Writing about The Soul of Baseball

One week from today, Joe Posnanski’s book, The Soul of Baseball, will be released. Poz was kind enough to take a moment and talk about his book, the result of following the late legend Buck O’Neil for a year. The Kansas City Star (and a BBTF favorite) columnist’s book will be released Feb. 27 and is available for preorder now (see the bottom of the post).

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Q: Why did you decide to write this book?

Posnanski: A few years ago I was having lunch with Buck O’Neil, and he told me that I needed to write a book about the Negro Leagues. He thought there were plenty of books out there about how tough it was to play in the Negro Leagues and how unfair it was to keep some of the best players on earth out of the Major Leagues because of, what Buck called, their “beautiful tans.” But he didn’t think anything had been written that expressed the thrills and joys of the Negro Leagues. He wanted me to write about those things. He wanted me to write how much fun it was. I thought it was a good idea. So I tried, and I had several starts and stops. This book was a number of different things through the years. It was about a single game. It was briefly a novel. I wasn’t getting anywhere. Eventually, my wife Margo said: “You know, this book should really just be about Buck.” I had always thought that wouldn’t work because Buck already had an autobiography (and a good one). Then I thought of a different idea: What if I traveled America with Buck for a year? And that became the book.

Q: What about Buck O’Neil do you think is so appealing to everyone, that ensnared nearly every member of every audience he ever spoke to? And how did you try to capture that in words?

Posnanski: I think everybody loved Buck because there wasn’t an ounce of bitterness in him. Optimism just poured out of him—real optimism, about people, about baseball, about America. In traveling with him, I saw that optimism and hope every single day. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when we went on an elevator in New York, and in a 30-floor descent he managed to lift the spirits of a young stranger who looked as if she’d had a really bad day.

Everybody knows the injustices Buck dealt with in his life. And yet, he refused to see his life as anything but beautiful. I think that’s why people loved him.

As for capturing him in words, well, that was certainly the toughest challenge of the book. I’m still not sure there are words that can express what it felt like to spend just 30 seconds talking (and, inevitably, hugging) Buck O’Neil. I simply tried to observe everything and write this book as honestly as I could. Every day with him was an experience, so there was a lot to write.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with this book?

Posnanski: I hope to live up to Buck’s challenge a few years ago. There certainly were hardships in the Negro Leagues—broken down buses, bounced checks, segregated hotels and restaurants, the overriding racism, on and on—and that’s part of the story. But there was something wonderful too about all those great players and amazing characters playing baseball for a few dollars and a lot of love. Buck spent much of his life trying to remind people how wonderful it was to play with Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Turkey Stearnes, Cool Papa Bell, Willie Wells, on and on. So that’s the first goal with this book.

The second goal is something that I had not intended when the book began ... to help keep alive Buck’s name. Buck died in October, and even though it should probably not be a shock when a 94-year-old man dies, it was a shock. It saddens me still that he never got to read this book—the last time I saw him I promised to bring the book to the hospital and read it to him. I never got the chance. But Buck would not want anyone to be sad—he lived a remarkable life. I know how lucky I was to spend all that time with him. And I hope a little bit of his spirit is in this book.

Q: What were the greatest difficulties in getting this thing written?

Posnanski: I think you hit upon it earlier - the toughest part was trying to capture what made Buck so unique and so beloved. It’s the first book I’ve written too (I’ve had a collection of columns, but I didn’t do anything extra with that) so I’m sure I made all the usual mistakes.

Q: How was writing it different than writing a lengthy Sunday history column?

Posnanski: I was surprised how different it was from newspaper writing. I explain it this way: I write my columns in my home office. This means that every three minutes, my wife steps in to ask a question or one of my two daughters runs in and wants to play dolls or some computer game. That has never bothered my column writing. I simply step away for a few minutes and then come back to the column.

I couldn’t do that at all with the book. I had to get out of the house, get away, go to a library or a Starbucks or something. It was like I needed to be in a different mindset to write this book. I don’t know if that makes it any better, but it really was different writing it.

Q: Give me the best pitch you can for this book. Why should I buy it?

Posnanski: I’m terrible at pitches, but I’m proud of this book. I spent a year traveling the country with one of the great sports figures in American history. It turned out to be the last full year of his life. There is some sadness in this book, but much more than that, I hope, there is joy, because Buck was a joyous man. I think there are fun baseball stories in here, and I hope that there are a few life lessons. I know I’m a better person for my time spent with Buck O’Neil.

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You can preorder the book now (Amazon | Barnes & Noble). Personally, I’m getting to a bookstore as soon as they open on Tuesday.

In addition to bringing you this Q&A, I’d also encourage you to check out Poz’ general baseball blog called, aptly, The Soul of Baseball. His blog has caught the attention of Repoz, BBTF’s most illustrious poster, more than once. You can also visit the book’s official website for more information on the book.

As a reader of Posnanski’s columns and a huge Buck O’Neil fan, I am extremely excited about the prospects of this book. If the book is half as good as this column, for example, it will be a very fine read.

After I complete it, I plan to have a review posted here.