Byron Bennett – the protagonist in Deadball, A Metaphysical Baseball Novel – is a former farmhand for several Baltimore Orioles minor league affiliates. Be sure to read Byron’s blog about lost ballparks – Deadball Baseball. It covers not only lost parks visited by Byron in Deadball, but many others as well.
Buy Deadball, A Metaphysical Baseball Novel
Dear David,
Boy, did I ever enjoy hearing from you and reading “Deadball” this summer. I spent many enjoyable hours on the beach reading about Byron’s travels. My wife is reading it now and enjoying it as well.
As long suffering Washington sports fans, we are also glued to the Nationals this season, as we have been for the past 3 or 4 seasons. We attended the Division clinching game, and also Game 5 of the NLDS series at Nats Park in 2012, from which we still haven’t recovered.
But even with that 2012 disappointment, our current success is a far cry from my experience as a Senators fan growing up in the 1960s. To keep perspective, I like to recall the summer of 1969 when I was 15 and I talked my father into driving me to National Airport where a crowd of several hundred had gathered to greet the Senators on their return from a successful road trip. They had managed to stay above .500 in late summer for the first time in many years, and we fans were ecstatic.
I am also thoroughly enjoying your website and reading about the many old ballparks you’ve chronicled. Great stuff. Thanks for thinking of your former co-counsel and keep up the great work. We’ll be looking for your next book and the film version of Deadball.
Regards,
Don
Hello Don
I am glad to hear you enjoyed Deadball. I certainly enjoyed writing it much more than anything we wrote in the Applied Companies/Rumsfeld appeal of yore. The Nats are for real, no question about it. Your ship has finally come in. I’m also glad to hear you had the type of Dad who would drive his 15 year old son to see his heroes arrive home at National Airport. Should be interesting come October to see if your Nats and my O’s end up playing each other. Maybe we can catch a game together, if not this season then next.
As for the movie version of Deadball, please be sure to tell all your Hollywood connections about the book. I have not sold the movie rights yet! Maybe we can get you a walk on. Thanks again for your kind message. DBS
David,
Purchased your book, Deadball along with several used baseball books at the Dulles Expo Center last weekend. I had to tell you I am throughly enjoying your book. I totally agree, I would love to see it made into a movie. Although I heard Tom Clancy said that selling your book to hollywood is like selling your daughter to a pimp. Or something like that, but it couldn’t have been too bad he kept on selling them.
Thanks again, I am glad you called me and the wife over to your booth!
Joe
Hello Jay
Thank you for taking the time to let me know you are enjoying Deadball. It is good to hear. And I like your Tom Clancy quote (paraphrase?). No movie studios have come a calling yet, so I can’t say I know of what Mr. Clancy speaks, although I think I get the idea. DBS
David,
Any chance of second book, I am curious as to how Byron is going to handle his new responsibilities at Union Park and the prospect of reuniting with the ex.
Joe
Hello Joe
I wish I could say I had the sequel ready to go, but I don’t. I just finished writing a nonfiction book with a friend of mine about college baseball and how to make the college baseball team.
I certainly have some thoughts about how the next chapter of Byron’s life might unfold, kind of along the lines of be careful what you ask for, but I’ll leave it at that. I truly am glad you enjoyed Deadball and I appreciate that you cared enough about Byron to wonder what life has in store for him. I would hope at some point I will have the time to fill in the blanks. DBS
Mr. Stinson,
David:
I ran across your article on the Von Der Horst family and realized I should have been in touch with you long before now. You may recall me contacting you some time ago about the Diamond Tavern on Howard Street as I was researching my first novel. A lot of water has gone over the dam since then, including getting the book, Plug Ugly Ball: A Mobtown Tale of Bullies and Baseball, published. (You and Deadball made it into the acknowledgements as my way of saying thanks for the background you provided.) I am writing now because I’d like to send you a complimentary copy, but I’m not quite sure how to do that. I have included my email address below; and, if you are interested, perhaps you could send me a US mailing address that I could use. An alternative would be to allow me to take you up on your original offer to meet for coffee. Since Plug Ugly, I have written two other novels, one of which is set in 1897 and centers on Howard Street and the Diamond Tavern and, in large part, tells the story of the great battle between the Orioles and the Beaneaters for the pennant that year. I would love to chat with you about what at the time was called “the greatest pennant chase in history.” (I’m sure you recall the sad results.) Hope to hear from you …
John Thomas Everett