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H-NET BOOK REVIEW Published for H-DC@h-net.msu.edu (April, 2002) James C. Roberts. _Hardball on the Hill: Baseball Stories from Our Nation's Capitol_. Chicago: Triumph Books, 2001. 258 pp. Index. $22.95 (cloth), ISBN 1-8920-4926-0. Reviewed for H-DC by Joseph M. Turrini, Project Archivist The Catholic University of America Over the past couple of years, interest in baseball in the District of Columbia has increased considerably. George W. Bush, our current president, is a big baseball fan, having gained his first real business success as co-managing partner of the Texas Rangers. Youth tee-ball games held on the White House grounds gained an unusually large amount of publicity in the local press last year. But, most importantly for D.C. baseball enthusiasts, Major League Baseball management appears to be on the verge of returning a major league team to the nation's capital for the first time since Bob Short moved the Washington Senators to Texas in 1971, turning them into the Texas Rangers. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has, on a number of occasions, voiced strong support for the return of major league baseball to the nation's capital. James C. Roberts, author of _Hardball on the Hill_, is well aware of this increased interest in baseball in the District. Roberts is an unabashed baseball enthusiast and Washington, D.C. baseball partisan. He published _Hardball on the Hill_ "partly in the belief that 2001 will be the year major league baseball finally gets the green light to return to Washington" (xi). Though D.C. was not awarded a team in 2001, other recent events should only bolster Roberts' unbridled optimism. The organizing theme of this book is baseball, broadly conceived, in Washington, D.C. According to Roberts, "all the chapters in this book have a Washington connection" (xiii). Half a dozen of the 26 chapters (plus an introduction and an epilogue) that comprise _Hardball on the Hill_ have been published previously in some form in the _Washington Post_, the _Washington Times_, or the _National Pastime_ (published by the Society of American Baseball Researchers). Through these relatively short chapters (5 and 15 pages), Roberts strives to demonstrate the strong and enduring connections between Washington, D.C. and baseball. But Roberts also appears to be making an implicit argument, or at least a plea, for the importance and justness of the return of a major league baseball team to D.C. Roberts finds it appalling, for example, that the "capital of French Canada [Montreal] has a major league baseball team, yet the capital of the United States--where baseball is the national pastime--doesn't" (xi). He considers it nothing less than a "disgrace" because the fans do not support the Montreal Expos and that pitchers and catchers are referred to by their French terms as "lanceurs" and "receveurs" (xi). Roberts' somewhat eclectic chapters are divided into five topical groups. Section I, "In the Past," consists of essays that contain a general historical component. For example, this section includes a good, brief general account of professional baseball in the District (chapter 2, "Last In the American League") and an essay on the intimate connection between the presidency and baseball (chapter 1, "A Capitol Game"). In section II, "On the Hill," Roberts focuses on Capitol Hill politics and baseball. Included in the section are chapters that address congressional attempts to help clear the name of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, a White Sox player tainted by the 1919 "Black Sox" World Series scandal (chapter 10, "Pinch Hitting for Shoeless Joe") and an article on baseball great and later U.S. Senator from Kentucky, Jim Bunning (chapter 13, "The Mound, The Hill, and the Hall"). Section III, "Around Town and Beyond," includes a small collection of baseball oddities, some from outside the immediate Beltway area. The chapters in Section IV, "Personalities," are biographies of important baseball-related celebrities. It contains chapters on President George W. Bush, Pete Rose, Pete Rose, Jr., and Harry Carey. Finally, Section V, "On and Off the Field," includes essays that are primarily focused on youth baseball in the D.C. area, including personal accounts of the author as tee-ball coach. Roberts' enthusiasm for baseball and D.C. is evident throughout the book. He is at his best as a storyteller when describing little known and sometimes-odd D.C. related baseball stories. For example, in chapter 9, "Hardball on the Hill," Roberts tells us about the Congressional baseball game between Republicans and Democrats that first took place in 1909 and has occurred annually since 1962. Other essays that stand out as thoughtful and insightful include a chapter on a rather unique local minor league baseball team in New Market, Virginia (chapter 17, "Shenendoah Baseball in the Valley League") and one that delves into the unusual life of Moe Berg, the major league catcher who was later a CIA spy (chapter 15, "Spooks, Odd Lots, and Fnu-Lnus). These are delightful, informative, and creative glimpses into off-the-beaten-path connections between baseball and the District. Perhaps the most compelling essay in the book is the epilogue, which is a touching biographical essay on James Trimble III, a pitching star at D.C.'s St. Albans prep school in the