Friday, March 23, 2007

 

The Soul of Baseball

This is a heads up to any baseball fans out there--in particular Tyler, Colby, Avi and LT--about the new book by Joe Posnanski. It's entitled The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America. For those who do not know, Posnanski is a columnist with the Kansas City Star, and may be the best sports writer going right now. Buck O'Neil is Buck O'Neil. If you want to know more about him, well, buy this book. Or check out the book's website and blog. I'm only about twenty pages in, but I've already choked up about three times while reading it. And I don't mean choked up in the unacceptable "Adam Morrison Curl Up Into The Fetal Position And Bawl" manner. I mean the "Watching Brian's Song or Field of Dreams" manner of choking up. That is to say, the actual choking back of tears because your Dad mocked it out of you, but like one or two tears acceptably slipping out because the story reminds of your Dad, or ties you into the valuable male life lessons that he taught you which I'm not at liberty to discuss at this point and time. Anyway, so far, so very, very good. I recommend it highly. Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging.

Comments:

Dude. You cried in Field of Dreams? What's wrong with you?
 


I cried when Rick Monday hit that ball off Steve Rogers. It's still up there as far as I know.

Fuck.

Thanks for the find, Andy.



LT.
 


My Dad does not cry (as a general rule) and he does not watch movies.

Unlike me who will cry at the drop of a hat - spent the first six months of my daughter's life "Needing a moment" everytime she smiled at me or, for that matter, doing anything.

I convinced him to watch Field of Dreams.

"A little ... dusty ... down in ... the basement ..." he says when it was over.

Thanks Andy - will add it to the list.
 


Meh. You guys probably liked Shawshank Redemption, too.
 


You cried in Field of Dreams? What's wrong with you?

You didn't choke up at "Hey Dad, you wanna have a catch?" What the hell is wrong with you?
 


I also just finished The Universal Baseball Association, which is just a fantastic read.

And don't even joke about Shawshank being a bad movie, Sac. You'll start a riot.
 


Hey, as a compendium of prison cliches, Shawshank is your huckleberry.

Off the top of my head it has: tunnel out through sewage, old guy who keeps birds, old guy who can't hack it on the outside, femmy tough-guy rapists, sadistic prison guards, religious yet evil prison warden, a spell in the hot-box, clever prisioner who can get you anything, lobbying to get reading materials, prisoner takes control of prison speaker system and gets in trouble, but it was worth it, etc.).

But, back to baseball. This was on
Off Wing Opinion, and it is spectacular:

Clark the Canadian Hockey Goalie
 


Dude, I linked to that clip a month ago. Off wing is sooo behind the times. :) Do you even read your own site?
 


I was afraid I was the only one who teared up during the "play catch with dad" scene in Field of Dreams. To be honest, the only movies that ever make me sappy and tear up are baseball movies. "61" did it, "Field Of Dreams" did it, and I think even "The Sandlot" did it.

I need therapy.
 


I got sappy when Roy Hobbs hit the ball into the lights in The Natural. But I was, like, four, and I cried at everything when I was four. I think I cried when I stepped on the floor and it was too cold afterwards.
 

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