About

“A baseball game is nothing but a great slow contraption for getting you to pay attention to the cadence of a summer day.” Michael Chabon, Summerland

Partners Joey and Kevin talk baseball…er…Kevin talks baseball and Joey tries to hang.

Joey’s first post:
My name is Joey, and here’s my thing about baseball.

I like beer.

I like to dance when people score.

I also think catchers are hot.

Seems like there should be more to it for me, doesn’t there? Nope. That’s it. No stats. Nothing. I’m just getting to the place where I can (mostly) remember which team is from which city. Sometimes I can even tell you if a team is in the National or American league. But that’s all thanks to my partner, Kevin. He’s the other reason I like baseball.

In exchange for putting up with all of my manic chatter about graduate school and visual culture (www.joeyorr.com), I listen to him talk about baseball. But he doesn’t just know his favorite team(s), he talks about trading and stats and all of the behind the scenes stuff. So, we thought it might be interesting, and more educational for me, to do this in a blog format.

We are just about to move back to Atlanta after three very fine years in Chicago. To make things more fun, and to further blend our theme of gay partnership and baseball spectatorship, this weekend we are going to our last Chi-town Pride festival and next weekend we are going to Wrigley Field to see the Chicago Cubs play the Atlanta Braves. Photos (and discussions about baseball) to come.

Kevin’s first post:
I like beer. I’ve been known to dance when my team scores. I also think some catchers are hot…and some pitchers, infielders, and outfielders as well. Those are just the surface and a minor part of my appreciation of baseball.

Baseball has a rich history where great stories and rivalries are revived every time nine men step onto the old grass and dirt diamond. Every strike, walk, hit, error, and home run has meaning. I love talking these and finer points of the game to anyone who will listen but my favorite audience is my partner Joey.

My love of the game began in the early 80′s while watching a not so good Atlanta Braves team. A team that would would become a dominant force in baseball just a decade later. Before the 90′s were over, in the very city my favorite team called home, I met Joey. He wasn’t always receptive to my baseball banter but he would humor me most of the time and eventually started showing genuine interest.

After some awkward and sometimes embarrassing attempts to talk the talk, Joey is starting to get the hang of it. He understood the basics of baseball but now he knows a little more and can even throw the lingo around at the appropriate moment. I don’t expect Joey to keep up with player averages, the division standings, or start his own fantasy team(at least not the usual kind). I do know that he will always be there to go to a game, watch Bull Durham, or listen to me when I need to talk baseball.