Actually, I take that back.
If these authors had excelled on the diamond, they would have just been a few out of thousands. But as it turns out, baseball’s loss was literature’s gain.
According a Mental Floss blog entry on “11 prominent authors who excelled in sports”:
Prior to his career as New Journalist and writer, Tom Wolfe’s foremost aspiration was to play professional baseball. After starring on the mound at Richmond’s St. Christopher’s School, Wolfe found himself on the pitching staff at Washington and Lee University. Possessing, in his own words, “a great screwball,” he would go on to play a couple of seasons of semi-professional baseball until 1952, when he was granted a tryout for the New York Giants. Having been cut by the Giants after only 3 days, which he attributes to a lack of a fastball, the writer was prompted to forgo his baseball dreams and pursue a PhD in American Studies at Yale.
Upon reflection of his failed diamond pursuits, Wolfe remarked, “The only thing that saved me from a very poor career as a professional baseball player is the fact that I wasn’t good enough.”
Personally, I find it difficult to envision Wolf, known for his tendency towards stylish attire, as an athlete. I’d certainly be interested in reading a Wolf baseball novel.
MF also honorably mentions Stephen “Red Badge of Courage” Crane: “he played baseball as a catcher at three different colleges: Claverack, Lafayette, and Syracuse.”
is available on Amazon.com,
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Check Peter Morris’ wonderful book Catcher, for more about Stephen Crane’s catching career.
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