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BASEBALL LITERATURE
Course
Description
Baseball has produced an abundance of
literature (essays, poetry, fiction, and journalism), much of it quite good. In
fact, some of America's most celebrated authors (Mark Twain, Walt Whitman,
Robert Frost, Bernard Malamud, and John Updike, among others) have written about
baseball. The game has also spawned a lengthy list of talented baseball authors
-- Roger Angell, Thomas Boswell, Roger Kahn, Robert W. Creamer, Grantland Rice,
and W.P. Kinsella, to name a few. In short, the student will be given the
opportunity to view the game of baseball through the works of many gifted
writers.
Key Concepts
1.
Baseball literature can be studied and analyzed like other literature:
for meaning, literary analysis, and application.
2.
As a part of American history, baseball and its literature can be used to
discuss the meaning of myth, the importance of games, the role of heroes, and
American culture, especially the role of "play" in defining culture. In sum,
baseball can be viewed as a metaphor for life.
3.
In America, baseball can be a very real means of developing self-identity
and a sense of self-worth, as part of the growing-up experience.
Texts
Alexander, Charles. Our Game. New York: Henry
Holt, 1991.
Creamer, Robert W. Babe: The Legend Comes to Life.
New York: Penguin, 1983.
Einstein, Charles, ed. The Baseball Reader. New
York: Bonanza, 1986.
Goodwin, Doris Kearns. Wait 'Till Next Year. New
York: Touchstone, 1997.
Halberstam, David. Summer of '49. New York: Avon,
1989.
Jordan, Pat. A False Spring. New York: Dodd, 1975.
Kahn, Roger. The Boys of Summer. New York: Signet,
1973.
Kinsella, W.P. Shoeless Joe. New York: Ballantine,
1983.
Malamud, Bernard. The Natural. New York: Avon,
1980.
Sowell, Mike. The Pitch That Killed. New York:
Collier, 1989.
Winegardner, Mark. The Veracruz Blues. New York:
Penguin, 1996.
Activities/Methods of Instruction
--lecture
--discussion
--group instruction
--audio/visual presentations
--guest speaker
--field trip
Evaluation
--quizzes
--tests
--semester exam
--oral report/research project
--essays
UNIT
DESCRIPTION
Unit One
Baseball
History: Profiles, Great Moments, Rule Changes, etc.
Suggested Readings:
The Boys of Summer, Kahn.
Our Game, Alexander.
The Pitch That Killed, Sowell.
The Baseball Reader, Einstein, ed.
--from Baseball Has Done It,
Robinson (265-70).
--"Hometown piece for Messrs. Alston and
Reese," Moore (254-56).
--"Baseball," Anonymous (18).
--"Mr. Mack," Considine (46-57).
--"Walter Johnson, " Corum (58-62).
--"Gehrig Takes Himself Out," Dawson
(63-66).
--"Satchel Paige," Donovan (68-101).
--"DiMaggio's Streak Ends," Drebinger
(102-03).
--from "Constitution and By Laws, 1860,"
(110).
--"The Catch," Hano (134-40).
--"Larsen's Perfect Game," Povich (260-63).
--"Bobby Thompson's Shot," Smith (275-77).
The Fireside Book of Baseball: Fourth
Edition, Einstein, ed.
--"Rose Breaks Cobb's Record," Berkow
(37-38).
--"1974: 715," Durso (106-07).
--from The Glory of Their Times,
Hooper (171-76).
--"Mets Over Orioles," Lang (226-27).
--"Autobiography," Lieb (248-54).
--"Uniforms in the 20s," McCarthy (261).
--from Only the Ball Was White,
Peterson (284-88).
--"Age of the Muffin," Smith (361-67).
The Armchair Book of Baseball II,
Thorn, ed.
--"Cobb," Alexander (1-13).
--"Of Kings and Commoners," Smith (357-74).
Unit Two
The Importance of
the Game: Baseball as Metaphor, Developing and Eye, the Game's Mysteries, etc.
Suggested Readings:
Shoeless Joe, Kinsella.
The Natural, Malamud.
The Baseball Reader, Einstein, ed.
--"from God's Country and Mine," Barzun
(26-29).
--"Red Sox 7, Reds 6," Angell (14-17).
--"Castro," Hoak/Cope (176-179).
--"Letter from an Old Ballplayer," (62-63).
--"Branch Rickey," Holland (180-194).
--Ogden Nash (256-59).
Take Time for Paradise, Giamatti
(excerpts).
The Fireside Book of Baseball: Fourth
Edition, Einstein, ed.
--from Why Time Begins on Opening Day,
Boswell (52-58).
--"Love of the Game," Cohn (81).
--"The Base Stealer," Francis (119).
--"Baseball's Walk of Life," Garfield
(131-32).
--"Baseball's Hits/Misses," Koppett
(217-20).
--"The Phillies," Michener (262).
--"1982: Brewers 9, Orioles 7," Okrent
(273-80).
--"Baseball Counts," Shannon (353).
--"The Spring We Ran Out of Bats," Sundt
(372-73).
--"Wiffle Ball," Wallace (404).
--"Anthem," Wallace (405-07).
--"Louisville Slugger," Will (424).
The Armchair Book of Baseball I,
Thorn, ed.
--"Pitchers and Catchers," Berg (35-45).
--"Ticket Taker," Doyle (115-17).
--"Green fields of the Mind," Giamatti
(141-44).
--"Baseball and the Meaning of Life," Hall
(152-55).
--"Name Calling," Pepe (232-37).
--"Rose," Rose (262-64).
--"How Baseball Began," Seymour (283-95).
--"DiMaggio," Talese (327-45).
The Armchair Book of Baseball II,
Thorn, ed.
--"Foreword," Giamatti
--"Night Games," Humphries, (186-87).
--"How a Catcher Calls a Game," McCarver
(286-94).
--"Shakespeare," (353-56).
--"Don't Beep in My Outfield," Will
(419-21).
--"The Sound . . .," Wolfe (428-429).
Unit Three
Baseball as Myth
and Ritual: The Concept of Hero, Self-Knowledge and Baseball, Baseball as Part
of the Growing-Up Experience, etc.
Suggested Readings:
Babe: The Legend Comes to Life,
Creamer.
The Veracruz Blues, Winegardner.
A False Spring, Jordan.
The Baseball Reader, Einstein, ed.
--"The Unbelievable Babe Herman,: Lardner
(216-31).
--"Game Called," Rice (264).
--"Ty Cobb," Stump (282-300).
--"1960: Hub Fans . . .," Updike (318-30).
--"Kid's Last Game," Linn (231-52).
--"Casey at the Bat," Thayer (300-02).
The Fireside Book of Baseball: Fourth
Edition, Einstein, ed.
--"Couplet," Hall (156).
--"Christy Mathewson," Honig 9166-70).
--"Baseball," Crystal (94-96).
--"Herb Score," Gifford (135-42).
--"Steve Howe," Lowitt (255-58).
The Armchair Book of Baseball I,
Thorn, ed.
--"Mr. October," boswell (85-92).
--"My Baseball Years," Roth (265-69).
--"An American Tragedy," Berkow (46-66).
--"The Grip," Bouton (90-92).
--"Busher," Lardner (206-11).
The Armchair Book of Baseball II,
Thorn, ed.
--"Roger Maris," Golenbock (105-21).
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