Catch: An Oral History

My first memory is playing baseball in the backyard when I was three years old. My father used to come home from work, gather me up, and take me outside with the wiffle ball set. He’d toss the ball, and spend his evening tracking down everything I hit.

Those backyard nights have defined our relationship since.

Throughout the years, that got me thinking. I wonder how many other people have those same stories? How many of you can define your relationships through the lens of our national pastime?

I don’t know the answer. But I have a sneaking suspicion it’s quite a few.

That’s the genesis of this project:Catch: An Oral History of Fathers, Sons, Mothers, Daughters and Baseball,  a yearlong writing experiment in which I’m going ask people to tell me stories about how baseball has shaped the relationships that have with people in their lives.

Here’s how it will work: I’ll interview people from across the country, transcribe what they say, do some light editing to make sure it’s coherent, and let them tell you their story.

If you’re interested in following the project, you can LIKE the Facebook page. And if you’re interested in contributing your story, you can contact me through this website.