Posts tagged David B. Stinson

Baltimore Book Festival Saturday September 27 and Sunday September 28

 

baltimorebookfestivalThe Baltimore Book Festival is back this weekend and I am excited to be appearing alongside fellow authors in the Authors Tent, selling and signing copies of Deadball, A Metaphysical Baseball Novel.

This year I will be appearing both Saturday and Sunday, September 27-28th in the Authors Tent located at Bicentennial Plaza.

On Saturday at 6 pm I will give a short presentation on my book at the Authors Tent.

This year the Festival will be held at Inner Harbor. The Authors Tent at Bicentennial Plaza is located southwest of the U.S.S. Constellation and south of the Harborplace Light Street Pavilion.

The Festival on Saturday runs from noon to 8 pm and Sunday from noon to 6 pm.

Here is a map of the festival. bbfmap

Smithsonian Friday and Fenton Street Saturday

I’m looking forward to spending Black Friday November 29th at the Smithsonian’s American History Museum outside the gift shop on the second floor (Mall Entrance). I’ll be there from noon to 3:00 pm signing copies of my book Deadball, a Metaphysical Baseball Novel. For those interested, here’s a link to the Smithsonian web site.

Saturday November 30th I will be at the Fenton Street Market in Downtown Silver Spring from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. It’s Small Business Saturday (and you can’t much smaller than my business!) so please stop by and say hello. My booth is No. 26. Here’s a map of the market area and here’s a link to Fenton Street Holiday Market web site.

At the Smithsonian with Author Paul Dickson

Authors Paul Dickson and David Stinson at the Smithsonian's American History Museum

Thanks to everyone who came by to talk baseball this past Saturday April 6th at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History. I was there with Paul Dickson, author of the award winning Bill Veeck, Baseball’s Greatest Maverick.We had a joint book signing outside the gift shop on the second floor.

Mr. Dickson is a man of many talents and I enjoyed talking baseball with him along with discussing many of the other topics he has written about during his extensive career – 65 published books and counting. Me? I have two, but who’s counting?

If you have not done so yet, and are a fan of the game, be sure to pick up a copy of his biography about Bill Veeck – perhaps soon to be a major motion picture!

Save The Date – April 6 – I’ll Be At The Smithsonian With Paul Dickson

Looking for a post baseball season opener fix? On Saturday April 6, 2013, I’ll be at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History from noon until 2:00 pm signing copies of Deadball, a Metaphysical Baseball Novel. I’ll be appearing with author Paul Dickson who will be signing copies of his Casey Award winning book Bill Veeck, Baseball’s Greatest Maverick.

The American History Museum is located at 1300 Constitution Avenue, N.W. DC 20004. We’ll be just outside the Mall Museum Store on the 2nd floor. Here’s a link to the event, Hope to see you there.

 

 

Smithsonian Bound

I’m back at the Smithsonian today February 24th signing copies of Deadball, A Metaphysical Baseball Novel. It’s a beautiful day to spend some time down on the Mall. Stop by and say hello if you’re in the area. I’ll be at the National Museum of American History from noon until 3:30 pm, 1300 Constitution Avenue, N.W.  My table is just outside the Museum Store on the Second Floor near the museum entrance off the National Mall. Here’s a link to the event: Smithsonian Institution Events Calendar

A VFW Hall, Canarsie Caskets, And The Ebbets Field Flagpole

In August 2001 some friends and I took a day trip from Maryland to New York City to chase down historical baseball landmarks. Our stops included the former sites of Hilltop Park, the Polo Grounds, Washington Park, and Ebbets Field. While in Brooklyn, we also went in search of the Ebbets Field Flag Pole, which legend had it was located in front of a Brooklyn VFW Hall. That trip ultimately formed the basis for a chapter in my book Deadball A Metaphysical Baseball Novel in which protagonist Byron Bennett makes a solo trip to New York City in search of the same sites.

In the news recently I read that the Brooklyn Nets had acquired an Ebbets Field flagpole, which it relocated to a plaza in front of their home field at the Barclays Center. According to an article on ESPN, the flagpole was acquired by Nets owner Bruce Ratner in 2007.

On my trip in 2001, we did not know which VFW Hall in Brooklyn had the famed Ebbets Field Flagpole and, as such, spent a good portion of time driving around Brooklyn visiting as many VFW halls as we could find. Ultimately, it was just plain luck (or intervention of the baseball gods?) that led us to the flagpole. While driving south on Utica Street toward the Belt Parkway, we caught a glimpse of a flagpole in front of a one-story, red-brick building with a plastic banner hanging from the roof identifying the building  as the Canarsie Casket Company.

Ebbets Field Flagpole In Front Of the Canarsie Casket Company

The banner partially obscured another sign, carved in granite and set into the building’s brick wall which stated “Veterans of Foreign Wars.”  We knew then that we had found the famed Ebbets Field Flag Pole. Next to the sidewalk was a “Building For Sale” sign, suggesting a then-uncertain future for the Ebbets Field flagpole.

Kratter Corporation Dedication Plaque for the Ebbets Field Flagpole

At the base of the flagpole was a piece of granite with the following inscription:

Center Field Flag Pole
of
Ebbets Field
Donated By
Kratter Corp.

