York. A quiet year, all told.

3. Unexpected Breakout Stars of 2023, MLB.com. We weren’t thinking of these guys a year ago.

4. Every DC Comics Movie, Ranked, Vulture. Updated with the Aquaman sequel.

5. The Thirty: One Holiday Wish for Every Fanbase, MLB.com. A nice end-of-year palate cleanser.

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch, no show until mid-January, but you should listen to Dorkfest again.

Waitin' Since Last Saturday, we did a big preview of the Orange Bowl, which is happening today.

Seeing Red, no show this week.

LONG STORY YOU SHOULD READ THIS MORNING … OF THE WEEK

“Finding Jordan Neely,” Lisa Miller, New York. What a sad story.

ONGOING LETTER-WRITING PROJECT!

This is your reminder that if you write me a letter and put it in the mail, I will respond to it with a letter of my own, and send that letter right to you! It really happens! Hundreds of satisfied customers!

Also, every single one of you who sent me a holiday card is incredible.

Write me at:

Will Leitch
P.O. Box 48
Athens GA 30603

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO

“Feel Good,” Detroit Cobras. It was very much a year of the Detroit Cobras for me, and as I try to be optimistic heading into what’s going to be a very crazy year, I’m going to listen to their happiest song.

Remember to listen to The Official Will Leitch Newsletter Spotify Playlist, featuring every song ever mentioned in this section.

Also, now there is an Official The Time Has Come Spotify Playlist.

Happy new year, everyone. Strap in, 2024’s gonna be quite the ride.

Best,
Will