Review of "Summer of '68"

It's always nice to walk into your local library and see a book that you have been wanting to read in a long time.  That was the case for me during a recent trip when I saw this book was on the cart waiting to be reshelved.  I checked it out and was glad I did.  Here is my review of "Summer of '68"

Title/Author:

“Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed Baseball, and America, Forever” by Tim Wendel

Tags:

Baseball, history, Tigers, Cardinals

Publish date:

March 12, 2013

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

1968 was a tumultuous year in America.  The Vietnam War was becoming unwinnable and many young men were dying in the jungles of that far-off land.   Riots and civil unrest was far too often a staple on the nightly news.  Two prominent leaders were assassinated. Riots marred the Democratic Convention of 1968.  But through it all, the American Pastime of baseball was still being played.  However, even the game that would supposedly take people’s minds off the news for a few hours had its own turbulence that season and was intertwined with some of the news.

This all comes together in this interesting book by Tim Wendel as he collected stories and interviews from many players and managers of that season.  He concentrated on the two teams that would end up playing each other in the World Series, the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals.  It is also fitting that a pitcher on each team would win the Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player for each league, Bob Gibson of the Cardinals and Denny McClain for the Tigers. After all, 1968 was the “Year of the Pitcher” which is stated many times in the book.  Gibson set the record for the lowest earned run average in the modern era of 1.12 and McClain won 31 games, the last pitcher who has won 30 games.

Of course, other teams were part of the book, but Wendel concentrates on these two and it works out well. Where some of the other teams are mentioned is when there is a major event that took place and baseball was somehow involved.  One such incident was the handling of cancellation or non-cancellation of games following the assassination of Robert Kennedy.   Wendel takes the reader back to the commissioner’s office and the confusion about who can cancel games and who has to play.  Some players and one team, the New York Mets, refuse to play in the aftermath of the tragedy.  One of the players who refused to play, Milt Pappas of the Cincinnati Reds, ended up being traded three days following his refusal.  Events like this are well chronicled in this book.

I found two minor issues with the book.  One was that there were a few typos missed in the editing process.  They didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book too much, but were still noticeable.  The other part that took me by surprise was the amount of words written about football.  This was about the time when football was about to surpass baseball as the most popular spectator sport in American, and the amount of stories written about that game in a baseball book seemed to illustrate that.

Nonetheless, I found this an entertaining and easy-to-read book that any baseball fan interested in the game during that time frame will enjoy.  

Did I skim?

No, every story was quite interesting

Pace of the book: 

It was a fast moving book with the politics and football talk woven into the baseball stories quite well. 

Do I recommend? 

All baseball fans who are interested in baseball history during that time will enjoy this recap of that season before major changes took place.

Book Format Read:

Hardcover

Buying links:

http://www.amazon.com/Summer-68-Changed-Baseball---America--Forever-ebook/dp/B00B3M3WI6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1407200406&sr=1-1&keywords=summer+of+68

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/summer-of-68-tim-wendel/1105313966?ean=9780306821837

Review of "It's Not About the Pom-Poms"

This book has received a lot of attention for the uplifting story of a 40-year-old single mom who overcomes long odds, including her personal demons, to be an NFL cheerleader.  But while the ending is inspiring, the book was a pure disappointment to read.  Here is my review of this book:

Title/Author:

“It’s Not About the Pom-Poms: How a 40-year-Old Mom Became the NFL’s Oldest Cheerleader – and Found Hope, Joy and Inspiration Along the Way ” by Laura Vikmanis with Amy Sohn

Tags:

Football (American), Professional, Cheerleading, memior

Publish date:

March 20, 2012

Length:

304 pages

Rating: 

2 of 5 stars (disappointing)

Review:

On the surface, this book sounds like a real inspiration to anyone who thinks his or her dream cannot be achieved.  Laura Vikmanis divorced her husband after fourteen bad years of marriage and was a single mother who wasn’t sure what she was going to do.  She loved to dance in her younger days and became inspired to try out for the Ben-Gals, the cheerleading squad of the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals. She didn’t make the cut on her first try, but that didn’t stop Laura.  She worked even harder and made it during her second tryout and at the time of publication was on the Ben-Gals for three years.  Her story was an Internet hit and a movie is in the works on this story.

