MLB Baseball's Opening Day: Plenty to Celebrate!

I'm a baseball fan (Go, Brewers!). Among the many reasons that the past year was notable, missing out on a normal baseball season (fill-in-the-blank with any/all sports) is NOT at the level of a tragedy. On the other hand, as various sports managed to resume some version of a season (again, in the sport of your choice) that fact did seem to provide considerable relief and release for the much of the American public.

In the case of baseball, even with a retractable dome over our home field, the players are widely spread out the open air, which is a central feature of the game, and attendance capacity has been set at 25%.

So, YAY!

Regardless of whether or not this is a typical season, the start of baseball season is a certain a sign of SPRING as anyone could ask for: of warmer weather, of gatherings, of better days ahead. Even if tailgates are not allowed. Even if masks and distances and food management feel less than typical, I said it before, and i say it again:  YAY!

In the name of retaining my own traditions,  I am eager to share several baseball picture books on OPENING DAY. And this time it is in celebration of a young woman who embraced what was meant to be a derogatory nickname, PEANUT. 

MAMIE ON THE MOUND is written by Leah Henderson and illustrated by George Doutsiopoulos. Mamie "PEANUT" Johnson was a baseball fan from her earliest days, and she loved pitching. She WORKED at it, building up the muscles, eye-hand coordination, and confidence to [play with the boys, then alter the men. That nickname indicates thatch had to earn their respect, and she did. She was NOT able to play with the elite women players, who also had some impressive skills. 

Was she good enough? Certainly. 

Was she White? Certainly not.

So, her baseball option was limited to trying out and playing with the Negro League, which she did. Even as a young mother, she left her baby in the care of the father while she traveled the Negro league circuit for three years before stepping away. the rest of her life was successful, but throughout her life she counted those three years as the best of her life. 

What a terrific profile this is of a young woman who would not take no for an answer. Mamie’s love of baseball and her confidence in her value, talent, and hard work meant that every NO she faced was met with a work-around or determination to make her way beyond the obstacles.

I've shared other baseball picture books, as I mentioned above. Check out some of them 

HERE and HERE and HERE,

While you're at it, consider giving this lively, inspiring picture book a look, too!

HOME BASE: A Mother-Daughter Story , written by Nikki Tate and illustrated by Kathi Kath. It's a charming STEM/STEAM/MAKER -linked text that uses parallels in text, word choice/order, and illustration to portray a young girl seeking to succeed at baseball with her mother pursuing a job/career in construction/hardscaping. Their emotional, physical, and social journeys to success are well developed and encourage prediction, connection, and "read it again" fun.

Baseball's Opening Day!

Anyone who has been following my posts is aware that I'm a fan of baseball.  Today (March 29, 2018) is Major league Baseball's OPENING DAY! For the first time in fifty years, every team is participating in a game today to open the season, and I hope it won't another fifty before it happens again. My own team, The MILWAUKEE BREWERS, will have our home opener on Monday, April 2, but I'll be watching today, hanging my hopes on an eager and building team that includes players who feel like old friends and those with new names and faces who are already becoming familiar from spring training. 

I think it's safe to say that every player on every MLB field today had his start in Little League, or his nation's version of such a program. It's also safe to say that every player on the field (and in the dugouts) today will be male. Which calls to mind several picture books I've reviewed in the past about the role of girls and women in baseball, on the field and in the management offices. It also makes me want to share a new release from prolific profiling picture book author, Heather Lang,   work has been featured here in the past.

ANYBODY'S GAME: Kathryn Johnston, the First Girl to Play Little League Baseball is as lively and appealing as the cover art and character. You can learn about spunky and sporty Kathryn and her clever decision to PROVE that girls can play baseball as well as boys in the book trailer linked HERE.
Backmatter includes an author's note, timeline, and acknowledgements. At a time when girls were expected to be playing hopscotch and jumping rope, in a an all-white setting that was typical of mid-century America, Kathryn's slightly-fictionalized persistence still inspires and parallels some of the race-struggles for equal treatment that were happening in the same era. In her case, she could cut her hair and disguise her gender to prove herself while skin color did not offer the same options. Illustrator Cecilia Puglesi creates slightly cartoonish but lively and expressive characters.

