For the locals: Mookie cutting his losses

And MLB continues its comeback

Nashville native, L.A. Dodgers outfielder and MLB All Star Mookie Betts has apparently given up on building a home on Franklin Road in Brentwood.

Curious citizens have watched with wonder for the past couple of years as steel beams and metal outside walls were put in place on land next to the holistic veterinarian’s building. According to all reports, it met zoning requirements for a home even though the framework looked more indicative of a warehouse.

Although it clearly was going to have the inner workings of a gymnasium or practice facility, there was apparently enough residential infrastructure for him to have received the required approvals.

I was kind of excited. I live in one of the adjoining subdivisions and planned to welcome Mookie with my homemade banana bread, as is my custom with new neighbors. And I was looking forward to a tour.

But it looks like he is going in a different direction, as there are now a couple of For Sale signs in front of the property. It appears a cool 1.75 million can get you the land that was going to be the site of Mookie’s Brentwood retreat, and maybe you can use the foundation and existing shell, such as it is, to finish out your own dream home.

Let me know when I should bring the banana bread.

And speaking of baseball . . .

Early indications are the MLB’s move to make rules changes so games would be faster paced and shorter in duration have paid off.

According to cursory research I have done, per-game attendance is up about 7 percent from last year. There has been an uptick in TV viewership as well.

I was not the target of the attempt to resurrect interest in baseball since I was already a fan, but I will be doing my part to keep the momentum going over the next few weeks. With quick weekend trips to Miami and Los Angeles to mark loanDepot Park and Dodger Stadium, respectively, off my list, I will move closer to my quest begun in 1994, with my older son Daniel, to visit every MLB venue.

(Maybe as Mookie’s former future neighbor, I can get a couple of minutes with him, and get an update on the property, when I’m in L.A.)

After these trips, I will have the two Bay Area parks (San Franciso and Oakland) and Seattle remaining. As I have previously written, along the way my younger son David and son-in-law Ben joined us, and they have gained some considerable ground.

After Dodger Stadium, Daniel will have only Seattle left. He plans to have his finale there next summer and has encouraged me, in the meantime, to make it out to northern California so we will finish at the same time.

I will try to do that next spring.

But if that does not happen and he beats me to the finish, that’s OK too. The joy in this wonderful journey far outweighs any thoughts I would be coming up short.