Baseballin blonde

Cool baseball blogs for a cool baseball class.

[baseballinblonde]

Week 9: (final blog)

This week, our very last week of blogs, we discussed Non-fiction Realism. ⚾

Starting with your very own Staley, “25 Years Ago, I Played in the Little League World Series, Too.” It must be weird for you to read a blog on your own writing, but I do appreciate you deciding to share it with us. It reminds me that my professors do exactly what they are asking me to do, and find passion in it. Anyways your article sucked. Just kidding.  

Something I particularly enjoyed about your piece was your use of nearly all the senses in describing your childhood relationship with baseball. Within about two paragraphs I understood why this week is titled nonfiction realism – so you hit the ball out of the park with that one (ha-ha get it). The conflict between our childhood perception of baseball, vs our adulthood was my favorite part. Inevitably, as we get older things start seeming less and less exciting, I don't know why, but it seems this way. Your fond tone goes to show that we can still find joy and excitement in these memories, no matter how different our lenses might be now.  

Next up, “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu,” by John Updike. This story encompasses Boston's relationship with former baseball player, Ted Williams. We have the narrator, John, who clearly distinguishes and takes time to let the reader know who he is, which something we should work to include in our creative expository assignments. My favorite part of this piece was actually the ending, “On the car radio as I drove home I heard that Williams, his own man to the end, had decided not to accompany the team to New York. He had met the little death that awaits athletes. He had quit.” As I have mentioned before I'm a sucker for a powerful ending sentence.  

[baseballinblonde]

Week 8:

“Death of a Shortstop” by Robert Vivian was nothing short of a literary MASTERPIECE. As we talked about in class, Vivian finds a way to make the story come full circle even though he took us on a lot of twists and turns prior (or so it seemed). The story follows the thoughts of a man trying to come to terms with his close (baseball) friend's suicide. Trying to make sense of events like this is never easy, and sometimes, there is no sense to make, so, as readers we followed along a little confused but not completely lost. Vivians overall theme stands out at the end of the piece due to his switch of tense into 2nd person. This is the kind of ending that gives the audience chills, the man will not ever be able to know why this happened, it is very bitter, and a little sweet.  

“Billy Gardeners Ground Out” by Floyd Skloot is an interesting story in which a man with a brain/memory attacking disease recalls a vivid, yet seemingly unimportant memory. Billy Gardener brushing off getting out in the baseball game and moving on like it was nothing. The most intriguing aspect of this story for me was the focus on how fragile memory itself is, and how selective it can be. Those moments in time that we feel we could recall every detail down to the date, and then wonder, “wait why do I remember that?” I don’t know why every time I think of my grandma I remember her scolding me about the shape of scones, but I like that I do. Just as this man remembers Billy and his failure. We don’t know why we remember these silly little things; however, it’s pleasant we do.

[baseballinblonde]

Week 7 (revised) -

This week we transitioned into fiction reading, which I have not written since abouuutttt middle school maybe? Anyways, it should be an interesting challenge, I am sick of researching. The rhetorical techniques are shifting, we are getting a little bit more creative, a little bit more emotional even. My favorite article from this week would be “Death of the Right Fielder” by Stuart Dybek. I like that the story itself is about death, not in a morbid way but it sparks some ideas in my brain for our creative writing assignment. I can take something I find interesting and exciting and weave baseball into it. Not that I find death interesting and exciting, but I’m sure you get the point... SOMETHING UNRELATED TO BASEBALL. Dybeks use of symbolism (the position of the right fielder we discussed in class) makes the piece for me though, I think it’s a really good technique to incorporate into fiction writing that’s also pretty difficult to use. I also enjoyed Susan Perabos, “Reaching Home”, for how personal it is, the tone is so comfortable and casual it almost comes across as a diary vibe. Its impressive how much she managed to fit into this story, she takes us from childhood to adulthood – another skill that’s hard to accomplish.  