Albert Whitman Company, March, 2018

To launch this opening day, I'm linking here to some of my many previous baseball-related picture book posts, beginning as far back as my first year of blogging:
April 6, 2012:  BATTER UP!  Biographies and profiles.
May 12, 2012:  BASEBALL STRIKES AGAIN  Two biographies, a nonfiction history of the role of women in baseball, and a novel in verse framed on a baseball-loving narrator.
June 16, 2012:  Here's to the Boys, Young and Old: An all-time favorite picture book story, with an unforgettable message.
January 13, 2013: Never Too Soon for Baseball... or Too Late!   Biography
April 14, 2013: An"Anti-Theme Month Post  Women with untold stories, including baseball.
July 13, 2013: Finding Inspiration in Biographies, AGAIN!: Biography, of course.
July 28, 2013: Who Do You Trust: Sports Heroes?  Biographies and profiles.
April 3, 2016: Baseball Biographies: Who Makes the Line-Up in Literature? Picture book biography of a woman in baseball management, and link to a middle grade historical novel with roots in Milwaukee and the earliest days of baseball, the Civil War era HATTIE'S WAR. (Note: offer for free download of ebook has expired)
July 11, 2016: Trauma and Racism: Picture Books Open Hard Conversations Baseball (and other) picture books about diversity and courage (fiction and nonfiction titles)

So you're officially invited to explore some of these baseball-based posts, now or after the game ends. And whoever your team allegiance supports, good luck on this opening day and throughout the season ahead. 

Baseball Biographies: Who Makes the Line-up in Literature?

Baseball's Opening Day has finally arrived. Hooray!  

Baseball season stretches across six months, with enthusiasm waxing and waning from month to month, depending on the current standing of our favorite teams. When October looms, even the most devoted fans may find interest on a downward spiral if our team(s) are statistically eliminated.

At no point in the season do our fandom flames burn more brightly than on Opening Day. That's when the proverbial playing field feels truly level. Errors are excused. Batting averages are "tied" across the line-up. Players virtually vibrate with enthusiasm and their grins are enormous and contagious. Whatever the weather, open field or closed roof, spring has officially ended and sunny days stretch far into our foreseeable future.

Many little boys dream of taking that field on some far off opening day. But not every boy. Quite a few girls, little and otherwise, see themselves stepping up to bat, too. Mo'Ne Davis became an instant celebrity last year when she pitched her way to fame in the Little League World Series. 
Her participation was a far cry from that of Effa Manley nearly a century ago. Manley's story is told in the picture book biography, SHE LOVED BASEBALL: The Effa Manley Story, written by Audrey Vernick and illustrated by Don Tate. Here's a book that's been around for half a decade and received nowhere NEAR the attention it deserves. There's more than a touch of irony in that, since Effa Manley's life was also largely ignored by anyone in the circles of power, meaning Major League Baseball. She was truly a woman ahead of her time in the arenas of sports, business, civil rights, and gender stereotypes. 

Balzer & Bray, 2010

Her integrity, ingenuity, and insistence on fairness changed lives and the face of American baseball. Long after the Negro League disbanded, Manley advocated successfully for long overdue recognition and honors for players, including assignment to baseball's Hall of Fame. 
On July 30, 2006, she became the first female affiliated with the Negro League inducted into the Hall of Fame on her own merits. As her tombstone says, She Loved Baseball.
If ever there were a biography begging to be made into a movie, this is it. Is anyone in Hollywood ready to take it on? This is a great candidate for promotion in the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign. I'm especially excited to share it today, in April, as a public reminder that "Black History" and "Women's History" are relevant all year long.

For more baseball biographies and stories rooted in history (and social justice) check out this collection of reviews on a new blog. (Click here.)

My post schedule on this blog has been slowed in recent months by writing and revision demands for a book due out later this year. I'm also one of four historical fiction writers authoring a new group blog, launching today:

THE STORIED PAST.

It's a catchy title, but note that we are thestoriedpast.org, (not .com). We four (Sandy Brehl, Emily and Hilda Demuth, and Stephanie Lowden) write historical fiction, among other things. We look forward to offering reviews, interviews, reflections, and quotes. We also welcome suggestions for reviews and interviews  I hope you'll take a look, maybe even subscribe. 

We're celebrating the new endeavor and opening day by offering a FREE Kindle download of the latest Demuth sisters' title, HATTIE'S WAR. The Civil War and the earliest days of baseball feature strongly in Hattie's story, at a time when this nascent "gentleman's" sport was still called "base ball". Click here for your free download before the offer expires on on April 6.