Jun 13-15, 2008
Bill Lee pitched in the Majors for 14 years and still loves the game. A philosopher, storyteller, and coach, he wants the movie of his life to be called Oh, Fastball, Where Art Thou? He wants the return of Sunday double-headers and nickel hot dogs and beers, but no astro-turf, domed stadiums, or designated hitters.
After hearing stories and getting to know each other on Friday night, on Saturday we will wake up, stretch, eat breakfast, and head outside to play ball. We’ll learn the fundamentals of each position. Baseball is a science as well as a game, and Bill has been studying it all his life. He has a philosophy of sport that puts friendship ahead of competition. He wanted to be a Zen Buddhist, but it’s hard if you start out Catholic and hate the Yankees.
He knows how to coach kids, including problem kids; coaching and storytelling are two of the ways he identifies himself these days. By taking care of himself, he’s able to keep playing anywhere he can find a game, barnstorming like a modern Satchel Paige. He knows a lot about bodies and how to take care of them, and he knows that gravity is the enemy, which is why he’s so funny. This playshop is limited to 25 adults so everyone will be able to play. Kids who love baseball are welcome for half their accompanying adult’s fee. There’s a $25 surcharge per person for this gathering, which includes Father’s Day.
Bill “Spaceman” Lee pitched for the Boston Red Sox from 1969 to 1979 and the Montreal Expos from 1980 to 1982. He was intensely competitive, and his attitude on the field was pure business; he was respected by fellow players and is one of the most popular players in Red Sox history. He wrote The Wrong Stuff; Have Glove, Will Travel; and The Little Red (Sox) Book and has been the subject of two videos: Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey and High and Outside. The 1988 presidential candidate for the Rhinoceros Party, he has been called “the most subversive man ever to play baseball” and “Baseball’s all-time best Bolshevik anarchist pot-smoking hippie environmentalist New Age hurler.” The Ace from Space says, “Baseball is the belly-button of our society. Straighten out baseball, and you straighten out the rest of the world.” and “You should enter a ballpark the way you enter a church.”