Blogs

By Garret Mathews

Garret Mathews has written a heartwarming and funny audioplay of 9- and 10-year-old baseball players (members of the Belcher Tire Emporium Cubs) and their antics during a season.

The piece is based on his book published by the Michigan State University Press and reviewed by The New York Times.

The players are quite real. No angels in this outfield. One boy has cystic fibrosis. Another is a budding scientist who asks if he can dissect a baseball. The fun-loving coach encourages the boys to come up with their own team names for practice games (Snottybutts versus Navel Lints), and asks unsuspecting players to search the equipment bag for a three-two pitch.

Listen to the audioplay here.

— Garret Mathews

Garret Mathews is a retired metro columnist for the Courier & Press (Evansville, Indiana). His 12 books include Swing, Batta (Michigan State University Press). His website includes links to some of his favorite columns as well as material he wrote about Appalachia and the civil rights movement.