The family sports teams are: sons v dad. Two on one. We compete in soccer, kickball, football. I make the rules. The boys don’t know all the rules. I design the rules to keep the action going, the ball in play, the competition fierce. Among the rules known to the boys: In soccer, no boundaries. … Continue reading Winning
Sports
Easter Egg Hunting
I miss the thick green grass of Virginia's Spring. I’m grateful for the patch of green I have, here in the middle of this concrete megacity, but I miss the wide open lawn where we gathered to hit baseballs every spring and summer. Oval-shaped, canopied in deep shade by a dozen oaks at the edges, … Continue reading Easter Egg Hunting
Derek Jeter vs Rudy Giuliani
After three long weeks of high profile media appearances, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani received this warm welcome from his hometown crowd. https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1001216940365430784 He sought cover from the public rebuke by saying of New Yorkers, 'They boo you when they love you,' logic that doesn't quite square with this round of boisterous huzzahs … Continue reading Derek Jeter vs Rudy Giuliani
Little League III: Pole Vault
I tried out for high school ball the following year. I hit longer, straighter flies than I had at tryouts the year before. The coach---who slept on a basement bed in the very apartment where I delivered my middle school coach's newspaper---already knew the story. ‘He’ll hit in tryouts. Goose-egg during the season.’ Rated beneath … Continue reading Little League III: Pole Vault
We, the People from U.N.C.L.E.
Enough! The past eight days has brought just too much to keep up with. How do you address and condemn one awful imposition on our sanity without condoning all the others by omission? And how can you possibly write up all that condemnation?! This quandary has me in a state of total paralysis. Let me … Continue reading We, the People from U.N.C.L.E.
Nats Park Blues
What’s this discomfort I feel? What is it about watching the Nats play at home this year? Why do I squirm in my chair? Delta. It’s those coveted front-row seats behind home plate, the ones reserved for the rich and well-connected, the splurgers and the lucky. This year, however, gratitude replaces envy. I’d much rather … Continue reading Nats Park Blues
baseball and birthdays
Back in January my son asked me to write him a story for his birthday. Three months later I’ve put the finishing touches on a 32k-word novel, my first in the lit-for-kids line. Vikram turns 8 next week. Among the themes (friendship, family, dreams) is baseball. With MLB opening day upon us, I thought I’d share a chapter. … Continue reading baseball and birthdays
NINE
Mothers, fathers, Diamond’s calling: Little League begins. Sons and daughters, Grab your bats. Days are growing long. Pitcher, catcher, Batter, Ump: Eyes quick on the ball. Windup, pitch, Swing and hit, Field and throw and tag. Line to Center. Ground to short. Hit and run and slide. Bases loaded, Batter up, Knock it past the … Continue reading NINE
San Francisco: Crime and Baseball
San Francisco--can you get any stranger? Spiked baseball bats chained to parking meters all over town. They appeared, 27 of them, on Thanksgiving: preparations for the Black Friday zombie shopper apocalypse? Speaking of crime, baseball, and the City by the Bay: check out Tom Pitts' Knuckleball... The whole city of San Francisco wants a cop-killer caught. Over … Continue reading San Francisco: Crime and Baseball
The Sandlot
The first agent to show any interest in my writing offered to meet and discuss my manuscript after months of back and forth. During our conversation he shared an anecdote centered on the time his Little League team played at Shea Stadium. ‘How exciting!’ he and his teammates thought. ‘A Big League field in a Big … Continue reading The Sandlot
Ben East Books 