Much to the chagrin of Major League
Baseball and baseball coaches at every level, the sport has pretty much been
abandoned by the black youth of America's inner cities. This is not a new problem, and Major League
executives have thrown a lot of money at the problem in recent years by
building youth ballparks and providing equipment to teams willing to give the
sport a shot.
But, as Jonathan Schuppe points out
in A Chance to Win, largely due to
peer pressure, black kids are still reluctant to take up the game. They consider it a "white" sport
and by huge margins give their attention to basketball and football
instead. Schuppe points out, too, that
baseball is a sport whose skills are most often passed on directly from father
to son. This is a huge handicap in an
environment in which fathers are, more often than not, not living in the same
home as their children - and are unlikely to have learned the game from their
own fathers, in the first place.
Rodney Mason, a Newark kid now in his
forties, knew early on that he was good at baseball. He was a prized pitcher on his high school
team, and had the potential to parley his baseball skills into a bright future
for himself. Unfortunately, Rodney was
also pretty good at dealing drugs from a local street corner - but, as Rodney
would eventually learn, a "pretty good" drug dealer does not stay out
of trouble forever.
Although Rodney's drug dealing always
did have the potential for getting him
killed, his undoing actually came at the hands of a rival who targeted Rodney
for a drive-by shooting because of their dispute over a woman. Rodney survived the shooting but woke up
paralyzed from the waist down. His
baseball-playing days might have been over - but Rodney was soon back out on
the street dealing drugs from his wheelchair.
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| Jonathan Schuppe |
Then, when the city of Newark decided
to clean up the old ball field across the street from Rodney's apartment, he
decided to get involved. He hoped that
baseball, the only thing he was ever exceptional at in his life, could save him
before it was too late. He hoped to use
baseball to save a few of the neighborhood kids from the street life that had
crippled him - and in the process to turn his own life around. But it would not be easy - and A Chance to Win explains why.
Over the course of a couple of
seasons, the book closely follows "Coach Rock," two of his better
players, and the father of two other players as they struggle mightily to turn
their hopes into reality. For all of
them, it turns out to be a case of "two steps forward and one step
back." Life might be stacked
against the Newark Eagles, but baseball gives them a chance to make the most of
their potential rather than simply succumbing to the city's street life. Theirs is a touching story with a message of
hope. Baseball is their "chance to
win."
(Review Copy provided by Publisher)
