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| Vol. 16, No. 39 | Aug. 21, 1997 |
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| Vol. 16, No. 39 | Aug. 21, 1997 |
Kevin Kerrane, English, has compiled an anthology of particularly poignant newspaper articles by Bill Conlin, Philadelphia sports journalist.
The 220-page book, "Batting Cleanup, Bill Conlin," has been published by the Temple University Press.
Conlin has served the sports community for more than 35 years, first as a baseball beat writer and, later, as a columnist. He began his career with the Philadelphia Bulletin and is most known for his work with the Philadelphia Daily News. He can now be seen on the ESPN television program, The Sports Reporters.
Kerrane, a self-described baseball fanatic, said he is a great fan of Conlin's writing. He said he admires Conlin's writing style for his capacity to "...throw it all against the wall and see what sticks" and because Conlin provides a unusual perspective into the world of professional sports.
Kerrane also said he appreciates Conlin as an authority of sport.
"First," Kerrane writes, "there was his analytical eye, his ability to isolate a game's key play and build a narrative around it. Gene Mauch, the Phillies' manager during Conlin's first three years on the beat, tutored him in many of baseball's fine points, and in turn Daily News' readers over the years have absorbed lessons in field strategy, the nuances of pitching and even the craft of cheating."
"Batting Cleanup..." includes tales of ball doctoring and admissions of bat corking, as well as events that literally shook the earth, such as the San Francisco Bay area earthquake of 1989 and the Watts riots of the 1960s.
Although "Batting Cleanup..." includes articles about most spectator sports, the collection consists primarily of Conlin's baseball pieces. Whole chapters are dedicated to baseball: "Hell's Team" recounts the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies quest for a world championship, and "Loving the Game" is a tribute to the game itself and illustrates the elements of the game that remain unaffected by the drawbacks of professionalism.
Kerrane noted that Conlin, who is referred to affectionately as "Moose Conlin" by some of his colleagues, was not always the ball of pudge most people see now. A former King of the Beach champion (a lifeguard competition on the New Jersey shore), Conlin also was a competitive swimmer and football player of distinction. In fact, he earned an athletic scholarship for the Peekskill Military Academy, where he led the team to All-American honors.
Kerrane's own familiarity with athletics is not limited by what he reads in the paper. Interestingly, when he won both games of a double-header as a relief pitcher in a semi-pro league, he mailed the local press clipping to friends of his within the Phillies organization. He was, of course, just having some fun. At the time, Kerrane was working with members of the Phillies organization on another book. He also managed George Thorogood's baseball team, The Delaware Destroyers.
Kerrane's next book, The Art of Fact: An Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism, edited with UD colleague, Ben Yagoda, professor of English, has also just been published by Scribner, New York.
Kerrane received his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He joined the University of Delaware in 1967 as an assistant professor and became a full professor in 1986.
His other books include The Hurlers, published in 1989; Dollar Sign on the Muscle: The World of Baseball Scouting, published in 1984, with revised paperback editions in 1985 and 1989; Baseball Diamonds; Tales, Traces, Visions and Voodoo, Classical Medieval Literary Criticism; Transitions and Interpretations, The Art of Drama and The Art of Modern Drama.
He has written on baseball for the popular press in such publications as Delaware Today and Sports Illustrated and is the author of numerous scholarly works.
Kerrane is recipient of three teaching awards and was a Salzburg Fellow in 1995, studying the impact of media on public policy.
He has worked as a consultant in journalism for the American Press Institute, the Associated Press, the National Writers Workshop and USA Today.
His most recent presentations include "Bill Conlin: The Sports Writer as Journalist" for the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, "Women as War Correspondents" for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and "An American Looks at British Newspapers" for Green College, University of Oxford Reuters Foundation Programme.
"Batting Cleanup, Bill Conlin," 220 pages, costs $27.95 and may be purchased at the University Bookstore.
-Noel Munier
