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The Diamond: Baseball Writings of Mark Harris
A collection of short nonfiction baseball writings contains pieces written between 1946 and 1993 about subjects including Pete Rose, Willie Mays, and Jackie Robinson, along with the entire screenplay for the author's famous work Bang the Drum Slowly.
304 pages, Paperback
First published June 13, 1994
10 people want to read
About the author
Mark Harris
253 books25 followersHarris was born Mark Harris Finkelstein in Mount Vernon, New York, to Carlyle and Ruth (Klausner) Finkelstein. At the age of 11, he began keeping a diary, which he would maintain for every day of his life thereafter.
After graduating in 1940 from Mount Vernon High School, he dropped his surname because "it was a difficult time for kids with Jewish names to get jobs." He subsequently went to work for Paul Winkler's Press Alliance news agency in New York City as a messenger and mimeograph operator.
He was drafted into the United States Army in January 1943. His growing opposition to war and his anger at the prevalence of racial discrimination in the Army led him to go AWOL from Camp Wheeler, Georgia, in February 1944. He was soon arrested and then hospitalized for psychoneurosis. He was honorably discharged in April 1944. His wartime experience formed the basis for two of his novels, Trumpet to the World (1946) and Something About a Soldier (1957).
Harris joined The Daily Item of Port Chester, New York, as a reporter in May 1944. A year later he accepted a position with PM in New York City but was fired after two months. In July 1945 he was hired by the International News Service and moved to St. Louis. While there, he met coworker Josephine Horen, whom he would marry in March 1946. After resigning in July 1946, he spent the next year and a half in a succession of short-lived journalism jobs in Albuquerque, New Mexico (Albuquerque Journal), Chicago (Negro Digest and Ebony), and New York (Park Row News Service).
In February 1948, Harris abandoned journalism to enroll in the University of Denver, from which he received a Master's degree in English in 1951 as well as obtaining a PhD in American Studies from the University of Minnesota in 1956.
In September 1956, he was hired by the English department of San Francisco State College, where he taught until 1967. He went on to teach at several other universities, including Purdue, California Institute of the Arts, the University of Southern California, and the University of Pittsburgh. In September 1980, he joined the faculty of Arizona State, where he was a professor of English and taught in the creative writing program until his retirement in 2001.
His first novel, Trumpet to the World, is the story of a young black soldier married to a white woman who is put on trial for striking back at a white officer, was published in 1946, and he continued to produce novels and contribute to periodicals through the years. In 1960, while in his first college teaching position, Harris promoted his then-most-recent book in a TV appearance as guest contestant in "You Bet Your Life", a game played on The Groucho Show.
In January 1962, Something About a Soldier, a stage version of Harris's novel, played briefly on Broadway. Written by Ernest Kinoy and produced by the Theatre Guild, it featured Sal Mineo in the lead role. Later, the novel Bang the Drum Slowly was adapted into a stage play at the Next Theatre in Evanston, Illinois.
Harris died of complications of Alzheimer's disease at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital at age 84. He was survived by his wife, Josephine Horen; his sister, Martha; two sons, one daughter, and three grandchildren.
Harris was best known for a quartet of novels about baseball players: The Southpaw (1953), Bang the Drum Slowly (1956), A Ticket for a Seamstitch (1957), and It Looked Like For Ever (1979). Written in the vernacular, the books are the account of Henry "Author" Wiggen, a pitcher for the fictional New York Mammoths. In 1956, Bang the Drum Slowly was adapted for an installment of the dramatic television anthology series The United States Steel Hour; starring Paul Newman as Wiggen and Albert Salmi as doomed catcher Bruce Pearson. The novel also became a major motion picture in 1973, with a screenplay written by Harris, directed by John D. Hancock and featuring Michael Moriarty as Wiggen and Robert De Niro as Pearson.
After graduating in 1940 from Mount Vernon High School, he dropped his surname because "it was a difficult time for kids with Jewish names to get jobs." He subsequently went to work for Paul Winkler's Press Alliance news agency in New York City as a messenger and mimeograph operator.
He was drafted into the United States Army in January 1943. His growing opposition to war and his anger at the prevalence of racial discrimination in the Army led him to go AWOL from Camp Wheeler, Georgia, in February 1944. He was soon arrested and then hospitalized for psychoneurosis. He was honorably discharged in April 1944. His wartime experience formed the basis for two of his novels, Trumpet to the World (1946) and Something About a Soldier (1957).
Harris joined The Daily Item of Port Chester, New York, as a reporter in May 1944. A year later he accepted a position with PM in New York City but was fired after two months. In July 1945 he was hired by the International News Service and moved to St. Louis. While there, he met coworker Josephine Horen, whom he would marry in March 1946. After resigning in July 1946, he spent the next year and a half in a succession of short-lived journalism jobs in Albuquerque, New Mexico (Albuquerque Journal), Chicago (Negro Digest and Ebony), and New York (Park Row News Service).
In February 1948, Harris abandoned journalism to enroll in the University of Denver, from which he received a Master's degree in English in 1951 as well as obtaining a PhD in American Studies from the University of Minnesota in 1956.
In September 1956, he was hired by the English department of San Francisco State College, where he taught until 1967. He went on to teach at several other universities, including Purdue, California Institute of the Arts, the University of Southern California, and the University of Pittsburgh. In September 1980, he joined the faculty of Arizona State, where he was a professor of English and taught in the creative writing program until his retirement in 2001.
