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Eric C. Gray

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

https://basestobleachers.com/

Genre

Sports

Member Since

July 2019

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Who am I, and why should you read my book? Good questions. I have written poetry and song lyrics mostly for my own amusement and training projects related to my job, but I am guessing THAT is not why you will buy this book. I wrote for a short-lived on-line baseball magazine and would be happy to share those essays with you, but, again, THAT won’t draw you to this book!

This is a book of stories that everyone can relate to, baseball fan or not, stories that make you remember something from your life, stories that make you wish you had been there. The inspiration for this book came from a nice afternoon at the ballpark, when I asked my wife, daughter and friend “what is your favorite game that you have been to?” That question took on a life o Who am I, and why should you read my book? Good questions. I have written poetry and song lyrics mostly for my own amusement and training projects related to my job, but I am guessing THAT is not why you will buy this book. I wrote for a short-lived on-line baseball magazine and would be happy to share those essays with you, but, again, THAT won’t draw you to this book!

This is a book of stories that everyone can relate to, baseball fan or not, stories that make you remember something from your life, stories that make you wish you had been there. The inspiration for this book came from a nice afternoon at the ballpark, when I asked my wife, daughter and friend “what is your favorite game that you have been to?” That question took on a life of its own and changed my life in ways I never could have anticipated. The result is Bases to Bleachers: A Collection of Personal Baseball Stories from the Stands and Beyond. It is filled with stories that moved me…to tears, to laughter, to remember my own experiences in greater detail. These are the stories from people who you and I pass on the street every day, but don’t get a chance to meet, ask them questions, or hear about their experiences. That’s exactly what I did, for me, for you. I spent eight years meeting people, making friends, and collecting their stories. And I got 1250 of them, from more than 700 story contributors. We all have our favorite memories, and I was the lucky recipient of some amazing ones from people just like you and me. I gut-wrenchingly narrowed them down to about 300 for this book,

I am originally from Plainview, New York, and earned my BA from SUNY New Paltz. I came to San Francisco in 1974, where I soon began a 39-year career at the U.S. Department of Labor, administering job training and employment programs for disadvantaged youth, most of that time spent with the Job Corps program. I met my future wife, Lynn Rhodes, on my first day at the Department of Labor and never moved back to NY. Lynn and I have two adult children, Rachel in San Francisco and David in Washington, D.C. We are all baseball fans, along with David’s wife, Lisa. My hobbies include rock and roll, following politics, playing and watching baseball and basketball, hiking, and hanging out with friends and family. This is my first book, but it won’t be my last. I am already well on my way to a second volume of my baseball book, having saved some amazing stories and chapters for the next one. I am always soliciting more stories, so if my book brings your own great story to mind and you would like to contribute it for my next book, share it with me at eric.baseballstories@gmail.com.

As a big music fan, I am also beginning to collect similar personal memories from folks of their experiences at concerts of any music genre, or any other music-related story that you might want to share with readers. Send these to me at eric.concertstories@gmail.com.

A random question asked at a ballgame in April 2011 became a project which has been a labor of love. I hope you love these stories as much as I do.

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Eric C. Gray’s books

Average rating: 4.72 · 85 ratings · 45 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	Bases to Bleachers: A Collection of Personal Baseball Stories from the Stands and Beyond 4.66 avg rating — 61 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Backyards to Ballparks: More Personal Baseball Stories from the Stands and Beyond 4.88 avg rating — 24 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Eric C. Gray's Blog

The story behind getting to know Ellen and Ari Stein

Sometime around 2012, I was at a Giants game, in the upper deck, not my usual seats. And I did what I always did, especially in the early days of the project, I looked for people to talk to who might have a story. And so it was on this day with a young man at this game against the Cardinals. Ari was there, donning Cards’ apparel, with his aunt. Ari gave me a whopping, almost “Out-of Towners” type Read more of this blog post »

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Published on November 10, 2023 16:00

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Bases to Bleachers: A Collection of Personal Baseball Stories from the Stands and Beyond

by Eric C. Gray (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

read in September 2019

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Jul 16, 2021 04:26PM

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Eric Gray rated a book it was amazing Cupid Wore Snow Boots by Murray Siegel (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Browsing through a list of recent books, I came across one with the odd title Cupid wore Snow Boots. Who wouldn’t be curious about a title like that? I read a little bit about it and decided to give it a try. What a terrific find! Cupid is a charming ...more
Dec 02, 2024 12:03PM · 2 likes · like · see review

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