Remember Clarinda A's who used to post here?:
Author Michael Tackett visited Clarinda’s Lied Library Wednesday evening.
Tackett wrote “The Baseball Whisperer: A Small Town Coach who Shaped Big League Dreams,” the story of Merl Eberly and his Clarinda A’s baseball team. The book was released Tuesday.
The book details the growth of the A’s baseball program under the direction of former coach and general manager Eberly. Over the course of five decades, Eberly transformed the Clarinda A’s from a town team to a collegiate summer league powerhouse.
“Merl Eberly created a real-life Field of Dreams. From his small town of Clarinda, Iowa, he built a national baseball powerhouse that produced three dozen major leaguers, including a Hall of Famer, and more than three hundred players who signed professional contracts.
He helped to develop thousands of others, not just to become better players but also better people,” according to the foreword of the book.
One of those major league players was pitcher Bud Black. Following a 15-year playing career, Black served as the pitching coach of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from 2000 to 2006. He then spent more than eight seasons as manager of the San Diego Padres and, in 2010, was named National League Manager of the Year.
“In reading ‘The Baseball Whisperer,’ I was able to relive two glorious summers that had such a profound impact on both my personal and professional life,” Black said. “Merl, Mrs. E and the entire Clarinda community will always have a special place in my heart. To this day I still love telling stories about my time as a Clarinda A.”
Besides Black, Eberly helped develop Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith, star Von Hayes and scores of other major league players. In the process, Eberly taught them to be men – insisting on hard work, integrity and responsibility.
However, “The Baseball Whisperer” is more than a book about ballplayers who landed in the nation’s agricultural heartland. The book is the story of a coach who put character and dedication first, and reminded us of the best, purest form of baseball excellence.
“Michael Tackett takes us to a wonderful place and time in his heartwarming story about the small-town man who made big baseball dreams come true,” said Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist and ABC News, CNN and PBS commentator. “The story of summer league baseball is the story of the American heartland, and Tackett has captured it beautifully.”
Eberly and his wife, Pat, had discussed writing a book about the Clarinda A’s, their family and growing up in Clarinda for several years. After her husband’s death in 2011, Pat Eberly consulted with her family and the decision was made to proceed with the book.
Seeking guidance on the project, Eberly turned to Tackett. An award-winning journalist, Tackett was uniquely qualified to help share the story because his son, Lee, played for the Clarinda A’s in 2010.
Tackett said the experience his son had playing for the A’s helped serve as his inspiration for the book.
After playing a year in college, Lee was released by his team. Devastated by the experience, Tackett said his son wrote more than 100 college summer teams seeking a chance at redemption. The only team to respond was the Clarinda A’s.
“The experience turned out to restorative, both in the context of baseball and in life,” Tackett said. “He did well, against very strong competition, and he learned that there were a lot of people who were willing to give of their time and emotional energy to help baseball players chase their dream.”
Tackett is an editor in the Washington Bureau of The New York Times. Previously, he was a managing editor of Bloomberg, the Washington bureau chief of the Chicago Tribune and a national editor for U.S. News & World Report. “The Baseball Whisperer” is his first book.
Tackett began writing the book late in 2012, around when he began seeking an agent and to market the book. Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt was eventually selected as the publisher.
To help tell the inspiring story, Tackett and Eberly spoke with family, friends, college coaches, former players, house parents and board members about Merl Eberly and the importance of the program to Clarinda. Tackett also conducted extensive research on the history of the city and the program, while Pat Eberly sorted through her library of clippings and pictures including several columns Merl Eberly wrote over the years for the Clarinda Herald-Journal and the team newsletter, The Dugout News.
“Over time, a very clear picture emerged of a man who believed in providing opportunity, who demanded hard work and high standards but also of a man who walked that walk,” Tackett said.
http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news...cle_d5292df2-0d48-5f70-98b5-b9603b6bb143.html
Author Michael Tackett visited Clarinda’s Lied Library Wednesday evening.
Tackett wrote “The Baseball Whisperer: A Small Town Coach who Shaped Big League Dreams,” the story of Merl Eberly and his Clarinda A’s baseball team. The book was released Tuesday.
The book details the growth of the A’s baseball program under the direction of former coach and general manager Eberly. Over the course of five decades, Eberly transformed the Clarinda A’s from a town team to a collegiate summer league powerhouse.
“Merl Eberly created a real-life Field of Dreams. From his small town of Clarinda, Iowa, he built a national baseball powerhouse that produced three dozen major leaguers, including a Hall of Famer, and more than three hundred players who signed professional contracts.
He helped to develop thousands of others, not just to become better players but also better people,” according to the foreword of the book.
One of those major league players was pitcher Bud Black. Following a 15-year playing career, Black served as the pitching coach of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from 2000 to 2006. He then spent more than eight seasons as manager of the San Diego Padres and, in 2010, was named National League Manager of the Year.
“In reading ‘The Baseball Whisperer,’ I was able to relive two glorious summers that had such a profound impact on both my personal and professional life,” Black said. “Merl, Mrs. E and the entire Clarinda community will always have a special place in my heart. To this day I still love telling stories about my time as a Clarinda A.”
Besides Black, Eberly helped develop Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith, star Von Hayes and scores of other major league players. In the process, Eberly taught them to be men – insisting on hard work, integrity and responsibility.
However, “The Baseball Whisperer” is more than a book about ballplayers who landed in the nation’s agricultural heartland. The book is the story of a coach who put character and dedication first, and reminded us of the best, purest form of baseball excellence.
“Michael Tackett takes us to a wonderful place and time in his heartwarming story about the small-town man who made big baseball dreams come true,” said Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist and ABC News, CNN and PBS commentator. “The story of summer league baseball is the story of the American heartland, and Tackett has captured it beautifully.”
Eberly and his wife, Pat, had discussed writing a book about the Clarinda A’s, their family and growing up in Clarinda for several years. After her husband’s death in 2011, Pat Eberly consulted with her family and the decision was made to proceed with the book.
Seeking guidance on the project, Eberly turned to Tackett. An award-winning journalist, Tackett was uniquely qualified to help share the story because his son, Lee, played for the Clarinda A’s in 2010.
Tackett said the experience his son had playing for the A’s helped serve as his inspiration for the book.
After playing a year in college, Lee was released by his team. Devastated by the experience, Tackett said his son wrote more than 100 college summer teams seeking a chance at redemption. The only team to respond was the Clarinda A’s.
“The experience turned out to restorative, both in the context of baseball and in life,” Tackett said. “He did well, against very strong competition, and he learned that there were a lot of people who were willing to give of their time and emotional energy to help baseball players chase their dream.”
Tackett is an editor in the Washington Bureau of The New York Times. Previously, he was a managing editor of Bloomberg, the Washington bureau chief of the Chicago Tribune and a national editor for U.S. News & World Report. “The Baseball Whisperer” is his first book.
Tackett began writing the book late in 2012, around when he began seeking an agent and to market the book. Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt was eventually selected as the publisher.
To help tell the inspiring story, Tackett and Eberly spoke with family, friends, college coaches, former players, house parents and board members about Merl Eberly and the importance of the program to Clarinda. Tackett also conducted extensive research on the history of the city and the program, while Pat Eberly sorted through her library of clippings and pictures including several columns Merl Eberly wrote over the years for the Clarinda Herald-Journal and the team newsletter, The Dugout News.
“Over time, a very clear picture emerged of a man who believed in providing opportunity, who demanded hard work and high standards but also of a man who walked that walk,” Tackett said.
http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news...cle_d5292df2-0d48-5f70-98b5-b9603b6bb143.html
