Baseball & the World

Bill Lee

Jun 18-20, 2010

Bill Lee pitched in the major leagues for 14 years for the Red Sox and the Expos back in the seventies and eighties. He still loves the game. As Bill sees it, “Baseball is the belly-button of our society. Straighten out baseball, and you straighten out the rest of the world.” A philosopher, storyteller, and coach, he longs for the return of Sunday double-headers and nickel hot dogs and ten cent beers; a world with no Astroturf, domed stadiums, or designated hitters.

After hearing stories and getting to know each other Friday night, on Saturday participants will wake up, stretch, eat breakfast, and head outside to play ball. Come learn the fundamentals of each position and put your body in motion (slower for some but moving forward).

Baseball, Bill says, is a science as well as a game, and it’s one he’s been studying his entire life. He has a philosophy of sport that puts friendship ahead of competition. Indeed, he has claimed he wanted be a Zen Buddhist, but says it was hard “starting out Catholic and hating the Yankees.”

Coaching and storytelling are two of the ways he identifies himself these days and he has a special knack coaching the young, including those labeled “problem kids.” By taking care of himself, he’s able to keep playing anywhere he can find a game, barnstorming like a modern-day 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. An intense competitor whose attitude on the field was pure business, Bill was respected by fellow players and is among the most popular teammates in Red Sox history. His books include The Wrong Stuff; Have Glove, Will Travel; and The Little Red (Sox) Book and he has been the subject of two films: Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey and High and Outside. The 1988 presidential candidate of the Rhinoceros Party, he has been called “the most subversive man ever to play baseball.”