About this project
I just wanted to teach baseball to my son, as my father taught it to me.
But just as my son Joe turned seven and fell hard for baseball, the game blew up with revelations about steroids. And Joe's questions ranged from things I could answer -- "Was Sandy Koufax any good?" "Do you think the Mariners should trade for Pujols?" -- to things no baseball-loving Pop has ever had to answer. "Why were they taking steroids if they were already good?" "Isn't it cheating? Aren't they going to be punished?"
When the steroids scandal found its way into our little home in the Pacific Northwest, Joe actually segregated his collection of baseball cards to remove the juicers from the clean players. And that just about broke my heart.
We tried to get answers from baseball, but the players, managers and owners we contacted got suddenly mute about the scandal they created. So Joe and I went on the road to get answers to his questions -- we went everywhere from minor-league ballparks to Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium and Jackie Robinson's grave in Brooklyn; we spoke with doctors and experts about what steroids can do to a body, especially a kid's. We got our own answers, and made our own peace with baseball.
And we found out along the way that baseball is worth fighting for, and is still something for a father and son to share.
The result of our trip is a book, TRADING MANNY: How a Father & Son Learned to Love Baseball Again. It comes out on March 13, 2012 from Da Capo Press in Boston. People like Dale Murphy, Doug Glanville and Mark Fainaru-Wada have endorsed it and called it a book that everyone in baseball should read.
We're working to spread the word of MANNY and playing clean, but we need your help. I'm raising funds here to go on the road and spread the word about Trading Manny. And to spread the word about playing baseball honestly and fairly. Your generous backing will allow me and Joe to visit Little Leagues, talk with other parents and kids, create a video campaign to ask kids to play fair and play clean, and reach the media with our story of how we found our way back to baseball. Starting with spring training, we want to spread the message that baseball needs to stay clean. We want ballplayers to be role models for our kids again.
Joe and I thank you for your support. And I like to think that somewhere deep in the ether of baseball, Babe Ruth thanks you. Leo Durocher snarls at you. Ty Cobb spikes you. Stan Musial grins. Hank Aaron goes deep. Fernando closes his eyes and throws one past you.
God, I love baseball. If you do, too, please support Trading Manny. Thanks.
FAQ
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No, we got a formal publishing agreement through Boston-based Da Capo Press, which will release MANNY nationwide beginning March 13, 2012.
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Promotion and outreach. I'd like to travel around the country as much as possible, hopefully with my son Joe along for the ride, to spread the word about playing fair and avoiding performance-enhancing drugs. And to let people know that baseball is still a great game to pass along to our kids.
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Yes. I'm already scheduled to talk about TRADING MANNY in Seattle, Bainbridge Island and New York City. Details on my website, www.jim-gullo.com. I hope to add many more with your generous backing.
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Oh sure, we're sending it out to lots of people. We've received great endorsements so far from Dale Murphy, the great outfielder for the Atlanta Braves for many years; Doug Glanville, another former major-league ballplayer who now reports on the game for ESPN; Mark Fainaru-Wada, who broke the story of the steroids scandal in his book, Game of Shadows; Dirk Hayhurst, the pitcher and author who appears prominently in my book; and Steve Wilstein, the retired AP sportswriter who broke the story of Mark McGwire's supplements back in 1998.
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Ha, good question. After realizing that Joe's glove was an Eric Gagne signature model (Gagne was a kind of poster boy for steroid use in the game), we asked the people interviewed in the book to sign the glove as a personal statement against drug use in the game. They include everyone from the great third-baseman Scott Brosius and pitcher Dirk Hayhurst to high school coaches from Idaho with whom we spoke.
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
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Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on March 1.
Pledge $5 or more Pledge $5 or more
You have my undying gratitude. Honestly. You don't even know me, and here you are forking over good cash. And in this economy! You are a true patron of the arts. Your middle name should be Medici. Thank you.
Pledge $15 or more Pledge $15 or more
An electronic version of TRADING MANNY sent to your Kindle or e-reader, AND (of course) my undying gratitude. Dude or Dudette, you rock.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
1 AUTOGRAPHED COPY of TRADING MANNY, signed and dedicated by the author and mailed to you, your dad, your mom, your uncle, your banker...basically ANYONE is what I'm getting at here. And my undying gratitude. International backers please add $10 for shipping...and I kiss you on both cheeks like they do in France.
Pledge $40 or more Pledge $40 or more
One copy of TRADING MANNY, signed by the author to the recipient of your choice, AND my son Joe (who is 11 now) will write and mail a letter about baseball to one of your kids, nieces, nephews...you name it. And Joe doesn't do this willingly, but I'll make him.
Pledge $75 or more Pledge $75 or more
Take the message of MANNY into your schools. At this level, you get an autographed copy of TRADING MANNY for yourself and I'll donate two copies of TRADING MANNY to the school or library of your choice.
Pledge $110 or more Pledge $110 or more
Is Christmas far away? Is Father's Day? Uncle Fred's birthday? I think not. On this level, you get 5 AUTOGRAPHED COPIES OF TRADING MANNY, and I'll autograph them to any five people you like, and ship them separately, too. International backers, sadly, you know the drill: Add $20 shipping, please.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
This is where it starts to get crazy. For 500 simoleons, I'll pick you and your guest up anywhere in Portland, Oregon, drive you to the Willamette Valley wine country, give you an insiders' wine-tasting tour, buy you lunch, and then I'll drive you back to Portland. And give you 2 signed copies of TRADING MANNY. It's really the least I can do for such generosity (and believe me, the wine here is REALLY good). Can accommodate up to 4 people on a tour, but only 2 get the lunch!!
Pledge $1,500 or more Pledge $1,500 or more
Okay, let's get nutty. Fork over less than what a utility infielder on the Mets makes in an hour, and I will come to your town in the continental U.S. or Hawaii, at my expense (and as my schedule allows), and do a three-hour book signing event for your friends, your business, your Little League team or your school. And give you 2 signed copies of TRADING MANNY.
Project By
Connected as Jim Gullo (298 friends)
Hi! I've been a writer for over 25 years, and if you've ever read travel stories about sampling hot sauces in the Caribbean (ouch!), or scuba-diving across America (very dark and cold), or profiles of Seattle movers-and-shakers, chances are you've read me. I've been published in Sports Illustrated, Premiere, Islands, Saveur and many other magazines. I'm also the editor of Oregonwine.com, a webzine.
TRADING MANNY is my newest book, and the dearest to my heart. It's my memoir of parenting, being a conflicted baseball fan, and teaching the game to my son Joe, right in the middle of the steroids scandal.
I feel very strongly that we need to teach our kids about playing clean, and that baseball needs to rise above the mess of PED use and be a safe place for us to share with our kids. Those are the messages that I hope to spread through this book.
I live in Oregon with my wife, sons and a dog named Louis who, as I write this, is staring at me and panting. Time for a walk!