His first novel, Trumpet to the World, is the story of a young black soldier married to a white woman who is put on trial for striking back at a white officer, was published in 1946, and he continued to produce novels and contribute to periodicals through the years. In 1960, while in his first college teaching position, Harris promoted his then-most-recent book in a TV appearance as guest contestant in "You Bet Your Life", a game played on The Groucho Show.
In January 1962, Something About a Soldier, a stage version of Harris's novel, played briefly on Broadway. Written by Ernest Kinoy and produced by the Theatre Guild, it featured Sal Mineo in the lead role. Later, the novel Bang the Drum Slowly was adapted into a stage play at the Next Theatre in Evanston, Illinois.
Harris died of complications of Alzheimer's disease at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital at age 84. He was survived by his wife, Josephine Horen; his sister, Martha; two sons, one daughter, and three grandchildren.
Harris was best known for a quartet of novels about baseball players: The Southpaw (1953), Bang the Drum Slowly (1956), A Ticket for a Seamstitch (1957), and It Looked Like For Ever (1979). Written in the vernacular, the books are the account of Henry "Author" Wiggen, a pitcher for the fictional New York Mammoths. In 1956, Bang the Drum Slowly was adapted for an installment of the dramatic television anthology series The United States Steel Hour; starring Paul Newman as Wiggen and Albert Salmi as doomed catcher Bruce Pearson. The novel also became a major motion picture in 1973, with a screenplay written by Harris, directed by John D. Hancock and featuring Michael Moriarty as Wiggen and Robert De Niro as Pearson.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 2, 2022
Diamond -- Baseball Writings of Mark Harris is a very good, entertaining, and thought-provoking anthology of his in-depth feature writing over the years. Harris was both a journalist and academic until his passing in 2007. He also worked as a screenwriter, giving us Bang The Drum Slowly, starring Robert DiNiro in the movie adaptation. That screenplay is included here in Diamond.
Harris was never the daily beat reporter, chasing Major League teams all over the country. His writing could be compared to a specialist or a marksman. His stories, several of which appeared in Sports Illustrated, went past what the average fan would see from a stadium seat or television.
His stories here take you back to the early days of the Pete Rose gambling scandal eyeing the various sides of the issues. He also wrote about the tragic death of Cleveland Indians player Ray Chapman from a pitch from Yankee pitcher Carl Mays in 1920. Chapman died after the game in a Cleveland hospital. His pregnant wife died a few years later from suicide. Their daughter died at age 8 from measles.
Another cheerier story revolved around fictitious San Francisco Giants fans in various well-known parts of the city offering their opinions on the team after a 10-11 road trip while trying to hang onto a chance to win their division. You would seriously appreciate it you've ever spent any time there.
I didn't read it straight through. I skipped around, seeking to rekindle some of the writing I learned years ago when SI was counting on a large group of freelancers for top, and on deadline, great stories. Some readers would consider books like this a collector's item. I do.
Harris was never the daily beat reporter, chasing Major League teams all over the country. His writing could be compared to a specialist or a marksman. His stories, several of which appeared in Sports Illustrated, went past what the average fan would see from a stadium seat or television.
His stories here take you back to the early days of the Pete Rose gambling scandal eyeing the various sides of the issues. He also wrote about the tragic death of Cleveland Indians player Ray Chapman from a pitch from Yankee pitcher Carl Mays in 1920. Chapman died after the game in a Cleveland hospital. His pregnant wife died a few years later from suicide. Their daughter died at age 8 from measles.
Another cheerier story revolved around fictitious San Francisco Giants fans in various well-known parts of the city offering their opinions on the team after a 10-11 road trip while trying to hang onto a chance to win their division. You would seriously appreciate it you've ever spent any time there.
I didn't read it straight through. I skipped around, seeking to rekindle some of the writing I learned years ago when SI was counting on a large group of freelancers for top, and on deadline, great stories. Some readers would consider books like this a collector's item. I do.
April 22, 2024
Well-written, although I fail to see the reason for a ten-page excerpt from Bang the Drum Slowly (maybe to get you buy the book? But if you hadn’t read that already, why would you have bought this one?). The ending is also a bit odd, as it seems to put down fans as people who don’t understand that life exists outside baseball.
But some of the later writings are very good. I hadn’t realized they were non-fiction until I looked up the people he was describing and found out that one had recently passed away just a few years ago, after a long career after the minor leagues as an educator and principal.
The average baseball fan who has no idea who the Giants had as players in the 1950s and 1960s will probably find these writing uninteresting. Those who enjoy baseball novels, though, will probably find something of interest. And those who remember Bart Giamatti and Pete Rose will definitely enjoy this take on the scandal and aftermath.
Hero-worship, this ain’t.
But some of the later writings are very good. I hadn’t realized they were non-fiction until I looked up the people he was describing and found out that one had recently passed away just a few years ago, after a long career after the minor leagues as an educator and principal.
The average baseball fan who has no idea who the Giants had as players in the 1950s and 1960s will probably find these writing uninteresting. Those who enjoy baseball novels, though, will probably find something of interest. And those who remember Bart Giamatti and Pete Rose will definitely enjoy this take on the scandal and aftermath.
Hero-worship, this ain’t.
January 18, 2009
There are some good essays, albeit a couple of relative clinkers. However, quite a few pages are devoted to the screenplay of Bang the Drum Slowly, which may be a bit repetitious to those (save dedicated Wiggen fans) who have already read that novel.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews