Cool Papa Droppin' Names: Class Discussion on Baseball Literature

While going to baseball games has been a lot of fun, academics are indeed part of this class. We were assigned to read three books, either before the trip started, or in the long van rides and late nights in our hotels along the way. One book is about the history of baseball, another an anthology of various baseball stories and histories, and the third was a book of our choosing about "America's national pastime." Tonight, our class had a group discussion on several texts in our baseball anthology. This is a book edited by Nicholas Dawidoff aptly named, Baseball: A Literary Anthology. We paired off and each group chose a story to lead a discussion on and each group will write about one of these discussions on our blog. Brendan and Hailley are up first, ready to share some facts about the infamous baseball player, Cool Papa.

In 1975, author Donald Honig published a collection of baseball oral histories. The selection in Dawidoff's anthology is entitled "Baseball When the Grass Was Real" and recounts memories from Negro League star center fielder, James "Cool Papa" Bell. This interview with Bell begins with him recounting his averages over the fifty seasons he participated in. While his averages strong for any baseball player of any time, he talks these figures as if they were just any old part of the game. Bell continues with stories of his time in playing baseball and overall, the class found the essay informative as well as enjoyable.

From Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

As the discussion began, we realized we had read the essay either before or after our visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. If we had read the essay before, we found that Bell's interview gave us markers to help guide us through the museum and the timeline of the Negro Leagues. If we had read the essay after our visit, we found that Bell's interview provided the context we needed to reinforce the ideas presented to us throughout the museum. Either way, Bell's interview enhanced both our visit to the museum as well as our reading of the interview itself.

What struck us in the interview was the way in which Bell focused less on his career and more on the careers of his peers, such as pitching aces Dizzy Dean and Satchel Paige. While these men disliked one another and faced off often (both in the press and on the field), they shared the born gift of being able to pitch. This natural talent, paired with high success, fueled their egos and despite this cockiness, their stats backed up their big talk.

As Bell casually mentioned these pitching giants along with other famous players such as Josh Gibson and Jimmy Ripple, it seemed like no big deal to him. To him, these names weren't legends in baseball (and Negro League) history, rather they were just the people he played on the field with. This casualness lead nicely into talking about Bell's love for the game. He played the game of baseball because he wanted to and enjoyed it, regardless of the money he received for playing. We believe that this sentiment can and does still echo with MLB players today, such as Nationals player (and one of Brendan's favorites) Stephen Strasburg.

Hailley and Brendan