We Are the Ship: Second Half

Just down the road from Greenlee field.

To honor Gibson's life, a little league field was built in the same neighborhood as Greenlee Field was in. (Extra but non-baseball info: August Wilson was born just down the street from here!)

Gibson's grave. See the tiny sign to the left of the tree.

Yours truly and the sign. 

Up-close of Gibson's grave. Not very fancy.

For comparison purposes, here is Babe Ruth's grave. Small difference ... (photo not mine)

Photo of Jackie Robinson in the KC Royals Hall of Fame/Museum.

Satchel Page pitching for the Monarchs. KC Hall of Fame/Museum.



Photos from Roberto Clemente Museum. What do you see in this photo? Clemente made his MLB debut in 1955 and played out his career for the Pirates. He was the first Latin American inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973 (and some say the last Pirate), a year after he died.


More of Roberto Clemente


Clemente's San Juan jersey from his team in Puerto Rico.

Another one of Clemente's jerseys.

Clemente and his family at Family Day.

Clemente's Golden Glove; he won 12! He was only in the MLB for 18 seasons. Not bad. 

Clemente's Silver Bat from 1961. He won this four times in his career.

A video
Sean Gibson & Kadir Nelson

Discussion ideas

1. What impact did the negro leagues on the idea of baseball? The role of baseball in American culture? The construction of American masculinity?
2. How would you describe the tone of this book? Ground your answer specifically to the text.

3. Did a certain negro league player stand out to you? Why?
4. Anything else?

Film ... maybe
Inning 5, Chpts 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 16, 18

Some bonus reading about baseball issues in Puerto Rico today.

We Are the Ship: First Half

A breakdown of what a baseball is made of.

Evolution of gloves in MLB.

Now a housing development, the old field is only marked by this sign.

Good museum but the majority of the items are reproductions. You're also not allowed to take any photos inside. Not nice!

What team is this building associated with?

A little video
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Let's get our brains working with some WRITING!

1. How did the illustrations enhance the story? Which one was your favorite and why?

2. Inning 4 ends with a quote from Satchel Paige: "We were worked. Worked like the mule that plows the field during the week and pulls the carriage to church on Sunday." What are your thoughts on this line? If the players were the mules, who were the farmers? If the players were tearing up the land(scape) of baseball, do you think they were doing it for future generations?
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Discussion
3. What's the effect of repeating the phrase: "We played in a rough league"?
4. What is the most striking example of the player's struggle presented thus far?
5. What is the significance of the title?
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As time permits: Inning 5, Chpts 3, 5 & &

Weekly Post #3: The Card & Ken Griffey Jr

This piece from Sunday's NY Times has all of the trappings of baseball literature: religious overtones, myth, legend, dedication, magic, and loss. Focus on one of these themes and discuss what role it plays in not only this article but in baseball as we've learned about thus far.

**Our visitor Howard Fine will be bringing in lots of cards next week, so keep this article in mind during Howard's visit.

Another great week of postings. Thanks for your work and insight.

Bill James Historical Baseball Almanac

Some questions about the previous reading:

1. Broun is a baseball reporter, and reporters were often attributed with those exciting one-liners (or maybe two-liners) that really spoke to the excitement of the game. Looking at this piece, pick out a favorite line or two and tell me why these lines stand out. For example, I love the line, "Ward's homer was less lusty, but went in the same general direction." Good use of lusty, like it's the ball that wants to go somewhere rather than the hitter wanting the home run. Good use of personification.

some good calls to listen to
Perfect Game

2. What do you think is the most fantastic detail of Cool Papa's playing career? And why do you think so? Detail could be on or off the field.


Last night's reading:
Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Observations?

Only the Ball Was White

Who is this Branch Rickey? He's not the beginning, but he surely helped with integration.

Weekly Post #2: The Official Scorer

This is one of my favorite pieces from the last year as I learned more from this than expected! An article on the official scorer of the game, this piece looks into some of the subjectivity present in baseball. Sure there are the umps who seem to be the arbiters of the game, but the scorers are like the gatekeepers of stats.

Two questions:
1. With instant replay and so many eyes on the field these days, do you think an official scorer is still necessary? Of course there would be someone collecting balls and strikes and hits, but why put the work on one person?
2. What new piece of baseball information did you learn from this article?

Great responses to the last post. Loved the humor. Well done.

Baseball Poems

Breaking up into smaller groups, discuss the structure, diction and tone of your assigned poem.

Guiding Questions:
What aspect(s) of the game is the poet trying to capture?
In what way does your poet employ nostalgia or sentimentality?
What assumptions are made about the reader?

More film!!
Finish up Inning 1: (53:00-end chpt 11)
Maybe Inning 2: chpts 2-6

Weekly Post 1: The Umps

Baseball's Masked Men ShowTheir Inner Hams on Strike Three and a fun graphic!

Funny video referenced in the article.

Please respond to the following question in the comment section of this post:

1. What different roles do umpires play in a game?
2. If you were a home plate ump, what style strike-three call would you go with and why? Get creative. Heck, shoot a video of yourself, link it to this post, and we'll watch it in class. You could do an interpretive dance. Shadow puppets. I'm game for all types of creativity.

Response due by Monday January 21 at midnight (because of the holiday weekend). But for Pete's sake DO NOT stay up that late.

Ritter & Spaulding Readings

Wahoo Sam's plaque in the Cincinnati Reds' Hall of Fame.

Where is Wahoo? About 1 hour west of Omaha.

Entrance to current Detroit ballpark: Comerica Park. This new park replaced Tiger Stadium in 2000. Tiger Stadium was then demolished, but a crew of fans and local residents maintain the field to this day. How cool! And remember this when we read Thrill of the Grass.

Dave, an usher at Comerica. One of my favorite shots from the game.

The outfield. Not where Crawford and Cobb played, but it's still a good looking field.

Honus Wagner's grave just outside of Pittsburgh, PA. (Commercial)

Discussion questions:

1. In what ways do these two pieces capture the patriotism and nostalgia often associated with baseball?
2. How does Spaulding perpetuate the gender roles of the traditional American male and what effect does this stereotype have on the game and our society today?
3. What major American themes does Spaulding find present in Base Ball?
4. What else did you learn? New facts, figures, insights?

Watch
Inning 1: Chpts 2-11

Welcome! Some business. Some film. Some fun.

1. Some baseball news we must talk about .... HoF Voting
2. Course intro ... fun stuff
3. What do you expect from this class? Why did you take it (be honest)?
4. Where do we find baseball in our lives every day? Think about phrases and idioms we get from the game.
5. Take Me Out to the Ballgame: When is this song played during a ball game? Why? (Hint: Taft)
6. Casey at the Bat written in June 3, 1888 and published in the SF Examiner (words & recording)
7. Inning 1, Chpt 1 (25 mins)