Celebrating Fenway Park: Ted and Me by Dan Gutman

2012 marks the 100th birthday of Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, and children's publishing is on the ball. There have been some lovely children's books published this year, focusing on the park and the team, and I plan to read and review them all!

I'm starting with Dan Gutman's Ted and Me, which is the eleventh volume in Gutman's Baseball Card Adventure series. The premise of the series is simple: Joe "Stosh" Stoshack is an every-boy with a remarkable gift; he can travel through time by touching old baseball cards. On his adventures he has met 10 famous ball players, including Honus Wagner, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and Satchel Paige. I have been campaigning for an adventure with Ted Williams almost since the day he died. And it seems that Mr. Gutman and I are of the same mind, because here, just in time for Fenway's 100th birthday, is the book. (Spoilers ahead!)

The best thing about the Baseball Card adventures is the spirit of fun in which they are written. The science involved is pretty vague, and the ease with which Stosh incorporates himself into the lives of the players he meets is suspect (I'm guessing we will never see "Ty and Me".) But who cares--it's a little boy meeting baseball legends! That's a formula that's hard to resist. However, the initial suspension of belief required at the start of Ted and Me is whopping. The FBI are aware of Stosh's ability, and they want him to travel back in time to warn FDR about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Stopping the attack on Pearl Harbor is a time-travel chestnut--one of the greatest "what-ifs" out there in speculative fiction, so it's not a bad starting point for a story about a boy meeting not just a great ballplayer, but a true American patriot as well (which, Williams, with his distinguished military career, was.) But the fact that the FBI don't want to commandeer Stosh and take him back to headquarters to run tests on him, or anything sinister like that, but instead simply send a polite agent to his house to talk with him and his mom about it--that's difficult to swallow.

But at this point, Gutman plays a great trick on the readers which derails the issue--he sends Stosh to the wrong Ted Williams. The FBI may have done their homework about Stosh's talent, but they don't know diddly about baseball cards. They give Stosh a Ted Williams card from 1952. Consequently, Stosh finds himself in the back of Williams' bomber as he's flying a mission over what is now North Korea.  Wrong war! Pearl Harbor is long gone, Roosevelt's been dead for 8 years, and--oh yeah--Williams' plane has been hit. Just before they crash land, Stosh gets himself back to his own time. It's a great scene, full of action and swears (which Gutman wisely replaces with "!@#$%") and a full-frontal, in your face introduction to Ted Williams and his larger than life personality.

When Stosh does connects with the correct Williams, the baseball finally takes over. It is September 27, 1941. Before Stosh can complete his Pearl Harbor mission there is the little matter of baseball history: the next day Ted Williams will go 6-8 in a double header against the Philadelphia Athletics. He will finish the year with a .406 batting average, a feat which has not been equaled to this day. Stosh is particularly careful not to interfere with that, especially since part two of his "warn about Pearl Harbor" plan is to convince Williams not to join the military so that he can reclaim the five years lost to active service and potentially improve his lifetime statistics.

I've said that Gutman never moralizes in these books, but that doesn't mean that he is not trying to reveal a greater point. When Stosh encounters these baseball greats, it's always the right person at the right time. He certainly learns lessons that he can apply to his current situation. In this case, Stosh and his little league team are fresh from defeat in the Little League World Series. Despite his thrill about being involved, the reader sees a hesitancy in Stosh. He feels that he has leveled off as a player, a .270 hitter with a decent arm. He's good enough, but will probably not get any better. He is so preoccupied with not messing up on TV, he turns down an offer to carry the team's American flag during the opening ceremony, and he is unhappy to be in the position to make the final out of the game. Rather than rising to any challenges, he settles back and accepts defeat. This is clearly the perfect time to meet Ted Williams, a man who never settled for being anything but the greatest at everything he put his hand to.

Ted Williams' number 9 was retired by the Red Sox

Ted Williams is not an easy character to recreate for children. For starters, there is the matter of his language. This is not a man who spoke in "gosh's" and "darn's." He swore. Prolifically. This points to the fact that if he is going to be central to one's book, he can't be watered down. Gutman rather humorously addresses this in his "Note to Readers", and then just gets on with it. Williams was a human of striking contradictions. For as gruff and brash as he was, he was also immensely generous with his money, his time, and his compassion. Gutman gets mega-kudos for mentioning Williams' work with the Jimmy Fund. But of course, how could he possibly write a book about Williams and not mention it? It is one of the many reasons he is legendary in the city of Boston.

All in all, as a reader and a Sox fan, I thoroughly enjoyed Ted and Me. I just have one complaint--Stosh never makes it to Fenway Park! History dictates that Williams set his record in Philly, so of course that it where Stosh lands. And then they head for Washington DC, to warn the president, a mission which is--obviously--not completed. I understand that the structure of the story sends them away from Boston instead of to it, but I was looking forward to Stosh checking out my ballpark. But, as Stosh himself admits, these trips through time never turn out as he plans, and for this reader, the same holds true.

Stosh started the story knowing very little about Ted Williams. But by the end, his understanding of the man's legacy is firm. Stosh has grown up during the steroid era, as have many of his readers. He sums everything up quite well as he is sitting in Shibe Park, watching what is a meaningless game of baseball, with no play-off implications--but huge historical ramifications.

"Over the next 70 years, I knew, Babe Ruth's home run records would fall. Lou Gehrig's consecutive game streak would be broken. Humans would go to the moon, invent rock and roll, and create the internet; and the world would change in so many ways.
But nobody would ever hit .400 again."

