Long Ball Stories

The old-time baseball writers understood this.  For the average Joe or Jane who could not attend every game, and, especially in the days before television, when he or she had to be able to imagine what happened on the field, the story of that day’s game gave entry to a world that he or she loved, and the chance to understand why their favourite team had won or lost.

Baseball beat reporters today, such as those covering the Toronto Blue Jays, seldom report on the game itself. Perhaps they think that all the stuff on the periphery is more interesting, or that it’s not even necessary to recount the events of the day’s game, since most readers have already watched it themselves, and absorbed a surfeit of extra information thrown in by the broadcast crews to boot. Tight deadlines for publication after night games are also a factor. Even the New York Times baseball reporters only occasionally indulge in rich description of the play on the field.

Yet to the true fan, the narrative of the game can be immensely informative, and if well-written, immensely entertaining as well. It is not for nothing that baseball has been long considered to be the most literary of all the team sports.

On LongBallStories.com, I propose to provide informative and entertaining narration of every 2016 game of my hometown team, the Toronto Blue Jays. I write both for the knowledgeable fan and the one who hopes to learn. Whether you watched last night’s game or not, my goal is that you will vicariously enjoy it in retrospect through my reporting.

A “long ball” is of course a home run.  But the word “long” in the site’s title has another meaning as well.  The narrations presented here will for the most part be longer that what might appear in the daily sports section.  They fall into the category of long-form journalism, and, as such, they make no apology for their length.  In keeping with the notion of “if you build it they will come”, my belief is that if you are entertained and enlightened by what I have written, you will be willing to invest the time that it takes to read it.

The site will present the story of the previous day’s game in time for you to read it during your morning coffee break. Although this venture is only now going live,nearly three months into the season, I have been writing game stories from opening day. These will be added over the next few weeks, and found under the “Archives” tab. At present there are thirteen games missing from the collection, but I will be writing and adding these as time permits. If you appreciate the daily game reports, and would like to review the events of the season from the beginning, you could do worse than to go back to Opening Day and read the season forward.

Under the tab “Articles and Ephemera”, I will post from time to time other pieces about baseball outside the category of game reports. For example, I wrote above that baseball has long been considered to be the most literary of all the team sports. The first post under Articles and Ephemera is a short reflection on the interface between baseball, writing, and film that expands on this idea.

My approach to the game is decidedly not analytical. Baseball fans who are up-to-date will know exactly what this means. For the rest of you, who may be just starting your long and wonderful dance in the world of baseball, it simply means that I don’t attempt to find the meaning of everything that happens on the field through the application of some sophisticated statistical tool.  Some advanced stats are occasionally useful, and have their place in baseball, but it is not my place.

The motto for this site is “A Season of Painting the Corners for the True (Blue) Fan”. A pitcher “paints the corners” when he pitches with subtlety and skill, biting off just a tiny portion of the strike zone to throw the hitter off-stride. “Painting the corners” is a reference to the craftsmanship of the pitcher. To me, it is a reminder of the craftsmanship that I hope to bring to the story of each day’s game.

April 7, 1977 changed everything. If you don’t know that date and still want to follow along with me, you have some catching up to do. After 1977, the Tigers were just another bunch of enemies in road greys. After all, Kaline had retired in ’74, and the miracle year of Mark “the Bird” Fidrych was over. In ’84 I didn’t care that the Tigers started the year 35-5 and rolled right through the Series untouched. All I cared about was that we were second best that year, almost there.

Then came: ’85, ’89, ’91, ’92, ’93. After that we hibernated. For 22 seasons. And dreamed. Last year, we woke up, and the dreams started to come true. This year?

Coaching my sons for over twenty years made me feel everything that before I had only seen, not felt, on the field.

BTW, I retired 13 years ago after 30 years of teaching. But that’s not baseball, so I don’t think about it much any more.

This is what I bring to LongBallStories.