Baseball

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, June 2012; written by Lisa Pearson.

My husband and I have a mixed marriage; he’s a Yankees fan and I was raised in a Red Sox family. Baseball becomes a taboo subject as we edge closer to October, but during the season there is plenty of talk regarding pitching stats, who’s on the disabled list, and what new prospects are being brought up from the minors.

Baseball is a talky sport, with fans highly attuned to the history, philosophy and strategy of the game and always willing to discuss it to death. It’s fertile ground for writers as well, as you can see if you browse the library’s New Books shelves.

“Banzai Babe Ruth: baseball, espionage & assassination during the 1934 tour of Japan” by Robert K. Fitts details the month-long tour that took place in the early days of Japan’s fascination with baseball. Relations between the two countries were deteriorating, and tour organizers on both sides of the Pacific hoped that good will would be restored through a shared love of the game and the star power of the American players. Fitts interweaves Japanese politics –including an attempted coup and assassination by ultranationalists – with a look at two superstars at different points in their career. Babe Ruth was slowing down on the field, while teammate Lou Gehrig was finally emerging from the Babe’s shadow. Another of the All American players was catcher Moe Berg, whose presence on the tour might have been on-the-job training for his career as a spy during the war that was soon to come. This is a good book for baseball fans and history buffs alike.

“Before the curse: the Chicago Cubs’ glory years” by Randy Roberts and Carson Cunningham looks at one of the oldest teams in baseball – and the team to go longest without a World Series title. The last time the Cubs won the Series was in 1907, long before the 1945 Billy goat curse (if you don’t know what that’s referring to, you probably won’t be interested in this book). But champions or not, the Cubs always provided exciting baseball and Hall of Fame players, from the famous 1908 infield of ‘Tinkers to Evers to Chance’ to pitchers Mordeci ‘Three-finger’ Brown and Dizzy Dean. Roberts and Cunningham have put together a great collection of period articles, cartoons, photos and essays from the Cubs’ heyday. This book gives you a good feel for that time period in baseball.

“Bill Veeck: baseball’s greatest maverick” by Paul Dickson is a biography of a true showman. Veeck grew up in baseball, as his father became president of the Chicago Cubs when Veeck was four, but Veeck’s decisions as owner of the Cleveland Indians and also the St. Louis Browns put him at odds with fellow owners and the Commissioner. Some of these decisions were brave, such as signing the American League’s first black player in 1947 (and future Hall of Famer Satchel Paige a year later), while some of them were truly silly. Veeck might best be known for hiring a 3’ 7” Eddie Gaedel as a lead-off hitter, with the idea that his strike zone would be so small he would be walked onto first base. Always hustling, always trying to get fans into the stands, Veeck was an innovator who changed baseball.

“Imperfect: an improbable life” is the autobiography of Jim Abbott, whose 10-year career as a major league pitcher is most notable for the fact that he was born without a right hand. He didn’t let that slow him down, winning an unofficial gold medal in the 1988 Olympics (baseball was just a demonstration sport that year) and pitching a no-hitter as a New York Yankee in 1993. With his new career as a motivational speaker, he inspires others to overcome obstacles in their own lives.

“Trading Manny: how a father & son learned to love baseball again” by Jim Gullo is for every fan who’s frustrated with the juicing scandals and every parent who has had to explain to their kid that heroes aren’t always what they seem. It’s also one of those wonderful stories where a father teaches his young son the history and lore of the game, so that he understands how truly special baseball is and that the sport will weather this doping storm, as it has weathered others.