The "buzz" continues

I released When Towns Had Teams last September. Many books have a short "window of opportunity," particularly those that are tied to trends and popular culture. Thankfully, a book like mine, with its historical arc, from a time rapidly fading from memory, continues to captivate those with an appreciation for Maine's unique heritage from bygone days.

Harry Gratwick reviewed When Towns Had Teams for The Working Waterfront, one of our state's more interesting and pertinent publications. Gratwick obviously understands what I tried to convey by writing this book. Not only does the baseball captivate this reviewer, but as he writes, "Baumer uses Maine to illustrate the changes that were occurring in American society in the 1950s. 'High school graduates from all over the country,' he writes, 'were now deciding on college as an option to jumpstart their careers.' One result of this influx of manpower was the development of a more competitive brand of college baseball. This in turn improved the level of summer ball played at the semi-pro and town team level in Maine. The result was that spectators of the sport were treated to a high level of baseball from early summer until the last major league team had barnstormed through the state in the fall."

I was aware of putting Maine's unique brand of baseball into the proper context and reviewers like Gratwick obviously appreciate my efforts. As a writer, this is very gratifying.

Thanks to Gratwick for his great review and hopefully, this will bring the book to the attention of many of the former town team players and others, who probably still don't know about the book.