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Some of America's greatest literature includes the romanticism and realism of the national pastime. From its 19th century origins to the present, baseball continues to inspire many of our nation's finest writers, poets, and essayists, whose literary works often become literary classics.
Many of our greatest writers, poets and thinkers have turned to the game of baseball nfor inspiration. From Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to Walt Whitman to Ernest Hemingway to Philip Roth, they use the game to express something fundamental about America, and to examine what the sport's metaphors and images have to tell us about ourselves.
The subject of baseball has a rich tradition in many literary forms; there are innumerable novels, short stories and poems. There are magazines devoted to baseball writings, anthologies, and university courses based on the subject.
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More than any other sport, American writers and intellectuals are fixated on the national pastime. One reason is history. The game has been around longer than any other in the U.S., dating to pre-Civil War origins as a young gentleman's game. Another reason is the game's lasting impact on society - its heroes, villains, moments of hope, despair and ethical conundrums, still resonate today.
It's been said that poetry can capture and express the essence of a people, and baseball is no different. It was Robert Frost who wrote, "I never feel more at home in America than at a ballgame," and Carl Sandburg who dreamt of "sliding to second, sliding to third, and stealing home." It is notable that Marianne Moore, one of our greatest poets, embraced baseball as a subject in many of her works. Also many critics consider Casey at the Bat, a poem written in the 1880s, one of the greatest of all works inspired by baseball.
So many young readers grow up on baseball literature. The long tradition of children's baseball fiction dates to the 1860s, and began taking on a life of its own with the Frank Merriwell stories at the turn of the century, followed by the popular John Tunis books, the Chip Hilton series right after World War II, and more recently, the Matt Christopher books.
Even though basketball and football may have caught up to baseball in national popularity, writers continue to be drawn to the subject of baseball. Perhaps this is because few sports evoke more powerful emotions. As Nicholas Dawidoff, editor of the Library of America's 2002 collection Baseball: A Literary Anthology, writes: "The wonderful, irresistible game of baseball, so enduring in its rules and rhythms, so varied in its lore and lexicon, has everything a writer could ask for."
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Baseball is part of our everyday language, a world of words that invariably seeps into everyday conversation. This is fitting since "conversation," as the writer Thomas Boswell once said, "is the blood of baseball."
Baseball words come from everywhere -the railroad (bunt, doubleheader), the military (battery, gun), fictional characters (Cinderella, Punch and Judy), animals (ball hawk, bird dog) and the workaday world (lawyer, fireman). The following is a sampling of words and phrases often used for non-baseball purposes.
Play hardball: To hold nothing back, be aggressive in order to succeed
Out of left field: Out of touch - odd, eccentric, misguided
Out of one's league: To be overmatched - like a minor leaguer brought to the majors too soon
It's not over until it's over: Yogi Berra's way of saying never assume anything is finished
Heavy hitter: Slugger in baseball, powerful or influential person
Ballpark figure: Rough estimate
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In the ballpark: Within range
On the ball: Attentiveness and competence
You can't win 'em all: Usually a loser's lament - pitcher Clifton Curtis said this after losing his 23rd straight game in 1911
Talk a good game: Speak knowledgeably
Throwing a curveball: A surprise or unexpected twist that can put someone off guard
Meal ticket: Most reliable and effective player - Dizzy Dean said it was because he keeps the team eating regularly
Spectator sport: Observing, not participating
Right off the bat: Instant, immediately
Go to bat for: Support somebody - in baseball it's a substitute batter
Box score: Summary and details of the game - in politics, presidents refer to a final box score as their results
Alibi Ike: Someone who makes excuses for everything - originally the title character of a Ring Lardner story
Beating the bushes: Searching for - in baseball it's scouting; in politics candidates beat the bushes for votes and funding
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The Babe And I (David Adler) - Story of a Bronx father and son during the Depression as they develop a bond of understanding, with Babe Ruth as the connector.
Teammates (Peter Golenbock) - How Jackie Robinson became the first African-American player to break baseball's color barrier, and how his Brooklyn Dodger teammate Pee Wee Reese supported him in the face of racial prejudice.
Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man (David Adler) - Story of the heroic New York Yankees first baseman, whose tragic illness and death is dealt with quite sensitively.
Moon Ball (Jane Yolen) - Account of a young boy's out-of-this-world baseball experience.
