Straying off topic: Non-baseball writers on baseball, and vice-versa

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t particularly care for Stephen King’s novella, Blockade Billy. I found his co-authored Faithful with Stewart O’Nan much more in my alley. In this Bangor Daily News piece, he discusses his affinity for the game, among other items.

Haruki Murakami, author of such best-sellers as 1Q84, also loves to talk baseball. And for a limited time, you can “discuss” it with him.

From a piece in the Salt Lake Tribune:

A cat lover and a big fan of the underdog Japanese baseball team the Yakult Swallows, Murakami personally suggested those topics, along with likes and dislikes about places, according to the publisher.

But readers can post any questions or “little somethings” they want to tell Murakami — within 1,200 characters. The sessions run through Jan. 31, and Murakami is promising to try to answer as many of them as possible. Questions to Murakami, an avid runner, could also touch on running and his novels.

Murakami himself pitched the first message, titled “from the study,” about baseball. It came with a photo showing figurines of former and current Yakult Swallows sluggers Nori Aoki and Wladimir Balentien, placed side-by-side, on a shelf with jazz record albums in the background. “I wish to see just once the two hitting side-by-side at Jingu.” Jingu is the Swallows’ home stadium.

Now let’s flip it: a baseball personality writing about non-baseball topics: “Rockies radio broadcaster Jack Corrigan combined his love of writing and history with the uplifting story of his father’s participation in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, and the result was his second novel, Night of Destiny: 24 December, 1944.

Tagged as: Haruki Murakami, Jack Corrigan, Stephen King