Saturday, February 25, 2006
Welcome
... to Hardball Heaven, an outlet for sharing my lifelong passion for all things baseball. I want to personally thank my parents, Peter Gammons and Don Shula (I'll 'splain), my many English and journalism teachers through the years, and my sports-loving day job bosses for inspiring my muse and instilling confidence. I especially want to thank Blogger, Al Gore (or maybe the US government), and whoever came up with wireless internet access for making it so easy for closet-sportswriters-who-can't-afford-to-be-real-life-sportswriters to share their viewpoints with others.
Okay, enough of that. Allow me to quickly the explain the Peter Gammons/Don Shula connection, and then it's onto the purpose of the site -- talking about and dissecting all aspects of the greatest game on planet Earth, baseball.
The setting was 10th grade English class, at Beverly (Mass.) High School. The teacher was a kindly old lady named Joyce Poirier. The assignment was to do a book report on a subject you cared about. Pretty simple.
The impressionable student cared a whole lot about sports, and picked a biography on Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula - somewhat odd considering his strong affinity for the (at the time, bumbling) New England Patriots. I read the book in a day, and quickly put pen to paper - and the words and thoughts just flowed. It was so easy to write about something you loved. But the real epiphany came when it was time to read Mrs. Poirier's comments. "This is truly a terrific piece of writing, Rick," she wrote. "I think you should send this off to Coach Shula in Miami and see what he thinks." The crazy thing is she was serious. Inspired, I quickly typed up a letter to the Miami Dolphins Football Club (care of Mr. Don Shula), and sent a copy of the report to the Sunshine State in hopes of receiving some type of reply. I also took the initiative to send the book report to Peter Gammons, who at the time was the master baseball beat writer for the The Boston Globe. Cripes, I'm surprised I didn't sent this thing off to President Reagan and Pope John Paul for their thoughts.
Gammons responded first, and I still have his letter. On Globe stationery, he wrote, "Rick, I read your book report on Don Shula, and while football isn't my strong suit, it was a very enjoyable read. In my writing, I try to always educate the reader with a couple of points they may not know about. I learned a few things about Coach Shula from reading your book report. As for being a sportswriter someday, you're on your way. Keep working on your writing, and your dreams can come true." Peter Fricking Gammons!! The best baseball writer in the country actually read my report and took the time to write me a personal letter. How cool was that? Two weeks later, an envelope arrived in the mail with an embossed Miami Dolphins logo on the front. My mom couldn't wait to hand it to me when I walked in from school. Shula's letter wasn't quite as articulate, but it was surely gracious. "Rick, thank you very much for sending the book report you did on me. I can tell you are a great sports fan and a good writer. Best of luck."
An unlikely pairing of legendary sports figures had suddenly made a 15-year old kid realize what he wanted to do with his life. Even though I'm not a sportswriter by profession today, I have managed to forge a decent lifestyle because of my ability to string words and thoughts together. I don't know if I ever would have found this path without the positive reinforcement I received from Mrs. Poirier, and the excitement and awe I felt in reading actual notes from Mssrs. Gammons and Shula. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Okay, enough of that. Allow me to quickly the explain the Peter Gammons/Don Shula connection, and then it's onto the purpose of the site -- talking about and dissecting all aspects of the greatest game on planet Earth, baseball.
The setting was 10th grade English class, at Beverly (Mass.) High School. The teacher was a kindly old lady named Joyce Poirier. The assignment was to do a book report on a subject you cared about. Pretty simple.
The impressionable student cared a whole lot about sports, and picked a biography on Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula - somewhat odd considering his strong affinity for the (at the time, bumbling) New England Patriots. I read the book in a day, and quickly put pen to paper - and the words and thoughts just flowed. It was so easy to write about something you loved. But the real epiphany came when it was time to read Mrs. Poirier's comments. "This is truly a terrific piece of writing, Rick," she wrote. "I think you should send this off to Coach Shula in Miami and see what he thinks." The crazy thing is she was serious. Inspired, I quickly typed up a letter to the Miami Dolphins Football Club (care of Mr. Don Shula), and sent a copy of the report to the Sunshine State in hopes of receiving some type of reply. I also took the initiative to send the book report to Peter Gammons, who at the time was the master baseball beat writer for the The Boston Globe. Cripes, I'm surprised I didn't sent this thing off to President Reagan and Pope John Paul for their thoughts.
Gammons responded first, and I still have his letter. On Globe stationery, he wrote, "Rick, I read your book report on Don Shula, and while football isn't my strong suit, it was a very enjoyable read. In my writing, I try to always educate the reader with a couple of points they may not know about. I learned a few things about Coach Shula from reading your book report. As for being a sportswriter someday, you're on your way. Keep working on your writing, and your dreams can come true." Peter Fricking Gammons!! The best baseball writer in the country actually read my report and took the time to write me a personal letter. How cool was that? Two weeks later, an envelope arrived in the mail with an embossed Miami Dolphins logo on the front. My mom couldn't wait to hand it to me when I walked in from school. Shula's letter wasn't quite as articulate, but it was surely gracious. "Rick, thank you very much for sending the book report you did on me. I can tell you are a great sports fan and a good writer. Best of luck."
An unlikely pairing of legendary sports figures had suddenly made a 15-year old kid realize what he wanted to do with his life. Even though I'm not a sportswriter by profession today, I have managed to forge a decent lifestyle because of my ability to string words and thoughts together. I don't know if I ever would have found this path without the positive reinforcement I received from Mrs. Poirier, and the excitement and awe I felt in reading actual notes from Mssrs. Gammons and Shula. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
# posted by kampy : 11:41 AM