The Magic Bat (Geoffrey Griffin) - A kid can't hit, until he finds a magic bat, and naturally it helps his confidence.
Dirt on Their Skirts: The Story of the Young Women Who Won the World Championship (Doreen Rappaport) - Story based on the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, that was formed to help keep baseball alive during World War II.
First Base Hero (Keith Hernandez) - A kid dreams of baseball heroism and achieves sandlot success.
Catcher With A Glass Arm (Matt Christopher) - One in a series of the famed author's baseball series, about a youngster who struggles to overcome his fear of a pitched ball.
Skinnybones (Barbara Parker) - Story of Alex (Skinnybones) Frankovich, the smallest player on his team but with the biggest mouth who needs to talk his way out of trouble.
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In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (Bette Bao Lord) - A Chinese girl comes to Brooklyn in 1947 and learns English and America through the medium of baseball.
Honus and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure (Dan Gutman) - A rare baseball card transports a kid back in time to the 1909 World Series.
Baseball Saved Us (Ken Mochizuki) - Story of a young Japanese-American boy who finds hope and self-respect in a United States internment camp during World War II.
Baseball in April (Gary Soto) - Two brothers try out for Little League and fail.
Over the Wall (John Ritter) - A young ballplayer comes to grips with his dysfunctional family and the legacy of the Vietnam War.
The Celebrant (Eric Rolfe Greenberg) - Saga of first modern baseball star Christy Mathewson and fictional story of immigrant Jewish family of jewelers.
If I Never Get Back (Darryl Brock) - Young man goes back in time and finds himself with the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869, baseball's first professional team.
Shoeless Joe (W.P. Kinsella) - One of the best works of baseball fiction, about fathers and sons, and inspiration for the movie Field of Dreams.
The Natural (Bernard Malamud) - Classic novel about the fairy-tale fable of Roy Hobbs, an aging outfielder who makes it to the majors.
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Many of the nation's premier writers, poets and essayists have long been fascinated with baseball, and that passion is often reflected in their writing. While the game of baseball appeals to people of all ages and backgrounds, literature based on the subject can be especially effective in opening students up to the pleasure of reading. It can also be a tremendous learning tool that teachers can use to engage students and stimulate appreciation for the intrinsic values in reading, communicating, and thinking critically.
With its rich language, evocative visual imagery and ties to our country's social history, the national pastime offers an abundance of fascinating characters and compelling events - both real and imagined.
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This guide addresses the following New Jersey Department of Education Core Curriculum Content Standards in fostering literacy skills.
Core Standards: Language and Arts Literacy
- Standard 3.1: All Students Will Speak For A Variety Of Real Purposes And Audiences.
- Standard 3.2: All Students Will Listen Actively In A Variety Of Situations To Gain Information From A Variety Of Sources.
- Standard 3.3: All Students Will Write In Clear, Concise, Organized Language That Varies In Content And Form For Different Audiences And Purposes.
- Standard 3.4: All Students Will Read Various Materials And Texts With Comprehension And Critical Analysis.
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Burns, Ken. Ward, Geoffrey.
Baseball: An Illustrated History (Random House) 1994.
Definitive and evocative history of the national pastime, with essays from renowned authors, a companion to the acclaimed documentary.
Dickson, Paul.
The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary (Harvest) 1999.
Exhaustive and entertaining reference to more than 7,000 words, names, phrases and slang expressions that define baseball, its heritage and culture.
Robinson, Sharon.
Jackie's Nine: Jackie Robinson's Values to Live By (Scholastic) 2001.
The baseball pioneer's daughter pays tribute to her father with chapters on Courage, Determination, Teamwork, Persistence, Integrity, Citizenship, Justice, Commitment and Excellence.
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Koppett, Leonard.
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball (Temple University Press) 1998.
Explanation of all the major events and personalities that made baseball America's national game.
Kurkijan, Tim.
America's Game (Crown) 2000.
A three-dimensional interactive book featuring documents and photographs from the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Lorimer, Lawrence.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame Baseball Desk Reference (DK Publishing) 2002.
A comprehensive, visually appealing chronicle of the sport, produced in collaboration with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
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aagpbl.org
baseball-almanac.com
baseballhalloffame.org
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baseball-reference.com
mlb.com
blackbaseball.com
nationalpastime.com
uta.edu/english/tim/baseball/
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