Michael Kruse Redux

My dear friend Michael Kruse let it be known today that he's leaving the St. Pete Times to work for Politico. We're sad and happy, which exist on the same end of the emotional spectrum. So, I've been drinking, and reading Michael's old stories, and wanted to share a few of my favorites. Cool? (PS: I'm terribly sad. Don't go, Michael.)

Pin Boy's Job Is In The Pits: Shohola, Pa. — Across the Delaware at the Barryville bridge, behind a creaky door and through a smoky bar, up some dusty stairs and at the end of a shiny wood lane, there's a kid with a buzz cut named J.C. Sommers.

Some call him Jerry. Others just call him J. But everybody calls him the pin boy.

And what he does is a job that all but …