Sons of Baseball: Growing Up with a Major League Dad

· Rowman & Littlefield · Narrated by Tim H. Dixon
Audiobook
6 hr 41 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

A rare glimpse of professional ballplayers, not as pitchers, hitters, managers, and coaches, but as dads and grandads.


Sons of major league baseball players grow up in a unique environment, not only because they are raised in part by professional athletes, but also because they are raised by the game itself. They come of age immersed in the distinct sounds and aromas of baseball. The locker rooms, the cinderblock-lined corridors beneath the stands, the dugouts, and the fields are the playgrounds of their youth.


In Sons of Baseball, Mark Braff interviews 18 men who share their exclusive stories, ballpark memories, and the challenges and rewards of having fathers whose talents enabled them to reach the pinnacle of their profession. Each chapter is devoted to one son talking about his experiences, from the poignancy of one son’s disclosure that his dad has not been able to acknowledge his son’s sexuality as a gay man, to the humor of another son absconding with the groundskeepers’ cart in Cleveland.


With a foreword by Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and interviews with the sons of beloved players such as Yogi Berra, Mariano Rivera, Roger Maris, Gil Hodges, and Larry Doby, Sons of Baseball provides a unique, well-rounded perspective on the lives of professional ballplayers and their families.

About the author

Mark Braff worked for 40+ years as a highly regarded public relations professional, the last 27 as a consultant working under the banner of Braff Communications LLC. Braff began his career as a reporter for the Ridgewood Newspapers in New Jersey. He later joined Madison Square Garden Sports Network as the first member of its in-house public relations team. At USA Network, Braff directed all sports and affiliate public relations initiatives, including support for the network's live broadcasts of games from Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, college basketball and football, boxing, and a variety of other sports. He resides in Bergen County, New Jersey. Calvin Edwin Ripken, Jr. was born in Havre de Grace, Md. on August 24, 1960, into a baseball family. His father was a catcher in the Baltimore Orioles organization before moving on to a coaching position, and briefly a managerial position, with the big league club. Ripken Jr. was selected by the Orioles in the second round of the 1978 free agent draft and joined his father in the major leagues in 1981. The next year, on May 20, he began a journey that would see him shatter a long-standing baseball record that most thought would never be broken: Lou Gehrig's 2,130 consecutive games played streak. Ripken has had a good major league career. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1982 and American League (AL) Most Valuable Player in 1983 and 1991. He was a perennial starter for the AL in the Major League All-Star Game, beginning in 1984. In addition, Ripken was joined in the Orioles' infield by his brother Bill from 1987 to 1992. Ripken is married to the former Kelly Geer. They have two children, Rachel Marie and Ryan Calvin.

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