Book review: Beyond Baseball: Rounding First

Venn, D. (2016). Beyond Baseball: Rounding First. World Beyond Publishing.

Rounding First, the subtitle of this 200-page self-published book, is derived from the name of an American NPO supplying used baseball gear to children in Nicaragua. It has since branched out into other projects, including agriculture and health care. The title, Beyond Baseball, addresses the author’s understanding of his two week experience distributing equipment to teams in Nicaragua. He questions his own presence as a former ballplayer and recent college graduate, as well as the value of sporting goods to a country that has difficulty feeding itself.

The answer to the first question is this book, Venn’s contribution to spreading the word on the good work of Helping Kids Round First. He sent me a copy for review, and now here you are reading about it. Hopefully, you will be curious enough to inquire further, donate, or perhaps join one of Rounding First’s trips. If so, you might also be interested in reading Venn’s account for a more in-depth look at what goes into one of these visits, from collection and shipping of equipment, to sorting, packing, and personally delivering hundreds of kilos of baseball gear. (You’ll also have to read about Venn’s romantic relationships, but thankfully those interludes are infrequent.) Money from book sales goes to Helping Kids Round First.

Book Review: Gmelch and Weiner, J. In the ballpark: The working lives of baseball people. 1998.

Gmelch, G. and Weiner, J. (1998). In the ballpark: The working lives of baseball people. Washington [D.C.]: Smithsonian Institution Press.

This slim volume looks at people usually ignored in baseball or sport books, those behind the scenes who make the on-field drama possible, everyone from the usher to the beer vendor to the general manager.  Produced by a professional anthropologist who was also a minor league player, the book is comprised of oral histories derived from interview transcripts with twenty-one employees of professional baseball organizations in the United States.  Each 8-10 page chapter includes a description of the kind of work performed, the particular challenges of the job, how the person first became involved in the work of baseball, and in perhaps half of the accounts some discussion of salary.