Fantasy Baseball

I don’t know why I remember this.  It is a mystery to me as well as it will be to you.  Thirty years ago, I was working on some set of some community theater play in Holley Hall in Bristol, Vermont with that wholly remarkable company known as “The Committee”.  I don’t remember which production, for it could have been several – that’s where my memory is lacking in detail.  Michael Gleason, Jonathan Billings (I’m not using pseudonyms, for the story is not in the least bit controversial – to me) and I were “painting flats” or “mache –ing” something or otherwise trying to look like we were accomplishing something worthwhile on the production, when the conversation inevitably turned to (those of you who know Michael and Jonathan say now in unison…) baseball.  My comparative lack of knowledge on the subject usually forced me to nod, smile, guffaw, “hmm,” or otherwise acknowledge bits of wisdom from my friends as these exchanges usually went on through hot summer afternoons.

This time, Michael decided to mix it up.  He had read a book about some guy who had developed a fantasy baseball league in his head and in tabletop form.  The novel goes on to describe how the main character has cards for every player, team, stadium, history, etc.  The protagonist randomizes, to every last detail, the weather, the pitches, the injuries, yada, yada, yada… Michael passionately goes on to describe how this character begins to really live more in his fantasy game than in real life and begins to go insane when some tragedy strikes one of his favorite players.  Michael brings me into the conversation because he knows that I’m a major High School Dungeons and Dragons geek.  He supposed that he knew that there were urban legends about D&D geeks who had become satan worshipers and killed their friends or run off trying to slay dragons and stuff, so I thought that he thought I might have some insight into the psychology of this character.  I probably didn't shed much light on the matter.  I hadn't known anyone to really run off to slay dragons.  The worst we thought up was to maybe try to scare each other by threatening to play a game in the cemetery on Halloween or something.  

I think that Michael also knew that some friends and I had invented our own geeky games that were “much more sophisticated” than “stupid D&D.” He was wondering if he could develop a baseball simulator that had the kind of detail that the guy in this novel did.  By this time, Jonathan had started chanting “Strat-O-Matic!” – First, under his breath, then louder, and still louder and finally loud enough to interrupt the rehearsal that was onstage nearby.  We continued outside.  Jonathan kept saying “drive up to Cassler’s Toys and pick up a Strat-O-Matic set!”  For many years after this, I had thought that Michael was talking about a dumb novel he picked up at a yard sale somewhere and that no one else had ever heard of this book.

Forward to 2010.  Dirk Hayhurst is the guest on an NPR call-in program one afternoon talking about his book, The Bullpen Gospels (good book, by the way) about his life in minor league baseball.  The callers to the show are encouraged to list their 5 favorite baseball books of all time.  Imagine my surprise, among most of the listeners' top 5 is a little book called The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop  by Robert Coover.  It’s a book about this guy who goes crazy over his fantasy baseball team!  Huh.  Not only is Michael's book more widely read than I thought, it's actually a favorite among baseball readers.  Who knew!?  Not me.

A new footnote to this story:  I just heard a story on CBC radio that there is a new book out about Jack Kerouac and his obsession with fantasy baseball.  Here’s a NY Times article about the book: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/books/16kero.html .  Cool, huh?