Kratter Corporation purchased Ebbets Field from the Dodgers two years before their move to Los Angeles in anticipation of developing the site once the team departed for the West Coast. Marvin Kratter, the corporation’s president, donated the flagpole to the VFW in 1960, where it stood until it was purchased by the Nets in 2007.

The Ebbets Field Flagpole

The flagpole now resides  just a short drive up Flatbush Avenue, two miles north of its former location at 55 Sullivan Place. So kudos to the Brooklyn Nets for helping insure that at least a small part of Ebbets Field remains in the borough. Also, its good to know that the flagpole no longer has the indignity of sitting in front of a building that manufactured caskets.

Moses Fleetwood Walker and Oberlin’s Tappan Square

In Deadball, A Metaphysical Baseball Novel, protagonist Byron Bennett makes a stop in Oberlin, Ohio, in search of the the ball field where Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother Welday, two African-American students at liberal Oberlin played baseball for the school in 1881 and 1882.

Moses Fleetwood Walker

Both Walker brothers later played professional ball in 1884, joining the then-major league American Association Toledo Blue Stockings during the team’s one season in existence. Soon after that season, African-Americans were banned from playing in the major leagues until 1947, when Jackie Robinson broke the color line.

Oberlin Ohio State Historical Marker

Oberlin College was established in 1833. Many of the buildings located on the south side of College Street date to the time when Walker played baseball for Oberlin.

Buildings Located South on College Street Across from Tappan Square

The ball field where Walker played was located in Tappan Square near the corner of College Street and North Main Street, on the southeast side of Oberlin’s campus.

Tappan Square, Oberlin, Intersection of College Street and North Main Street

Tappan Square is divided into four quadrants.

Tappan Square Looking West from the Center of the Square

At one time Tappan Square had several buildings located throughout the square. Those buildings are gone, with only two architectural structures remaining in the square. In the northeast quadrant of the square is an open bandstand. Southwest of the bandstand in is a stone memorial arch.

Stone Memorial Arch, Tappan Square

The stone arch commemorates Oberlin student missionaries killed during the Boxer uprising in China in 1900.

Plaque Honoring Oberlin Student Missionaries

College Chapel, a building that once sat in the south west quadrant of Tappan Square just south of the memorial arch burned down in the early 1900s. The ball field where Walker once played was located in front of that church, just to the north. A picture of the church and the ball field is available on Oberlin College’s website at: Tappan Square (link to Oberlin College Digital Collection).

The picture below shows the approximate site of the former ball field in what is the southeast quadrant of Tappan Square.

Approximate Location of Oberlin's Former Ball Field Where Moses Fleetwood Walker Once Played

Oberlin’s current athletic fields (Oberlin plays in the North Coast Athletic Conference) are located northwest of Tappan Square off Union Street. The John Herbert Nichols Gateway, erected in honor of a former athletic director, marks the entrance to the athletic complex. Dill Field, the school’s baseball diamond, is located behind Savage Field, the school’s football stadium.

Dill Field, Home of the Oberlin Yeoman

The Yeomen’s ballpark is of modest size, with a chainlink backstop and ten rows of metal bleachers on either side of cinder block dugouts. The baseball team has played in its current location since the 1920s.

Dill Field Scoreboard

The former site of Oberlin’s ball field where Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother once played is historic, deserving of a historical plaque commemorating the site and its former location. If you are a fan of baseball, Tappan square certainly is worth a stop, should you find yourself in north central Ohio. It is just a few miles south of Interstate 90 on Route 58.

On ESPN Radio and Back at the Smithsonian

If you find yourself in the four-state listening area surrounding Greencastle, PA, this Friday November 23rd, be sure to tune into ESPN 1380 AM for Gordy’s Sports World at 1 pm. I will be Gordy’s guest talking about by my book Deadball, A Metaphysical Baseball Novel.

Gordy Schlotter, ESPN 1380 Radio Host

Also, be sure to tune into Gordy’s Sports World every other Thursday during the baseball off-season for the latest hot stove info brought to you by Austin Gisriel and yours truly, and hosted by Gordy. Our next show will be Thursday November 29th at 1:oo pm. Austin is a talented writer with keen eye (and pen) for baseball. Check out his blog at Austin Gisriel.

The Sunday following Thanksgiving – November 25th – I will be making my third appearance in D.C. at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, signing copies of Deadball next to the gift shop on the second floor near the museum’s entrance just off the National Mall. Here is a link to the event: Smithsonian Magazine Blog.

Remember, Deadball makes a great holiday gift.

Baltimore Book Festival This Friday September 28th

 

If you are attending the Baltimore Book Festival, please look for me in the author’s tent on Friday September 28th. I will be there from noon – 8 pm selling and signing copies of Deadball. Here is a link with the info: Baltimore Book Festival

If You’re Going To The National Book Festival This Sunday . . .

If you happen to find yourself downtown this Sunday, September 23rd, perhaps attending the National Book Festival on the mall, and you want to take a break from the crowds, come see me at the Smithsonian’s American History Museum from noon to 3 pm. I will be at the museum store signing copies of my book  Deadball.   Books will be available for purchase at the museum store.

Here’s the link: American History Museum Calendar.

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