Picture books for the Stanley Cup: Number Four, Bobby Orr!

Now that the Bruins have made a series of the final, I thought this was a good time to draw attention to Mike Leonetti's Number Four, Bobby Orr! It took ages for Ted Williams to get his own picture book, but this Boston sports legend got his in 2003 (any news on a Larry Bird picture book? How about Yaz--the last winner of baseball's Triple Crown? Someone get writing!) Illustrator Shayne Letain sets the triumphant tone for this book with his rendition of the iconic 1970 photo of Orr's cup winning goal. The book itself is about a young boy named Joey who loves hockey and idolizes Orr. When an injury curtails his season, Joey writes a letter to Bobby Orr, asking for advice on being a better defenseman. Joey's recovery coincides with the progression of the season, culminating with a healed Joey sitting in the Boston Garden to witness his hero make history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Orr.jpg

There is quite a lot of information in this book about Bobby Orr and his impact on the Bruins and the city of Boston. For locals there are a number of little details which give fanish delight (such as mention of the fact that Joey is watching the Bruins on channel 38.Remember WSBK?!) Number Four, Bobby Orr! is an unashamed love letter to a hockey legend, and a fun read for Bruins fans as they face the rest of the series.

Jim Rice gets ready for the Hall--Gold Dust by Chris Lynch

In anticipation of Jim Rice's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame tomorrow (that's me and him on the right, circa 2004!) I've pulled Gold Dust, by Chris Lynch, out of my "to read" pile. The term 'Gold Dust' is a reference to Jim Rice and Fred Lynn, who were called up as rookies to the Red Sox in 1975 and were referred to as the "Gold Dust Twins" due to their remarkable, untouchable talent. I'm about half-way through, and so far Fred Lynn features much more, because Richard, the protagonist, aspires to be Fred Lynn. But my man Jim has received plenty of due deference, including this passage:

"It was true that Jim Rice had an ungodly beautiful stroke. It was as if he didn't even use his arms--great big arms, I might add--but just flicked his wrists. And still, his ball went a mile."

Since the book takes place during 1975, there is a fair amount of Boston history included in the story, most particularly the busing of children across the city in an attempt to desegregate the schools. Beside providing authentic local details, Lynch has also written with a real love for the craft of baseball, and fans of the game will find much to appreciate and enjoy. But history and baseball aside, at the center of the story is the budding friendship between Richard Riley Moncreif, a native of Boston, and Napoleon Charlie Ellis, fresh from Domencia with his father, who has accepted a teaching position at Northeasthern University. They are both strong willed boys, and at the half-way point I cannot predict which direction the story will ultimately take. However, I am guessing that this will be a story that benefits from having Boston as its backdrop (and not just because I am a biased Bostonian!) The history of race and the Boston Red Sox, for instance is well-documented for its early failings, as is the Boston busing controversy. Although cultural differences play a role in the story--Napoleon, for instance, is not prepared to chuck aside cricket for baseball, despite Richard's insistence of baseball's superiority--race is still the bubbling concern just beneath the surface. But most importantly, for a story that feature's a boy's desire to be the absolute best hitter ever, there is no better place for him to be in 1975 than Boston. I think it can be fairly said that never has there been, in the history of baseball, a pair of rookies on a single team who electrified a single season as Rice and Lynn did. With the passing of time is has been debated that career decision's on Lynn's part hampered his progress and ultimately kept him from fulfilling his potential. But Rice, who spent the entirety of his career in Boston, who was such a feared hitter that opposing managers were willing to walk him in a bases loaded situation rather than let him hit, who will have his number 14 retired at Fenway on Tuesday night--Jim Rice will be tracking that gold dust into Cooperstown tomorrow.

Coming and Going--Grandfather's Journey

I've been away at a writer's workshop this weekend. I wasn't too far from Boston--only as far north as New London, New Hampshire. A mere two hours away. As I finished up this morning and left Rte 11 (which doubles as New London's Main Street) and joined 89 South, I saw a name that never fails to excite me--Boston. I've read that name in airport departure lounges, in train stations, and on the highway as far away as Pennsylvania. I seek it out whenever I travel. It lets me know that I'm on the right path, headed home.

Now, while having breakfast at the B&B on Saturday morning, I was reading an article in National Geographic Traveler about London. My heart is there, too. I pine for England, almost on a daily basis. Six years was not nearly enough time to see everything I wanted to see there. By the time I left I had finally figured out the one way traffic patterns in the city where I lived. I had never felt more at home in England than I did the day I got on the plane to leave.

Okay--so what does my homeland schizophrenia have to do with Children's Literature? Well, it's this: author Allen Say wrote a picture book which is the best book about the immigrant experience that I have ever read, and it instantly came to mind when I read the magic word "Boston" on that sign. It is called Grandfather's Journey and is about his own grandfather, who for awhile lived in Japan, then in California, and then in Japan again. While in one country, he never failed to miss the other. He passed on his wanderlust to his grandson, just as my parents passed it on to me. I believe that my Mom and Dad were both happy with where they finally settled, while I still feel that I have one foot on each side of the Atlantic. I can tell that one life will never be enough to satisfy the desire to be in each place. Had Allen Say not written his beautiful book (which, not surprisingly, won a Caldecott Award in 1994--the year I moved to England) I would not have known that there was a gentleman all the way in Japan who felt the same way that I do. And knowing that he existed is a comfort.