Baseball and Men’s Health Magazine

My art-school writer friends make fun of me for it; I don’t exactly fit the demographic being a 26 year old female who isn’t necessarily obsessed with her fitness,  but I’m in love with Men’s Health Magazine.  It’s my literary candy.  When I’m feeling down in the dumps, or have questions about social interactions at work, problems in a relationship, or just need some solid advice on what to tell my boyfriend to wear when we go out to dinner, I turn to Men’s Health.  Aside from Best Life, which is by the same publisher, Men’s Health is the all time best magazine out today. 


That said, I’d really like to see a story in Men’s Health where they interview baseball players (or any other sports stars – I prefer baseball player — specifically A’s players or course) who show that unmistakable raw intensity on the field but who are completely loving and gentle to their family and kids.

I was a little startled when I read a great blog post by Viki (http://tigervicki.mlblogs.com — I love this blog BTW – Viki is rad, I can totally relate to her posts soooo much) about how she had been turned off from sports because her earliest memories were of her step father sitting on the couch yelling at a television.  She alluded to the fact that he wasn’t a very gentle person otherwise and that his yelling at sports games was a scary experience.  Now imagine if your dad actually were on the field playing and yelling with that same crazed passion.  How do sports stars let go of the game, let go of that absolute drive when they get home?  Do they?  I find it hard to believe that all sport stars are just mean and nasty fathers who have temper-tantrums at a moment’s notice — but then again, I don’t know any sports stars, maybe it comes with the territory.  Regardless, I’d like to read about great guys who have that strength to accomplish amazing feats day in and day out, but who are able to put it aside and just relax around there kids – let their kids be what they want to be, etc.

And since I’m an A’s fan, I’ll say it: I think Men’s Health should interview Eric Chavez for this story.  He’s got that outstanding capacity to make amazing plays and just shrug each and every one of them off.  Hearing him in interviews, he just seems like he’d be a great dad.  And, I’d like to hear about how he related to his family and team members while recuperating from such serious injuries.

There are a lot of other baseball players that, like Viki’s blog, are so serious, it’s scary.  Sure they have endurance, sure they can hit and make insane catches, but they’re not level headed and it almost makes me shutter to think of them having a family life.  Jose Canseco comes to mind.  I know, he’s an easy target, but reading Juiced made me feel that he was a really passionate man, sure, but also, ummm, a bit of a loose cannon. 

So there, Men’s Health, if you’re reading this write about great guys who don’t necessarily find the balance of temperament, since their jobs train them to be out of balance – to always go the extra mile, but to find a place where they can meet the challenges of fatherhood in the right frame of mind.


My dad is a truck driver and a farmer who is an insane work-aholic.  He’s a goofy, goofy guy (too much time on the road, I think) who wasn’t too much into sports but loved to fall asleep on the couch in front of John Wayne movies.  I watched a lot of John Wayne growing up with dad asleep on the couch and me tucked into his heavy arms.  And it’s funny, but hearing about John Wayne or even watching John Wayne movies today don’t make me feel nostalgic for those times — oddly enough, it’s Nick Swisher (http://nickswisher.net) who really makes me miss my dad.  There’s something about the way he shrugs off a strike out -even when you can see that he’s totally pissed.  Or all that ridiculous country music he’s got up on his website — or his “work hard. play hard.” tagline.  Dear god, I can just imagine Swish and my dad drinking beers in our backyard singing along to “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” playing on an old radio and laughing their heads off.