Sunday July 11th, 2010 Baseball @ Your Library

With the World Junior Baseball Championships happening in the city July 23 – Aug 1, now would be a good time to immerse yourself in baseball. I grew up with 3 older brothers who were sports fans. Our family would take our trailer down to Minneapolis to enjoy “Campers Weekend” where we could set up camp in the parking lot of the stadium and enjoy the games. I would always cheer for the team who was playing AGAINST the Twins, much to my brothers’ chagrin. I now live with a baseball nut so I waved the white flag long ago and have learned to enjoy the game and its subtle nuances. I have yet to learn the numbers for each position so I can score a game card but I have definitely come a long way from the Minnesota Twins games. Before you head out to the games stop by the library: we have the factoids, we have the stats, we have the movies!!

My favourite baseball movie is Field of Dreams (1989) starring Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones. Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella hears a voice in his corn field tell him, "If you build it, he will come." He interprets this message as an instruction to build a baseball field on his farm, upon which appear the ghosts of Shoeless Joe Jackson and the other seven Chicago White Sox players banned from the game for throwing the 1919 World Series. When the voices continue, Ray seeks out a reclusive author to help him understand the meaning of the messages and the purpose for his field. This film is based on a book by Canadian author W.P. Kinsella titled Shoeless Joe Jackson Goes to Iowa. The library has copies of both the book and the movie in its collection.

Baseball between the Numbers, by the Experts at Baseball Prospectus, 2006. In the numbers-obsessed sport of baseball, statistics don't merely record what players, managers, and owners have done. Properly understood, they can tell us how the teams we root for could employ better strategies, put more effective players on the field, and win more games. The revolution in baseball statistics that began in the 1970s is a controversial subject that professionals and fans alike argue over without end. In separate chapters covering every aspect of the game, from hitting, pitching, and fielding to roster construction and the scouting and drafting of players, the experts at Baseball Prospectus examine the subtle, hidden aspects of the game, bring them out into the open, and show us how our favourite teams could win more games. This is a book that every fan, every follower of sports radio, every fantasy player, every coach, and every player, at every level, can learn from and enjoy.

The Northern Game: Baseball the Canadian Way by Bob Elliot, 2005. Opening at the 2004 Olympic baseball tournament, where the unheralded Canadian team came within an errant throw of the gold medal game, the author recounts Canada's rich baseball history, from 1838 to 2004, when the top rookie in both major leagues hailed from the Great White North. See the current day top Canadian talent at the World Junior Championships in the city.

See you at the library and then at the field. Play Ball!!!

Barbara Philp, Head of Adult Services