[baseballinblonde]

Week 6:

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Week 3

This week we explored issues bigger than baseball itself. The first article from this week that I felt covered this topic well was Neil Demause’s “Stop the Subsidy Sucking Sports Stadiums.” Demause argues against the wasteful use of our tax money to build shiny new stadiums through referencing many reputable figures and presenting statistics. I find his tone to be knowledgeable and passionate, and the article was super informative. Something Demause mentions that surprised me was that “Owners of teams in the "big four" sports leagues — the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL — have reaped nearly $20 billion in taxpayer subsidies for new homes since 1990. And for just as long, fans, urban planners and economists have argued that building facilities for private sports teams is a massive waste of public money.” I mean WHAT??? WHY? Out of all the things our money could be used for, this is an option? Demause goes onto explain why this may be happening, to which I would roll my eyes. This article was great, it was interesting, informative, and it even made me a little mad.  

Next, Lily Rothmans “Emancipation of the Minors.” Rothman argues that a union would be a great idea in the world of underpaid baseball players. I found her argument to be clearer and more entertaining than Jon Shelton's, “How Free Agency Changed the Course of Baseball's Labor History.” She references many players who have experienced the repercussions of not having a union to protect them and even refers to the issue and an “injustice.” I liked the way she went about her article; I completely agree.  

This week was interesting, I had no idea about the topic, and it turned out to be more intriguing than I anticipated.

[baseballinblonde]

Week 2

The article that caught my attention most on Tuesday was Barry Petchesky’s, “Down with Baseballs Fun Police.” As we talked about in class, this article lands on the more opiniated side of the argument. Petchesky utilizes comparisons, questions, quotations, and enthusiasm to argue that the unwritten rules of baseball are actually holding the sport back from gaining popularity. The language/tone is casual and a little funny at times which helps hold the audience’s attention. A big chunk of the article talks about children in specific, and why they might feel deterred from playing, “they see players actually playing with a kid's enthusiasm, and being upbraided, benched, or drilled for it. Why would any kid dream of playing a sport full of shamers and scolds?” I mean I agree, sports should remain fun even on a professional level, it’s a game, created by kids probably, loosen up out there!

Next, I wanna talk about Alvin Chang’s, “This is why baseball is so white”. One thing about me is I love a good visual, and there are plenty in this article. Being able to see how little race variation there is in baseball surprised me. He goes onto explain that “when people say baseball is supposed to look a certain way, they’re not just saying that because it’s in the rulebooks or because it’ll make you a better player. Rather, it’s a coded message that baseball is about being more white.” This article makes me wonder if I want to write my research paper on this topic. I also like that Chang incorporated the discussion of unwritten rules, and how they have deterred black and Latino players from joining. They would be a target for over criticizing and hate, it’s just not worth it for them, and I get that. :/

[baseballinblonde]

Week 1

The first article I wanna talk about is “The 4 Biggest Myths about Baseball”, by Allen Barra. During class we talked about which of the two articles arguments were most convincing, and I said this one rather than Jonathan Mahler’s “Is the game over?”. I feel this way for a couple of reasons, one being the structure. I like the fact that the myths are in a list format, it somehow manages to make it feel like an easier read. He uses a lot of actual numbers and scenarios, as well as national tv ratings to support his claims. Barra is defending the fact that baseball isn’t really dying out, and even makes a point to disagree with Mahler. I think it’s very heavy on logos which makes it super strong.

My favorite article from our Thursday discussion was Jon Terbush’s, “Yes, baseball is Boring. That’s Exactly What Makes It So Great”. I think it stood out to me so much because of the different approach he took, very much pathos. His tone seems proud and passionate and to me personally that’s really persuasive. I mean, why do people shit on baseball so much… do they? Or have I just been reading too much about it.

So far, all the articles we have read have been surrounded around the overall question is baseball still alive basically. I’m thinking it is, if it’s as special as everyone is saying, it won’t ever die out.

[baseballinblonde]

:)

Hello there Staley, or anyone else who many stumble upon this blog.

As I mentioned in class I’m not too familiar with baseball, which definitely had me a little nervous at first but hey…  I suppose anyone can have a valid opinion on baseball (or its writings). I’m a little excited. This is going to be a place for me to UNLEASH my thoughts and feelings on baseball or whatever we may be discussing in class. Enjoy!