It’s been quite a postseason. I wanted to share some excerpts from a post that the fabulous Bobbi Dumas wrote for Kirkus Reviews: “Since I’m a huge postseason baseball fan (especially when the Royals are in the mix), I thought I’d check in with some of my favorite baseball romance authors—though there are more of them than there are teams in the playoffs, so I couldn’t get to them all. But I did manage to catch a few, with some surprising results! Jennifer Bernard’s Love Between the Bases series features the Kilby Catfish, a Texas Triple A minor league team. The first title, All of Me, came out in May, which will be followed by Caught By You on Dec. 29. Bernard created a strong fan base with her smart, sexy firemen series, and they definitely approve of her new baseball heroes. The conflicts simply sizzle, and seriously, who can resist a baseball player? But when Bernard and I had a quick call for this post, she surprised me: “Before we talk about books or playoffs, I have to tell you about this incredible exhibit I just saw in Anchorage!”
Bernard lives in Homer, Alaska, and since she’s a big baseball fan, she was enthralled to learn about the history of baseball in her state. “It’s so fascinating! People were really starting to settle into Alaska around the same time that baseball was getting started. The late 1800s and the early 1900s. So there are these amazing stories of how people played baseball in the great, cold North. There are pictures of people using snowshoes to play, and anecdotes about whalers getting stuck in Alaska at the first freeze, not being able to leave until July. So one of the things they did was spread ash onto sea ice so they could play baseball. Who knew?” she told me.
Indeed, who knew. Included in the exhibit was information on some revered players who made appearances in The Last Frontier, like Satchel Paige and Roger Clemens. I admit it, I’m intrigued. You can learn more of the story at the Home Field Advantage: Baseball in the Far North exhibit page. And if you’re in Alaska, visit the Anchorage Museum. (Pamela’s note- My husband played in his youth days for the Glacier Pilots in Anchorage. Dave Kingman and many other great players have come out of the league up there. In fact the year my husband played, nine guys on the team went on to eventually play in the major leagues).
But back to Jennifer’s take on baseball in the here-and-now: “First off, in my lifetime, I’ve been a fan of half the teams in the playoffs. I was originally a Cardinals fan. My dad introduced me to the game, and my childhood memories with him revolved around the Cards. But we moved around a lot, and I have been at different times a fan of the Dodgers, the Astros, the Mets and the Cubs. However, I think this year, I have to go for the Cubs. It’s been so long and they’ve been playing so well. And, well, it’s the Cubs. Now they’re fighting for the pennant! Go Cubs!”