Earlier this month, Mike and ‘lil q took me to a baseball game for my birthday. It was rather miraculous because we’d had like twenty days of rain interrupted by one really nice day – the day they took me to the game. Baseball was/is one of the true loves in my life. If I could have picked what I’d be when I was born, I’d have wanted to be a pro baseball player. Alas, they don’t give you a checklist and say mark what you like.
But writing is a lot like baseball. Yeah, I know, it’s a stretch, right? Wrong. They have a lot in common. Writing, like baseball, is one of those things that people love. Whether they’re playing/writing or watching/reading, there is a large group of passionate participants. Writing, like baseball, is something most of us did as kids. Some better than others, but we all tried our hand at it at some point.
In baseball, there are several tiers, different levels in the minor leagues that players work their way up. At each level, players drop out until only a very, very, very few make it to the ‘show.’ Writing is the same. People try their hand at it and they work their way up the success ladder. Some drop out along the way, and only a few become blockbuster sellers.
And look at how success is defined. In baseball, if you fail to get a hit two-thirds of the time, you’re a superstar. If you hit a home run just once every fifteen times at bat, you’ll get twenty-five million a year for being so great. An author who has a hit every three books is doing well. If they get a home run once every fifteen books they’d still make a lot of money. But those who can do those two things are at the pinnacle of the profession.
Then there are fans. Do I really need to go here? Players and writers have their fans. Some fair weather, some diehard. Some players/writers treat their fans super well, a small few don’t.
One more way the two are alike is that if you make it, despite all the work, all the sacrificing that goes into being an author/player, no one would trade it for any other job. In the movie Field of Dreams, Shoeless Joe Jackson’s character said they got paid to play a kid’s game. And it’s the same for writers, we get paid to tell stories.
I’ll leave you with a story about my grandfather – two actually. He came to the United States on the USS Cincinnati when he was five. After sixth grade he had to leave school to help his father feed his other six siblings. Over his lifetime he used to collect books. Almost any book really. When he died, he left them to me because as a kid I mentioned I thought they were cool. I have books that are over a hundred years old that he bought at garage sales for a nickel or less. He left me books with real leather covers and ones where the edges of the pages are colored so when they’re closed they don’t look white. He thought it important that he read to improve his mind, even though he never went to high school let alone college. He made sure his son went to college and his youngest daughter too.
He also loved baseball. He used to save up milk cartoons all year to earn free tickets to the Mets games. Then he’d take each of his grandchildren to a game one at a time. It’s an endearing memory that I’ll never forget. When I was old enough, I took him and my father to a baseball game in Philadelphia for Father’s Day. It was twenty-odd years ago, but I can still remember which side of of the stadium our seats were on. Life had come full circle and I was taking him to the game. But it was still the same. We sat and cheered for the Phillies, even though we were Mets fans because it was all about the game.
So yes, to me the two are very similar, because they both remind me of my grandfather. And they’ve both been with me for as long as I can remember. It’s one of the reasons we read to ‘lil q every night. And we also take her to baseball games. (Though she thinks the games are about ice cream, cotton candy and a carousal ride.)
Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high tech. Adapting with technology, he now takes his MacBook somewhere quiet when he wants to write.
He currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his partner of twenty-one years, their young daughter and dog. In addition to dodging some very self-important D.C. ‘insiders’, Andrew uses his commute to catch up on his reading. When not working or writing, he enjoys soccer, high fantasy, baseball and seeing how much coffee he can drink in a day.
Follow Andrew:
On his website: www.andrewqgordon.com,
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/andrewqugordon,
On Twitter: @andrewqgordon,
Or just email him: andrewqgordon@gmail.com
Books:
The Last Grand Master: (Champion of the Gods – Book 1)
The Eye and the Arm: (Champion of the Gods – Book 2)
Kings of Lore and Legend: (Champion of the Gods – Book 3)
Self published: