Who You Callin’ a SEAMHEAD?
by Gene Carney
This appeared in NOTES #38, back in October 1993, when NOTES was a rookie.
I’ve noticed that those of us who are known in our offices or neighborhoods, or in our families, as baseball fans, attract not just presents of baseball books and shirts and whatever. No, we also attract stuff that our friends think might get a rise out of us, articles clipped from here & there, for our benefit. We are, for better or worse, magnets for baseball gems and garbage.
One such item Xeroxed my way, from the October 1st
“It’s critical to note this now, with baseball’s playoffs and World Series almost upon us, and its insufferable romantics (I prefer the far more derisive term “seamheads”) preparing to leave our sports pages all ooey and gooey with so much elitist, fluffy, poetic bunk about how baseball’s championship chase ought to be the sole priority of autumn.”
That’s pretty much Mr Burwell’s point, I think. The rest of his column describes how he liked baseball as a kid, up until 1969, when he discovered football. “I was 14, and all I knew was I relished walking this fine line between savagery and artistry every time I picked up a football.” (Sounds sort of fluffy & poetic.)
Maybe the term “seamhead” has been around a while, and is just now making it to
If Mr Burwell had been brought up a Baptist, but discovered, let’s say, Buddhism, later in life, would he feel compelled to knock his Baptist roots? Well, maybe he would — the zeal of the convert can be intolerant and downright dangerous. I like to bring religion (and politics — the two things you’re not supposed to argue about in public) into sports, because we are allowed to argue sports ad infinitum, and occasionally ad nauseam.
What is Mr Burwell doing writing about baseball anyway. Hey, you jumped ship at 14, fine. Stick to football. Build it up — don’t tear down other sports. We just don’t need intolerance!
The above is an excerpt from Issue #439 of Gene’s Notes From the Shadows of Cooperstown. To read the rest of the issue (or past issues), click here.
20 March 2008 16:56
Ah, Mr. Burwell became a MAN at the age of 14, or some such drivel? Good for him. I too weary when Peter Gammons drones on and on, but baseball, as a pure game, doesn’t have an equal.
The combination of individual and team is what makes it so special. Not to mention the difficulty. Any genetic freak can be passable on the football field. If you can’t learn how to control your fears in baseball, you’ll never be any good. It’s the combination of mental and physical that’s appealing.
But let Mr. Burwell celebrate hordes of sweaty, grimy men wrestling each other to the ground and making a pile. As Seinfeld said, not that there’s anything wrong with that…