So, this book is a must read for everyone, right?  The message is clear, and yes, it is nice to see a woman who was so depressed and lacking in self-confidence to achieve her dream.  However, the path that Vikmanis takes the reader while becoming a cheerleader is full of contradictions and uncomfortable passages. On the latter point, that may not be the case for all readers.  But it would have been better to know that certain personal topics like Laura’s sex life (discussed far too often, IMO) and her reasons for breast augmentation surgery would be discussed in such detail. Some readers, including myself, may feel uncomfortable with such personal information. Obviously, some of this information is needed to set the story, such as her husband locking her in their bedroom.  But I really didn’t need to know that she didn’t achieve orgasm until she slept with the first man she met after separation – and on their first date.  Details like that are not really necessary for understanding this story of hope and inspiration. 

I also felt that Vikmanis contradicted herself by wondering why first her father, then her current boyfriend would want to look at magazines like Playboy, yet she does work as part of the Ben-Gals such as posing for calendars, getting the breast surgery and working hard on her physical appearance beyond staying in dancing shape. If women being portrayed as sex objects bothers her, then why does she engage in that type of behavior or work in that field?  Especially when she states that many male fans at special events bother her because they try a “boob hug.”    

I felt she also came across as judgmental on those who may disagree with her choice of profession or surgery decision.  While some of that criticism of those people may be justified, the story just seemed to be filled with too many of these, when being judged by others so much, whether her husband, father, or other women, supposedly ruined her self-esteem.  Again, it felt like one big contradiction between the message that was sent and the message trying to be sent.

The book is mainly about overcoming a horrible past and working on self-esteem.  For the most part, the book does that.  But again, some of the details to show how much better Vikmanis feels about herself now just make me shake my head.  An example of this comes near the end of the book.  She states that one of her daughters is embarrassed because some of her friends call her mom a “MILF.”  However, Vikmanis says that the comment “makes me secretly smile.”  Really?  Getting THAT kind of attention from teenagers makes her smile?  If you are not familiar with the term “MILF”, I won’t spell it out here – type it into any search engine and you will see what the acronym means. 

There is a big positive to the book, however, and that is her description of what goes on at NFL cheerleading tryouts, practices and games.  These ladies work just as hard as the players and their pay is far too low for the work they do – at the time of publication, the Ben-Gals made $750 for the season.   They have routines, need to make weight goals, and are getting less exposure on television as networks chase advertising dollars.   I thought that the writing about this issue and the activities of an NFL cheerleader were well illustrated here, as only one who has the experience can write.

This wasn’t enough to overcome the disappointment I had with this book, however, as I felt it was too much personal information and emotional.  I felt it overshadowed the powerful message to keep pursuing your dreams no matter your age or past life. 

Pace of the book: 

Very quick as I finished this in about two hours.  I admit that I did read this more quickly than most books as I just wanted to get past all her personal woes, and concentrated on the passages about the cheerleading itself.   

Do I recommend? 

I would recommend it to anyone, especially women, who want an inspiring story of overcoming a bad marriage and self-doubt.  If the reader is uncomfortable with very personal stories, whether about sex, domestic abuse or eating disorders, then he or she should pass on this book.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Nook)

Buying links:

http://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-About-Pom-Poms-Cheerleader---ebook/dp/B005BUG6UM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407011070&sr=1-1&keywords=40+year+old+cheerleader

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/its-not-about-the-pom-poms-laura-vikmanis/1104727836?ean=9780345532916

Review of "Pillars of the NFL"

While this book may sound like simply a recap of the careers of some successful, it is rich with stories and information that the reader may not have previously known.  Here is my review of "Pillars of the NFL."

Title/Author:

“Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships” by Patrick McCaskey

Tags:

Football (American), Professional, History

Publish date:

March 25, 2014

Length:

472 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

There have been ten coaches in the history of the National Football League who have won three or more championships.  The stories of these ten coaches, from George Halas to Bill Belichick, are found in this book written by Patrick McCaskey.  McCaskey is a wealth of information given his title with the Chicago Bears and his family lineage – he is the grandson of the first coach chronicled in the book, George Halas.

However, there is certainly no favoritism toward Halas in the book, nor a shortage of information on the other nine coaches as McCaskey follows a format for each coach.  He starts by describing the early life of the coach, then his playing and coaching career in both college and professional football. The championship games coached by each man, win or lose, are recapped in highlight-only fashion.  If there is a post-football career or life for the coach, that is described as well.  Finally, notable players and coaches that played under or gained knowledge under one of the ten legends were listed with a brief career description.

I felt each story was well written and researched.  I was especially interested in the early coaches – not only Halas but also Guy Chamberlain (about whom I knew only his three championships in the early days of the NFL) and Curley Lambeau.  Without getting too bogged down with too many details, I found those stories to be enjoyable reads along with the coaches with whom I was more familiar, such as Bill Walsh and Joe Gibbs.  

I also believe that because of McCaskey’s extensive research and use of endnotes, this makes a good reference book for people who want to find out more about these coaches. The format of the book makes it very easy for someone to look up particular seasons or championship games.  If the reader just wants to check out the Super Bowls that Bill Belichick won while coaching the New England Patriots, for example, that can easily be found in this book.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book to read and one that I will keep as a reference book when I want to review information on one of these coaches – or use some of the information in any trivia contests. 

I wish to thank Mr. McCaskey for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Pace of the book: 

Surprisingly good, as the narratives for each season that the coaches were working were told in a quick, no-nonsense manner and each player mentioned had relevant information in just a paragraph.   

Do I recommend? 

I recommend this to pro football fans, as they will like this book for additional information on the winningest coaches in the game. 

Book Format Read:

Paperback

Buying links:

http://www.amazon.com/Pillars-NFL-Coaches-Three-Championships/dp/0981934250/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407007732&sr=1-1&keywords=pillars+of+the+nfl

Interview with Tom Swyers

I had the pleasure to ask Tom Swyers questions about his book "Saving Babe Ruth" and his answers show that this is a topic of which he has a great deal of passion. 

1. What inspired you to write a book on saving a youth baseball league in a small town?

A few years ago, I experienced firsthand the pressures that community baseball and its volunteers undergo while I managed my hometown league’s 13-18 year old baseball program. I had to endure sheer craziness (threats, harassment, and a three year lawsuit) brought on the promoters of a travel baseball outfit simply because I was trying to save a community baseball program so that all kids of any skill level could play baseball in their hometown. Everything, including the kitchen sink, was thrown in my direction.


I’ve been silent for years about what happened, but now it’s time to tell the story through Saving Babe Ruth. It needs to be told because Saving Babe Ruth’s storyline is playing out in communities across the country to one degree or another.


Community baseball leagues have told me similar stories about how their leagues are struggling in the face of travel baseball and other pressures. The Washington Post ran an article on how travel baseball is eroding community baseball in May of this year. I was invited to speak at the New Jersey State Little League Championship Banquet last week partly because community leagues throughout the state are facing similar pressures.

If anything, Saving Babe Ruth is timely.

2. There is a lot of talk in the media today about youth sports and how many of the organizations and parents seem to lose sight that this is supposed to be about the kids having fun playing a game.   From the research you did for this book, would you say that this is accurate or more of an urban legend?   What really is the state of youth sports in comparison to some of the stories and rumors?

Let me answer that question by focusing on youth baseball before making a generalization with respect to all youth sports.

Saving Babe Ruth offers an unprecedented look at the underbelly of youth baseball today and the underlying forces at work. I don’t think there’s a published book available like it in that respect.

I have talked with representatives from a number of community baseball programs around the country. I think there is a parent population in every town or city that loses sight of why community baseball is important. The size and strength of that group varies with the town or city. Sometimes, the group can be small, but it can make up for its size by being loud or powerful, sometimes both.

In order for the community baseball model to live up to its full potential, players of every skillset have to make a sacrifice. The lesser skilled players generally do not have the opportunity to play on an all-star or travel teams in the summer. That’s their sacrifice. Summer baseball is not readily available to them after the league’s recreational season ends.

The more skilled players must spend part of their time playing on teams with lesser skilled players in their recreational league composed of all kids from their community. That’s their sacrifice. In exchange, these better players have the opportunity to play on travel or all-stars teams in the summer through their community league.

The problem occurs when parents of the more skilled players or the parents of the more financially well-off players (not necessarily the more skilled players) decide they don’t want their child to sacrifice anything. They just want their child to play pure travel baseball not necessarily affiliated with their community league. They don’t want to bother with the recreational league and the other lesser skilled kids (in their view) for a variety of reasons.

But the blame doesn’t rest solely with this group of parents. Usually, there is a local travel baseball promoter who tells the parents that their kids are too good to be playing in recreational leagues, that they must play with better players to become better players themselves. They offer promises of exposure and scholarships to parents who have their kids play travel baseball exclusively in their baseball programs.

