[356] Literary Left-Hander Highlight of Baseball Conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 16, 2011
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

LITERARY LEFT-HANDER HIGHLIGHT OF BASEBALL CONFERENCE
Jim Rooker, Pitcher-Turned-Kid Lit Author, Combines Baseball and Books

(MURFREESBORO) – Former major league pitcher Jim Rooker, a member of the 1979 World Series Champion Pittsburgh Pirates, will be the luncheon speaker for the 16th Baseball in Literature and Culture Conference Friday, April 1, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building at MTSU.

The lunch is slated to begin at 12:15 p.m. with Rooker’s address scheduled for 12:45 p.m. followed by a book-signing.

Rooker, who also pitched for the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals in a career that spanned 12 years from 1968-1980, was a member of the Pirates’ broadcast team from 1981-1993. He also worked as a baseball analyst for ESPN for four years.

Always outspoken, Rooker was compelled to put his money where his mouth was following a game between the Pirates and the Phillies in Philadelphia on June 8, 1989. After the Bucs jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first inning, Rooker said on the air, “If we lose this game, I’ll walk home.”

Propelled by homers from Von Hayes and Steve Jeltz and Darren Daulton’s two-run single, the Phillies came back for a 15-11 victory. True to his word, Rooker conducted a 300-mile walk from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh at season’s end, raising more than $100,000 for charity.

Beginning in 2008, Rooker turned his talents to writing children’s books. His three published volumes are Matt the Bat, Kitt the Mitt and Paul the Baseball.

“Baseball has been my passion since the time I started playing the game as a child, and it remains that way today, sixty-some years later,” writes Booker on his website, jimrookerbooks.com. “I hope that the words contained in these books will encourage youngsters everywhere to love the game as I did.”

The breakfast speaker for the conference will be Dr. Steven Andrews, associate professor of English at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. Andrews, who is scheduled to speak at 8:30 a.m., is a distinguished scholar of American Studies. His interest in baseball fiction is a singular focus within his larger specialization in Modern American literature. The topic of Andrews’ talk will be “Suicide Squeeze: Immigration and the Art of Stealing Home.”

The Baseball in Literature and Culture Conference was held at Indiana State University from 1995-2006. MTSU has hosted the gathering since 2006. In its five years on the Murfreesboro campus, the conference has attracted name speakers such as Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Denny McLain, Orestes Destrade, Jim “Mudcat” Grant, and Ferguson Jenkins.

Embracing scholarly efforts in all fields except statistical analysis, the conference attracts academics who want to express perspectives on baseball’s significant cultural impact in numerous areas, including history, journalism, creative writing, popular media, drama, economics, and, of course, literature.

Some of the topics to be discussed in concurrent sessions include “Press Box Populations and Paradigm Shifts: Practicing Media Relations in a Culture of Media Change;” “Black Baseball and the Respectability Project;” “Smokey Joe Wood: The Legend That Wouldn’t Die;” and “Baseball, Ballet and Botox: An Inquiry into the Ethics of Doping.”
Members of the MTSU community who are slated to present papers include Dr. Warren Tormey, assistant professor of English; Dr. Crosby Hunt, professor of speech and theatre; Dr. Phil Oliver, professor of philosophy; Professor Steven Walker, instructor of English; Dr. Ron Bombardi, chair of the Department of Philosophy; and doctoral student Michael Pagel of Johnson City.

Anyone wishing to attend Rooker’s talk or any conference sessions may do so without charge. The luncheon is $10 for MTSU students, faculty, staff, alumni and any interested community members. Please make reservations in advance. For information on registration and fees, contact Dr. Warren Tormey, conference coordinator, at 615-904-8585 or tormey@mtsu.edu.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a color jpeg photo of Jim Rooker, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Media Relations at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.


Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. Recently, MTSU unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.