June 18, 2003 | KU Radio News Line

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June 9, 2003: KU professor to deliver literary paper, play 'town ball' at Baseball Hall of Fame


Contact: James Carothers, Department of English, (785) 864-4904; Frank Barthell, University Relations, (785) 864-8869.

Radio News Line text:
Baseball inspires great American writers, says KU professor

BASEBALL FIGURES PROMINENTLY IN THE WORKS OF SOME OF THE GREATEST AMERICAN WRITERS OF THE LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES, SAYS JAMES CAROTHERS, PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS.

CAROTHERS CITES AUTHORS INCLUDING MARK TWAIN, WILLIAM FAULKNER, ERNEST HEMINGWAY AND KEN KESEY WHO USE THE GAME AS A METAPHOR FOR LARGER ISSUES.

HE DISCUSSED THE CONNECTIONS ON THURSDAY, JUNE 12, AT THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME IN COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK, PRESENTING A PAPER TITLED "BASEBALL IN AMERICAN FICTION: BACKGROUND AND FOREGROUND," AT THE 15TH ANNUAL BASEBALL AND AMERICAN CULTURE SYMPOSIUM.

CAROTHERS HAS TAUGHT A K-U CLASS ON BASEBALL IN LITERATURE OFF AND ON FOR THE PAST 30 YEARS.

CAROTHERS SAYS THAT IN SOME GAME SITUATIONS, BASEBALL PLAYERS SHARE ATTRIBUTES WITH LITERARY HEROES, SUCH AS ACHILLES IN HOMER'S "ODYSSEY."

CAROTHERS: "It's only Achilles who can act and it's only Achilles who acts positively and acts victoriously. Similarly, the person who pitches the pitch or hits the ball is isolated at the center of attention. The essence of a hero is the ability to do what needs to be done at the crucial moment that it needs to be done." (20 sec.)

CAROTHERS CITES THREE CONTEMPORARY WRITERS WHOSE UNDERSTANDING OF THE GAME SETS THEM APART: ROGER ANGEL OF THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE, THOMAS BOSWELL OF THE WASHINGTON POST AND WRITER BILL JAMES OF LAWRENCE.

CAROTHERS: "Because first of all of their understanding of the game, second because of their general level of educated intelligence and third in their liveliness and play of their language. I think each of them is able to describe an immediate baseball moment and situation with some sense of its connection to the larger world and a longer view. And they do it in a memorable and moving and sometimes funny way." (31 sec.)

CAROTHERS WILL BE TEACHING A CLASS ON BASEBALL LITERATURE IN SPRING 2004. HIS GOAL IS TO HELP STUDENTS MAKE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE GAME AND LARGER ISSUES.

CAROTHERS: "There've always been a significant number of students who are mostly interested in how the Royals are doing. I try to move them out of and away from that as an exclusive perspective. I'm interested in the mix of fiction, history, statistics, folklore, journalism, poetry and drama." (17 sec.)

CAROTHERS SAYS SPACE AND TIME ARE KEY ELEMENTS THAT ATTRACT WRITERS TO BASEBALL. PLAYERS ARE SPREAD OUT ON THE FIELD AND THERE'S TIME BETWEEN PITCHES TO NOTE THE PLAYS.

CAROTHERS: "This has been used to explain why baseball and golf have stimulated more good writing than all the other sports. You generally know who succeeded or who made a mistake. There's time, you can record every pitch of a game, you can record every play." (14 sec.)

DESPITE HOME-RUN RECORDS BEING SET IN RECENT YEARS, CAROTHERS DOESN'T BELIEVE BASEBALL HAS RECLAIMED THE TITLE OF AMERICA'S FAVORITE PASTIME.

CAROTHERS: "The game becomes the game again when I can drive through the streets of Salina and see kids playing in the side yard or in the park -- not in Little League uniforms -- or see somebody bicycling down the street with a glove and bat hanging from the handlebars." (21 sec.)

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