The spiel plays to the vanity of parents regarding their kid’s talents to make it at a D1 or D2 school, or even to play professional baseball. The spiel isn’t backed by statistics as only about 2.7% of all high school baseball players will ever receive a baseball scholarship and it will be a partial one at that, averaging $5,800 with no guarantees of continuation according to a New York Times study. Baseball offers one of the lowest average scholarship amounts of any NCAA sport based on this same study, second to last to only riflery. But parents either don’t learn about this until it’s too late or feel the pressure to pay up to keep up with other paying families. The fees for these travel baseball teams can be outrageous.

When enough players and families bolt for the Promised Land of travel baseball, community leagues struggle to survive and some fold. Sadly, there are a significant number of kids who are then deprived of a baseball experience in their hometowns. They must find something else to occupy their free time. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of other positive outlets available to them because schools and governments are cutting back on their programming. As a result, these kids find other things to do and often find themselves getting into trouble and undermining the health of their communities. I’ve seen that happen.

On top of this, sometimes school districts and local governments are unsupportive of community baseball for a variety of reasons.

While I can envision situations where travel baseball alone could support a community, those situations are by far the exception in my experience. Most of the time, in my view, everyone loses when the pure travel model is at work, except for the youth sports business interests, like the travel promoters.

Overall, I see that community baseball and youth sports in general today are under extreme pressure from individuals and outfits that seek to make a business of youth sports at the expense of kids, families, and their communities.

3.   Some of the characters in “Saving Babe Ruth” may seem to not be realistic to some readers and reviewers.  Two examples would be the main character of David and his obsession with not only the Babe Ruth league but also his use of weapons in defending the field.   Another example is the high school principal who moonlights as a professional sports agent (or maybe it is the other way around).  What was your inspiration to create characters such as these?

I guess the characters’ realism depends on the reader’s life experiences.

I was invited to speak at the New Jersey State Little League Championship Banquet last week in Berkeley, New Jersey and said this about the state of youth sports today:

You will simply not believe what is going out there and that’s understandable because our perceptions have not caught up with the reality of what is happening behind the scenes in youth sports.

There are plenty of “Davids” out there who are passionate about supporting or fighting to save their community baseball programs. I met quite a few while in Berkeley and in talking with people across the country.

One thing that makes some of these volunteers so special is that a number of them don’t have kids involved in baseball any longer because they’re in college or pursuing a career. These parents have stayed on because they know what baseball meant to their kids and what it means to the health of their communities. They are unsung heroes.

Many people are fighting a civil war over their community baseball programs today in their towns or cities and I think they can relate to David’s character in Saving Babe Ruth.

Yet David’s appeal, I think, goes beyond a story about youth baseball. Margot Livesey, a New York Times bestselling author and a wonderful writer, felt that David was a “man for all seasons” who rises to the occasion. One reviewer thought David reminded her of Kevin Costner, a man who maintains his wholesomeness even while firing an antique weapon at his rival. Carl Strock, a reporter who is mentioned in the novel, said you don’t have to be a baseball fan “to relish this story of intrigue and dedication on and off the diamond.”

With respect to the realism of the sports agent/school principal character, I understand why readers and reviewers don’t think it’s possible.

You said in your review, “I mean, really, an agent representing a superstar NFL running back can double as a school principal? It was a nice touch to the story, but for a character it felt like overkill for what the author was trying to illustrate.”

I totally understand and fully appreciate your point of view. I’d feel the same way if I were in your shoes. But don’t forget that Saving Babe Ruth is a novel based on a true story.

A news reporter asked about this character before I spoke at the New Jersey State Little League Championship Banquet. I’ll tell you essentially what I told him, and I’m challenging readers and reviewers here.

Saving Babe Ruth offers clues on the sports agent/school principal character. Research them. A stunning reality awaits.

There are specific news accounts and incidents referenced in the novel naming real, high-profile professional athletes and citing their interactions with the sports agent/school principal character. Research them. A stunning reality awaits.

The more a reader fully understands this reality, the more he or she will see an entirely new and shocking dimension to Saving Babe Ruth.

Saving Babe Ruth is a thriller novel based on a true story that also reveals a real mystery about a town and its secrets.

I think it’s wonderful that readers and reviewers seem to enjoy Saving Babe Ruth even though they appear unaware that this dimension exists.

