Shoeless Joe: 131-153

Veda Ponikvar is real!

A little board work: Please respond to five of the quotes. Think about how they relate to character development, themes, symbols, or the language of the text.

Weekly Post #13: Some light-hearted fun!

I love a good practical joke, and it seems like baseball players do too. Give this a read, laugh out loud, and tell me what you think. I know we're reading about magical realism and dreams and magic and a crazy field filled with ghost players, but how do you think comedy plays a role in baseball? Can magic and pranks co-exist? How do they complement each other? How do they just make you laugh?

Here's a favorite video. Promise it's worth watching about 100 times.

Then check out this top list from bleacherreport.

If you've got a favorite from any sport, feel free to share.

Weekly Post 12: Your Walk-up Song

Seeing as this will be the final post for those leaving on senior project, I thought you could get a little creative. Don't prove me wrong.

At each at-bat, a player selected song is played over the loud speaker. Not going to lie, until recently there was a sterotypical fomula to the songs (white players played country/pop, black players played rap, and latino players played salsa), but nowadays the players are selecting songs themselves and moving away from the sterotype. Thank goodness.

Now it's your turn. You only get about 10-12 seconds of a song. It can be any portion of the song, but I want to know 1. What song would you choose? 2. What portion would you have the announcer play? 3. Why would you choose this song? You can link to the youtube version of your song. And you by no means to to think of yourself walking up to the plate ... it can be onto the court, into a test, into a dance performance, on the block, whatever big moment you want.

Some of my faves this season:
Josh Reddick: Bernie Lean
Josh Donaldson: Regulator by Warren G
Mariano Rivera: Enter Sandman by Metallica
Angel Pagan: Blue
Buster Posey: Hell On Wheels
Panda: Dance (but has three others in the rotation)
Jeter: Otis by Jay Z

My pick -- Madonna -- Holiday -- 4 secs-16 secs. Classic. It says I have great taste in 80s music. It says, don't mess with me because not only can I dance and sing and do crazy yoga poses, but I can also kick some butt when I need to .... just like Madonna.

Shoeless Joe: 23-53

Cleveland

Cleveland 

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh at night, post-game

Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium at night

1981 Yankee Stadium

Some bat info: see 1.10
Bat Technology from Louisville Slugger

MLB Groundskeepers DOn't Mind Getting Dirty

J.D. Salinger Obit

Sentimental: excessive, self-indulgent
Nostalgic: longing for
How can we see these two feelings thus far in the novel? What is the nuanced difference as expressed through Ray?

Free write: In Shoeless Joe, a voice tells Ray, "ease his pain," and he knows immediately that it is J.D. Salinger whose pain needs to be eased. So, Ray begins preparing (see pages 33-34). Think about  an immense challenge you have had to prepare yourself for (a test, a game, a performance). What rituals did you partake in to ensure you were successful?

Discussion

How do our own rituals inform our reading of this text?

A look at similes: Thinking back on your immense challenge and your rituals, write 7 similes characterizing your experience.

**Prep for Lance Williams ... Prologue & Afterwards

Shoeless Joe 1-23

Free write: Look at the quote that prefaces the book. Why do you think W.P. Kinsella began the book with this idea?

"Some men see thing as they are, and say why, I dream of things that never were, and say why not."

A bit more insight into the novel. And what is magical realism?

Discussion questions:

1. How is Ray's epiphany on p.16 related to the magic on the field?

2. Where in the chapter can we find magic (not literally the word)? Why is it important to weave that in from the start? What is W.P. Kinsella trying to show us? What is he asking of us?

3. In what ways do Karin & Annie differ? Why is their difference essential to Ray's success/failure?

4. How does Annie's faith in Ray mirror his faith in baseball? And why has W.P. Kinsella created such similar faiths? What commentary might he be making on faith in general?

5. Let's look at some verbs .... find a few that just pop from the page. And, pay close attention to the verbs and similies/metaphors as we move forward.
6. Sentimental versus Nostalgic

Something about our upcoming visitor, Bob Rose.

Hitters with Blue Eyes are Wary of the Glare

Shoeless Joe begins ...

Welcome back! Lots to do as we begin our study of Shoeless Joe.

1919 + 1982 = Shoeless Joe

1. Jackie Robinson clip because yesterday was Jackie Robinson day in MLB (April 15, 1947 debut!). Inning 9, Chpt 5

2. Inning 3, Chpts 12 & 13 = 1919

3. Inning 9, Chpts 11, 12, 13 = early 1980s baseball

What was happening in America in 1982?

• Recession
• High unemployment (10.8%)
• High inflation (13.5%)
• Out of recession by 1984

Weekly Post #10: The fan's relationship to the game

In Mark Yost's recent piece on baseball ticket pricing, he touches on a subject near and dear to a central theme of Kinsella's Shoeless Joe: the relationship between fan and players, field and experience. In Shoeless Joe, Ray finds his own way to connect with the game and it's magic. Clearly Yost doesn't have that option. What are you thoughts on Americans' expectation of access to the game? Do fans have a right to certain parts of the game? Is this what makes a sport a pastime and not just a sporting event? Do you think ballparks and football stadiums and soccer fields should strive for more equality?

This piece touches on a subject Jamie and I talk about a lot. For me, my experience with the game as a youngster was more about being in the park regularly rather than seat location. That said, I was only able to go to so many games because the tickets were cheap and my parents were able to afford going. With pricing the way it is today, my family would never have gotten season tickets or attended so many games. It's simply too expensive. How is a team supposed to balance my needs as a fan (I need to see the game live and I need to be able to afford a ticket) with its own needs (a team is a business and they need/want to make as much money as possible). Interesting fact .... the A's made more money than any other team in MLB last year. This stat comes from looking at expenses versus revenue. Ticket prices are among the lowest in the league.

Unrelated by maybe fun ... here are some of the best baseball apps:

1. mlb.com At-Bat (great for the live-game addict) $20 premium access — worth it!
2. Baseball Trade Rumors (for the news junkie) $3
3. FanGraphs Baseball (stat fanatics) $1 — super cool
4. Fan Misery (team loyalist) $1-$3

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