Thad Mumau, who was nice enough to cross-publish his recruiting articles here a few years ago, has a new book out about his love of baseball. Nothing's better than when someone writes about what they love. Here's the man himself with his own comments on his book as well as the press release. Check it out! Support our local writers!
I have been a huge fan of ACC basketball for as long as I can remember, and in 42 years of writing about sports, there was nothing I enjoyed more than covering big conference rivalries on the hardwood and especially the ACC Tournament.
Baseball is different. It is personal. For that reason, I am not just a fan, but a baseball lover. I was eight years old when my dad gave me a fat-fingered Johnny Sain model glove, and my life was forever changed. The Game intrigued me, and it still does -- the nuances, the history, the tradition. Even the pace, which is too slow for some, is sweet to me.
I played as long as I could. There was cow pasture ball; the proud day I was added to my high school team when the coach found an old raggedy uniform in the bottom of a trunk; spending sweltering summer weekend afternoons with a semi-pro team; and making a "comeback" at thirty-plus years of age.
Because baseball is so special to me, I have compiled personal stories about the game in a book titled "When the Grass Turns Green". The book is not about accomplishments; it is about experiences with which baseball lovers of all ages can identify.
I include one-on-one conversations with Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Tom Seaver and Dale Murphy. And there are perceptions of baseball in the 1960s, one of the game's greatest eras.
Nostalgia is as much a part of baseball as a scorecard, and my book is packed with nostalgia. There are heartwarming memories -- of parents who knew the importance of sports, of my first visit to a major league ballpark, and of growing up in the rural South where a stick and berries from a shrub combined with a country boy's imagination to manufacture a big league game.
This book was a lot of fun to write. Its chapters were a lot of fun to live.
When the Grass Turns Green
Cherished Baseball Memories of a North Carolina Sports Writer
by
Thad Mumau
Baseball is a colorful chunk of America âs landscape and folklore. Its history is filled with mighty deeds and Paul Bunyan-like tales which happen to be true. But the game embodies so much more than runs, hits, and errors, and that charm is part of its magnetism. The pace, which some say is too slow, is one of baseballâs endearing qualities, a sweetness to be savored with the gameâs nuances. Those who love this incredible sport are captivated by its atmosphere, character, and emotions. That is why they are more than fans; they are baseball lovers. Thad Mumau is one of them. A North Carolina sports writer for more than forty years, he reported on the wonders of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball, he was one of the pioneers in covering college basketball recruiting, and he authored the very first biography of the legendary University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith. Mumau has always been drawn to baseball, leading him to a compilation of touching stories which are the foundation for his book, When the Grass Turns Green: Cherished Baseball Memories of a North Carolina Sports Writer.
This is a book about memories and the warm feelings they stir. It is a look back at growing up in the rural South with family and baseball at the center of a boyâs universe. A dad gives a fat-fingered fielderâs glove to his eight-year-old son, and the boyâs life is forever changed. Baseball lovers of all ages will relate to the wonderful stories that follow â of playing day-long ball games in a cow pasture, getting up the nerve to try out for a city team, and being thrilled to earn a high school uniform, even if it was old and thread-bare. There are recollections of walking into cavernous Forbes Field for his first visit to a big league ball park, being awed by the majesty of Yankee Stadium, and making a baseball comeback of sorts in his thirties. One-on-one conversations with Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente are insightful, as is a glance into one of major league baseballâs golden eras. Baseball is rich with nostalgia, and so is this book.
Chris Cammack, a four-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference third baseman at North Carolina State University and the 1969 ACC Player of the Year, identifies with Mumauâs baseball stories. Cammack says, âThis book sparks for me the same type memories of a lifelong love affair with baseball that the author must have had in writing it. It is a heart-warming, sometimes humorous, look back spiced with perceptive observations of one of the gameâs great eras.â
Thad Mumau grew up in North Carolina , listening to Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games with his dad as they hovered close to an old radio and tried to sort details from the static. Living out in the country, he learned to entertain himself by tossing berries into the air and hitting them with a stick, while pretending to be favorite big league players. He enjoyed other sports, but his heart always belonged to baseball. Mumauâs stories are homespun, engaging, and fun. They are about a special time, a special game, and special people
When the Grass Turns Green, Cherished Baseball Memories of a North Carolina Sports Writer by Thad Mumau, can be ordered from John F. Blair, Publisher at www.blairpub.com (Ph: 1-800-222-1374); amazon.com; and Parkway Publishers (Ph: 828-265-3993) or email parkwaypub@hotmail.com. ISBN 978-1-59712-407-2, softcover, $19.95; 183 pages.