4. Are you a baseball fan?  If so, what level of the sport and/or teams do you follow?  If you are not a fan, then why baseball as a subject?

These days, I’m more of a fan of the sport as opposed to any particular team, though I’ve always been a Yankees fan. While I like to watch a good baseball game, my interest in baseball goes beyond the game today and extends to the history of the baseball dating back to its origins. Baseball is so much a part of our heritage. I find it fascinating to see what was going on with baseball at any particular moment in our history.

5.    Are you currently working on any other projects and are there any other books that will soon come out?   Feel free to shamelessly plug your works here!  

I have some projects in the early stages, but I want to spread the underlying message of Saving Babe Ruth first and foremost. Baseball should be available to every town and city across the country. All kids, regardless of their race, religion, sex, background, or skill level should have the opportunity to play.            

Links

http://www.tomswyers.com/saving-babe-ruth/

http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Babe-Ruth-Tom-Swyers/dp/1941440002/

Virtual Book Tour - "A Whole New Ballgame" by Caryn Rose

 I was asked if I would be willing to participate in a virtual blog tour for this book written by Caryn Rose.   At first I was skeptical as I had never heard of a virtual blog tour and seeing that this was a romance novel, I wanted to make sure that a sport played a major role in the story.  Well, I am very glad that I overcame that skepticism and am part of the tour because I am very happy to be promoting this wonderful novel.  Caryn's baseball knowledge is evident throughout the book and the baseball is the driving force behind the characters' actions and emotions.   Here is my review of "A Whole New Ballgame."

Title/Author:

“A Whole New Ballgame” by Caryn Rose

Tags:

Fiction, baseball, Mets, Phillies, romance

Published:

June 23, 2014

Length:

335 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

Many consider a diamond to be a symbol of love.  In Caryn Rose’s novel “A Whole New Ballgame”, that is certainly true.  However, the diamond in question is not an expensive jewel that is set inside a ring, but instead the diamond-shaped playing field at a baseball stadium.

When Laurie gets her heart broken by a musician in a wildly popular rock band, she ends up finding an escape from the heartbreak by going to a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game.  While she never has understood the game, she finds herself immediate being drawn to the entire spectacle – the game itself, the crowd, and the mascots. 

She enjoyed the experience so much that she decides to go back the next night and there she meets Eric and Peter, two friends who are on the ultimate road trip for baseball fans.  They are visiting all thirty major league ballparks. Even though Laurie will have to go back home to Boston, the three of them form a friendship and promise to keep in touch.  Back in Boston, Laurie loses her job and is being wooed to come back to an old boyfriend. Figuring it’s time to start a new chapter, Laurie contacts and Eric and Peter and joins them on the rest of their tour.  It becomes about more than just baseball and job hunting for Laurie as she is now realizing a new set of passions in her life.

While this is a romance novel, there is much more than just that, plus the reader doesn’t see those feelings coming out in any character right away. Instead, the reader is whisked away on this baseball journey to various ballparks. Rose shows her baseball knowledge with many accurate descriptions of not only the ballparks but also the teams and their standings in 2006, which is when the story takes place.  

Because the characters are fans of the game, the book’s baseball references are those that reflect a fan’s point of view. Some of these moments are goofy, such as the joy Eric and Laurie share when they get pictures taken with the team mascots.  Some of them are quite serious such as when Peter is teaching Laurie the fine art of keeping score.  Some are just good baseball reading. 

The Mets (Eric’s favorite team) get a lot of love in the story as their season almost reflects the emotions felt while reading the story – a lot of ups and downs, excitement and heartbreak as well.  As for how the story plays out for Laurie, Eric and Peter – let’s just say that the ending for me was as satisfying as a walk-off home run to win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.  An outstanding novel that will be a hit with baseball fans as well as romance readers.

I wish to thank Ms. Rose for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.  

Did I skim?

No

Were the characters realistic? 

Yes, both the main and secondary characters were believable and easy to root for or root against, depending on the reader’s viewpoint.  

Pace of the story:

Excellent  - it moves as quickly as Peter, Eric and Laurie do from ballpark to ballpark.  

Do I recommend?  

This book, at its heart, is a romance book, but a reader doesn’t have to be a fan of romance novels in order to enjoy this novel.  It not only is a story of heartbreak and recovery, but also of rock music and especially baseball.  

Is it hard to write a novel about baseball for non-baseball fans and consider ways to hold their interest?

Caryn: I think of it more as a love story and a road story that happens to have baseball as a background. It was definitely a challenge, but it was a priority for me to write about baseball in a way that wouldn’t alienate readers, which tied in with the part of the plot that features Laurie learning about baseball.

Was it difficult to remain factually bound to the baseball games you wrote about?

Caryn: Thanks to the many wonderful baseball historians out there that keep historical boxscores, it wasn’t hard to get the information. The only real challenge was timing, like when I needed something to happen during the day instead of at night. That’s why I offer a disclaimer in the introduction, so as not to offend the sensibilities of those who would know the difference.

Baseball fans are all men in the beginning of the novel. Is baseball not a female-friendly sport?

Caryn: 45% of Major League Baseball’s fanbase is female. However, if you didn’t grow up with the sport, and didn’t have anyone in your family who followed it, you might not realize this. You wouldn’t have seen the photographs of the crowds at Ebbets Field, watching the Brooklyn Dodgers, which included men and women. You wouldn’t know about Hilda Chester, the Dodger’s biggest fan, who used to hang up a sign reading “HILDA IS HERE,” brought a cowbell to every game, and would often pass notes regarding strategy to the team’s manager.

I didn’t know any of these things before I came to baseball, either.

After Laurie really sees that Ryan is with another woman, especially after he has invited her to stay with him in Philly, she goes to a baseball game because she knows she won’t be alone there. What is it about baseball that brings strangers together? Laurie is unfamiliar with baseball at the time, so how does she KNOW she won’t be alone?

Caryn: Laurie grew up in Boston, which is a huge sports town. Whether you like it or not, at some point you’re going to end up at Fenway Park for a baseball game. She always wanted to understand more about baseball, but so many people just assume that you know -- because they know, and they’ve never not known, so they can’t imagine someone NOT knowing -- and it just gets worse as you get older. She knew that one of the things she liked about baseball was the feeling of being together with a group of people all watching and cheering for the same thing, and you can hide in a large crowd and have something to occupy your mind. The ballpark is the absolute perfect place to go and gather your thoughts for a little while.

Laurie’s friends tell her, “You get one team. You can switch once, in the case of marriage, a family member joining a team in any capacity, or if the team commits an unpardonable sin. But that’s it...” Why do people only get one team? What does it mean to give up on your team or change teams? What would it mean to other fans?

Caryn: It’s about loyalty, and not being a bandwagon fan, the type who only shows up when things are good, when the team is winning, when the ballpark is suddenly the cool place to be. Real baseball fans stick by their team through thick and thin. A friend of mine moved from the Midwest, where he grew up as a fan of the Cincinnati Reds. He moved to the Pacific Northwest and became a Seattle Mariners fan. If the Reds played the Mariners in the World Series, he would root for the Mariners. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any affection for the Reds or that he burned all of his baseball collection, but there can only be one winner.

It seems like baseball fans pop up right when Laurie feels the worst. Have you ever lived in a baseball city? Do fans really take of their ties off, unbutton their business shirts, and put on baseball hats? Is the devotion really like that?

Caryn: Baseball fans are everywhere, and love talking about the game. If you see someone wearing a shirt or a hat, and you ask about their team, or did they see the game last night, or about how a player is doing, you’ll have an automatic connection. This is the kind of thing you’d only know if you were a baseball fan who walked around wearing a hat or a keychain on your purse or a sticker on your car, and so you’ll get indoctrinated into the tribe once you join it. This is why it feels like baseball fans pop up whenever Laurie feels the worst.

If you’re going to the ballgame straight from work, and you’re a fan, you’re probably going to take off your tie to be more comfortable (and also so you don’t ruin it by spilling something on it) and yes, you’d put on a ballcap. If you’re a bunch of executives heading to the game to sit in a fancy suite and kind of watch the game while doing business, then no, you probably wouldn’t take off your tie and put on a hat. But there’s a difference between going to the game because you’re a fan and want to go to the game and going to the game because it’s something to do.

Caryn Rose is a Brooklyn-based writer and photographer who documents rock and roll, baseball and urban life. From 2006-2011, she authored the groundbreaking blog metsgrrl.com, covering baseball and the New York Mets. A Whole New Ballgame is her second novel. You can find her at jukeboxgraduate.com and on Twitter at @carynrose and at @metsgrrl during the season. Purchase A Whole New Ballgame HERE!