Eric C. Gray's Blog

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 experience about trying to get from DC to Boston to see his Cardinals at Fenway Park. It is in Bases to Bleachers, as is a story from his aunt.The connections with Ari and his family continued.  Ari contributed another great tale to my second book, Backyards to Ballparks, as did his brother and uncle. And so did his mom, Ellen. In the first of many emails, Ellen said: “I am not exactly sure if this is my story or my son’s to share”.

In October 2019, Robin Young, from NPR’s Here and Now, interviewed me for my first book, Bases to Bleachers. I received a couple of emails as a result, one from a woman named Nancy Haskett, telling me how she had bought my book after hearing the interview, and including her own personal story. It was about participating in a Civil War re-enactment with her son’s family working in the commissary and serving food.
It was a great story, and I told her that when the book arrived, she should turn to page 259, a terrific story that would remind her of her own. But her name sounded familiar to me, so before I sent the email, I checked my files, and sure enough, she had emailed me several years before.

I recently spoke to Bill of Top Fan Rivalry about my love for bothe the Giants and the Mets.  You can listen to the Podcast.

Walking on the beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 2015, Lynn and I met a guy wearing a Colorado Rockies hat. Because I never miss an opportunity to talk with someone about baseball, I started talking with Luke. He told me that his cousin, close like a brother, might have a great story to share. When Luke gave me Gregg’s email address, he cautioned me to be very delicate and sensitive when I contacted him. When I spoke with Gregg, he appreciated Luke’s admonition, but he was open to discussing the story and allow me to use it for the book.  You can find it on P. 6. in the chapter Generation to Generation: Family and Baseball.

Soon after I started this project, I became acquainted with Dan, who sat in the seats in the row right in front of me.  We would chat during the game about the Giants, work, and trying to marry off my daughter to one of his friends; of course, I would periodically bring up my book, and the possibility of a story. Then, at a game in 2011, the season after the Giants first of three World Series Titles, Dan turned around and said, “You are in my living room”. 



Dan's incredible story involves his grandfather Frank, a Giants fan from NY to San Francisco, who was in the Air Force during World War II and carried a miniature baseball glove, given to him by his wife. You can find the story in the chapter What Baseball means to Me on page 147. 

One day early in the 2013 season, I went down to speak to the ball dude who was working the game that day and briefly relayed a story.  I asked if he had a story he would like to share.  And he quickly said yes.  I gave him my email address and was unsure if I would hear from him.  I did.

Gary Fralick (Frano)’s story just made me cry.  You will find it in the chapter Home Runs on p.244. If you have the book, read it before you read the rest of this piece.  It was beautiful.  The power of doing the right thing, which can be just a simple gesture, and how it affected, by my count, five lives, including his own.   And all the adulation he got for just doing that simple thing which, to him, was, well, what he thought anyone should/would do.  Just an amazing story.

One day early in the 2013 season, I went down to speak to the ball dude who was working the game that day and briefly relayed a story.  I asked if he had a story he would like to share.  And he quickly said yes.  I gave him my email address and was unsure if I would hear from him.  I did.

Gary Fralick (Frano)’s story just made me cry.  You will find it in the chapter Home Runs on p.244. If you have the book, read it before you read the rest of this piece.  It was beautiful.  The power of doing the right thing, which can be just a simple gesture, and how it affected, by my count, five lives, including his own.   And all the adulation he got for just doing that simple thing which, to him, was, well, what he thought anyone should/would do.  Just an amazing story.

As Lynn and I were in a van taking us from our vacation spot in Cabo San Lucas to the airport, I started talking (rinse and repeat, see my other pieces) with Marie and Larry, visiting from Seattle, about the book.   Naturally, I didn’t recall that we had ridden IN from the airport with them a week earlier, but I pushed through my embarrassment and peppered them with questions nevertheless.  Marie said she would send me a story.  Oh, she did, and you can find it on p. 241  in the chapter Home Runs!

Lynn and I were on our way to Washington, D.C., to visit our son David, and his girlfriend Lisa, in November 2015.  We were sitting in adjoining aisle seats, and a nice young woman, Anna, had the misfortune of sitting in the seat next to me.  It has been well documented, by self-admission, how I will talk to any unfortunate soul within range about this book.  On this flight, Anna was my target...When the plane landed, and I turned on my phone to check my email; imagine to my great shock and delight, I had received a long-anticipated email from Lisa with the wonderful story (that involved me) which you can find in the chapter Triples on p.232!  I read it through, smiling the entire way at my own expense, and turned to Anna.  “Look”, I said, “this is amazing, this is the story I told you I was waiting for, look at the date, it is today”  As promised by Anna, I also  got a great story from her boyfriend Billy which is in the chapter Love and Baseball, on p.45.

 

The greatest and most unexpected positive outcome of writing this book has been the making of new, good friendships.  I have detailed some of them already in other posts, and, as Sonny and Cher sang in 1967, The Beat Goes On.  Four or five years ago, I connected with a guy on one of the Facebook baseball groups I had joined.  I contacted Rick Lenaburg on Messenger, or whatever it was called at the time, telling him about my book project and asking if he had a story he would be interested in sharing. You can find Rick's story on page 213, in the chapter Triples.