#curtis pride

[501baseballbooks]

The Bookshelf Conversation #196: Curtis Pride and Doug Ward

When I was the manager of the Brooklyn College baseball team back in 19xx, we had a deaf player named Dave Kaplan (no relation). He was a quiet, studious guy. Not a great player, but solid enough. He was only with the team for one year but I recall one scary incident when we were practicing a bit too close to the archery team (not smart). Dave was an outfielder and went back on a ball, tracking…

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[ronkaplansbaseballbookshelf]

The Bookshelf Conversation #196: Curtis Pride and Doug Ward

When I was the manager of the Brooklyn College baseball team back in 19xx, we had a deaf player named Dave Kaplan (no relation). He was a quiet, studious guy. Not a great player, but solid enough. He was only with the team for one year but I recall one scary incident when we were practicing a bit too close to the archery team (not smart). Dave was an outfielder and went back on a ball, tracking…

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[cdmeggers]

Curtis Pride - I Felt The Cheers

The remarkable memoir of the first, and only, full-season deaf player in the modern history of Major League Baseball.

I remember being pen pals with Curtis Pride when I was a kid. I’m not sure exactly how that happened in the first place. My grandma saved the article about him from a Readers Digest and gave it to me, and somehow along the way I would send him letters and get responses back. He also sent me a couple of autographed photos. I thought that was soooooo cool! Totally backing this project.

[deaflepuff]

19 Ways the Deaf World is Hogwarts

Just like the wizarding world exists alongside the muggle world, the Deaf world exists alongside the hearing world. The Deaf World is Hogwarts.

this is so true. Like Harry Potter says “Hogwarts is my home” same goes for Deaf when saying “Going to Deaf events, meeting/seeing Deaf people is my home. Gallaudet is my home.” 

[btwoline]

Taking 'Pride' In Being A Role Model

Athletes everywhere have to struggle to land on the big stage. Whether it’s footballers who learned their skills amid heavy gunfire or the runner who had to train without any shoes, they all faced hurdles which they had to clear on their journey to the top. Whenever you leap over hurdles like these you don’t just land a better athlete, but a better person too. But not all will clear the hurdles they face. Some will try to step around them. You only have to look at the likes of Alan Iverson for an example. It seemed to many as if this talented athlete had cleared the hurdles which plagued his young life, however we saw from all the incidents in his professional career that he was constantly confronted by his demons.

I ofthen think some athletes don’t value the talent they’ve been blessed with, nor the stage they’ve been allowed to perform on. Some have unfairly been thrust into the spotlight before they were ready, others take their fame as a pardon to act without care or attention. These athletes are a poison for aspiring youngsters. You only have to look at American collegiate sports to understand how ungrateful and fearless the next generation are. The good role models they should be taking examples from a few and far between. It seems as if these youngsters can get to the top with talent alone these days. However once they get there, that attitude lasts as long as it takes them to blow their signing bonuses. And by then it could all be too late. Think JaMarcus Russell. A young man with immense talent, but a disgusting attitude. He went from peforming on the big stage to completely unwanted by anybody and everybody.

What happened to the good old fashioned role models? They’ve been crowded out by the new extravagant models. Think along the lines of Mario Balotelli. That’s the type of athletes up and coming youngsters are aiming to be like. Why can’t they look up to the likes of Curtis Pride? That right there is a complete role model. Who is he? He’s a retired baseball player. Why is he so special? Curtis Pride is special because he was born deaf. Not only did he develop oral skills early in his life, but he didn’t allow his hearing impairment to prevent him from excelling in baseball, basketball and football (soccer), where he played for the American U16 team at the 1985 World Championships. Pride eventually became a baseball pro and was in and out of the majors throughout his career. In a sport where hearing and communication is often key, it’s amazing how he worked to play at such a level. He didn’t let his situation carry him away or get on top of him, he simply worked hard and didn’t rely on talent alone. Many in and around baseball have nothing but praise for Pride. He was seen as not only a great player, but a great teacher also. And it’s there where Curtis Pride is passing on all that he’s learned onto young athletes. Pride is a baseball coach at Gallaudet University, where he coaches other deaf athletes. You never know, he could be helping the next Curtis Pride to go on and achieve what he did if not more.