Baseball in Literature and Culture

Agenda for 19th Annual Conference
Baseball in Literature and Culture, 4 April 2014

Hosted by MTSU

7:45-8:15 Registration and Breakfast

8:15-8:30 Welcome Warren Tormey, Conference Coordinator

Dr. Tom Strawman, Chair, Department of English

8:30-9:15 Keynote Address: Mr. Skip Nipper, Nashville TN.
“The Emerging Era of Middle Tennessee Base-Ball.”

9:20-10:20 Concurrent Sessions A

Session A1:
Location: Hazlewood Chair:
 Dan Anderson, Dominican University: “’An Important Course in the
Curriculum of the Institution’: Competing Loyalties and Ideologies in the Harlem
Renaissance Newspapers Coverage of the Negro Leagues”
 Katherine Walden, Vanderbilt University: “’Take Me Out to the Ball Game’:
Music, Community, and Sustainability in Minor League Baseball Affiliates in
Southeastern Music Cities”
 Steve Andrews, Grinnell College: “Annie Dillard in the Contact Zone: The
Place of Baseball in American Childhood”

Session A2:
Location: Dining Rm. C Chair:
 Andrew Hazucha, Ottawa University: “The Uses of Biography: Jane Leavy,
The Last Boy, and the Problem of Enuresis
 Michael Pagel, Northeast State University (Johnson City, TN): “The Politics
of the Call”
 Ron Rembert, Wilmington College: “Basking in the Sun and Burning at the
Stake”

10:30-11:30 Concurrent Sessions B

Session B1:
Location: Hazlewood Chair:
 Gerald Wood, Carson-Newman University (emeritus): “Little Giants, Big
Show”
 Andy Bennett, Tennessee Court of Appeals: “August 20, 1955: A Precedent-
Setting Beanball in Chattanooga, TN”
 David Veve, Dalton State University: “Take Me Out to the Suburbs: Aspects
of the Braves’ Upcoming Move to Cobb County, GA”

Session B2:
Location: Dining Rm. C Chair:
 Amanda Bales and Christopher Murphy, Northeastern State University
(Tahlequah, OK): “Collaborative Fiction on the 19th Century Game”
 Philip Theibert, University of Alabama-Birmingham: “Hitting a Home Run in
the Classroom”
 Phil Oliver, MTSU: "Coming Home: Reflections on Time, Memory, and
Baseball's Eternal Return (Prompted by the Revival of Nashville's Sulphur
Dell…)”

Session B3:
Location: Faculty Senate Chambers Chair:
 Sarah Bunting, Tomatonation.com: “Casting Bullpen: The Next Great
Baseball Biopic”
 Nick Bush, Motlow State Community College: “’Mookie Wilson—That’s a
Thing, Right?’—Pitching, Parody, and Perfection in How I Met Your Mother’s
‘Perfect Week’ Episode”
 Bryan Steverson, Knoxville TN: “’42’ By the Grace of God”
11:40-12:05 Concurrent Sessions C

Session C1:
Location: Faculty Senate Chambers Chair:
 Bob Johnson, Eastern Kentucky University: “The Captain of the Drive”

12:15-1:30 Luncheon and Willie Wilson Talk
Tennessee Room
12:00-12:45 Lunch
12:45-1:30 Willie Wilson Talk (~20 min. talk + 10 min. Q&A)
Book Signing in James Union Lobby to follow talk
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MTSU ‏@MTSUNews  2h

Former MLB all-star Willie Wilson discusses autographs at MTSU event (VIDEO) http://ow.ly/2FmHcG 

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2:00-3:00 Concurrent Sessions D

Session D1:
 Warren Tormey, MTSU: “From Field to Grounds to Ballpark: Space into
Commodity in the Game’s Early Years”
 Ben Morrill, MTSU: “The Emergence of Minor League Baseball in Late
Nineteenth Century Knoxville”
 Josh Howard, MTSU: “The Gentleman’s Sport in a Professional Era:
Alternatives to Professional Baseball in the South During the Late Nineteenth
Century”

Location: Dining Rm. C Chair:
3:10-4:00 Concurrent Sessions E

Session E1: Reenacting the 19th Century Game: A Demonstration
 Michael “Roadblock” Thurmon, Nashville Maroons
 Jeff “Skeeter” Wells, Stewart’s Creek Scouts
 Jeff “Cornbread” Jennings, Stewart’s Creek Scouts
Walnut Grove, outside James Union Building (weather permitting). Alt. Location
TBA