Baseball Buddy Books
Playing with heart. I love that concept. It is so interesting that in a world that reveres the most hits, the longest drive, and the fastest pitch, the highest compliment is "you played with heart." We have an author in Dallas named Talmage Boston who loves baseball. He is a baseball aficionado to the nth degree. He has an office filled with memorabilia, he has Cooperstown on speed dial, and he has written two amazing books about baseball, 1939: Baseball's Tipping Point and Baseball and the Baby Boomer: A History, Commentary and Memoir. Both books share great diamond lore with eloquence; both books laud true American heroes. But what is interesting to me is that both books get to the heart of the matter: Baseball is bigger than life. Baseball brings out the best--and, unfortunately, sometimes the worst-- in not only our athletic young men, but in all of us.
Frank Deford wrote a foreword for for Baseball and the Baby Boomer. Frank Deford certainly doesn't know this, but he is one of my idols. After hearing him on NPR one morning a few years ago, I called my husband and told him, "I have a crush on Frank Deford." He asked if I knew what he looked like; I said no, I had never seen the guy. What I love about Frank is the way he has the insight to understand everything that matters about sports, the historical references to give it perspective, and the communication skills to explain it to us mere mortals. Not to mention the voice. So many times, I have remained in my car, refusing to turn the key and go inside, so I could catch the last of my friend Frank on Morning Edition. If I had the techno savvy (or the time) to download an ipod with his podcasts, I would fill it up, and just drive around soaking in the deeper meaning of sports.
But, I don't do ipods; I do books. I am grateful to people like Frank and Talmage for not just doing lectures and commentary, but for writing books that do not need to have their batteries charged to give us a jolt of something inspiring.
Here's what Frank said about Talmage in the foreword: Different players are heroes to different people. Talmage's selection of principals that he chose to write about--from Jackie Robinson to Bart Giamatti--reveals what matters to him probably better than any traditional Rohrschatz test ever would.
Sports--played with heart--bring something noble up in all of us and help to define what we value. Check out this picture of my friend Elizabeth and her friend Kamal: it's from the Challenger Division of West University Little League here in Houston. The Challenger League is a baseball program for boys and girls with physical and mental challenges. The Challenger Division gives everyone a chance to play baseball and have a rewarding experience, regardless of limitations. Each player gets a buddy, and the experience--for both of them--is made even richer by the understanding gained from the camraderie.
That's what I call playing with heart.
"People will say I'm an idealist. I hope so."
~A, Barlett Giamatti
Pete Rose Banishment Speech