early 1940s. The St. Albans Saints never lost a game with Trimble on the mound (although they did tie once with Woodrow Wilson High School). Although Trimble planned on attending Duke University after high school, Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith was so impressed that he signed Trimble to a $5,000 signing bonus and agreed to pay his tuition to Duke in the hope that Trimble would delay college and eventually join the Senators minor league system. Instead, Trimble enlisted in the U.S. Marines in early 1944 and was subsequently killed in combat. Roberts recounts Trimble's impressive high school exploits and his short time in the U.S. Marines. Roberts' spirited interest in baseball and the District and his tightly focused writing make much of the book entertaining and relevant reading. Most important, in many chapters Roberts is telling us interesting stories that we are unlikely to have heard elsewhere. But the collection is painfully uneven. There are numerous chapters that have only the slightest connection to the District. One must wonder, for example, how a chapter on the difficult career path of Pete Rose, Jr. (chapter 21, "The Lonely Quest of Pete Rose, Jr.") is connected to D.C. Likewise, a number of other essays, including an interesting article on World War II era female baseball player Claire Donohue (chapter 5, "A League of Her Own"), appear to have no substantial connection to D.C. either. While the collection contains many tightly focused and interesting essays, it also includes chapters that meander along with little focus. The weaker pieces read at times like a series of loosely connected anecdotes. Roberts claims, for instance, that the "91-year-old custom of the president throwing out the first ball of the season" provides the nation's capital with a relationship to baseball that "no other city can boast." But the article on the connection between the presidency and baseball, "A Capital Game" (chapter #1), degenerates quickly into an encyclopedic president-by-president recap of presidential first pitch throwing and never really attempts to explain why this might be important to the District. Roberts' genuine interest and excitement for baseball is apparent not only in his writing of the book, but also in his life. His deeply personal connection to the game is especially evident in a couple of chapters devoted to youth baseball in the D.C. area, one directly recounting to his own coaching experiences. Readers, however, may find these chapters a bit too local and personal to hold their attention. Although the essays are uneven in content and fail to stay within the organizational scope of the book, _Hardball on the Hill_ has much to offer D.C. area baseball boosters. Very little has been published in book form on Washington, D.C. baseball and its teams. Morris Beale's _Washington Senators_ was published in 1947 and Shirley Povich's _Washington Senators_ in 1954. The next spate of D.C. baseball publishing is quite recent, with _They've Stolen Our team!: A Chronology and Recollection of the 1960 Washington Senators_ by David Gough in 1997, _Washington's Expansion Senators (1961-1971)_ by James R. Hartley in 1998, and _Washington Senators, 1901-1971_ in 2001 by Tom Deveaux. Many of Roberts' stories will enlighten even the most fanatical D.C. baseball trivia buffs while simultaneously being accessible to casual fans. Roberts may be a bit blinded by his own D.C. partisanship and fanaticism for baseball, however. He clearly feels that D.C. is a baseball town that deserves a major league baseball team. But by Roberts' own admission, the city has not always supported the professional baseball teams it has had. Moreover, considering the overwhelming, consistent, and sometimes even rabid fan support of the Washington Redskins, it could be argued that Washington, D.C. is not a baseball town at all--but rather, a football--obsessed town. It is really much less certain that a baseball team in D.C., especially considering the proximity of the Baltimore Orioles, could do as well as Roberts seems sure it would. However, considering the recent comments of commissioner Bud Selig, it seems very likely that Roberts and other supporters of major league baseball in the District will get their wish, and we well find out soon enough if D.C. is really the baseball town that Roberts argues it is. Copyright 2002 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For other uses contact the Reviews editorial staff: hbooks@mail.h-net.msu.edu. [LC Catalog record: Personal Name: Roberts, James C., 1946- Main Title: Hardball on the Hill : baseball stories from our nation's capital / James C. Roberts. Published/Created: Chicago : Triumph Books, c2001. Description: xiv, 258 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. ISBN: 1892049260 Notes: Includes index. Subjects: Baseball--Washington (D.C.)--History. LC Classification: GV863.W18 R63 2001 Dewey Class No.: 796.357/64/09753 21 --Ed.] Matthew Gilmore H-DC list co-editor, web editor dc-edit@mail.h-net.msu.edu http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~dclist/ [list website] http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/lists/subscribe.cgi?list=H-DC [subscribe to H-DC] Remember to check http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=lm&list=h-dc for past list messages.
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