Author Teresa Strasser shares stories of her upbringing and how she got baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. to blurb her book. They discuss the power of family and sports, the healing nature of baseball, and the emotional aspects of the sport. They also touch on their favorite baseball movies and reflect on goodbyes at the end.
Baseball can bring families together and create a sense of belonging, even in the face of family diaspora or personal struggles.
The entertainment industry can be a challenging yet rewarding career path, filled with auditions, interactions with notable personalities, and unexpected opportunities.
Baseball serves as a vehicle for healing and finding solace in times of grief, providing a sense of hope, redemption, and connection across generations.
Deep dives
The Healing Power of Baseball and Family
The podcast episode explores the story of Teresa Strauser and her father, who used baseball as a means to cope with grief and overcome tragic events. Through their shared love for the game, they formed a strong bond and created a makeshift family within their team. The book, Making It Home, written by Teresa, beautifully captures their story and the powerful role baseball played in their lives.
The Impact of Sports on Family and Belonging
The episode discusses how sports, like baseball, can bring families together and create a sense of belonging. It highlights Teresa's grandmother, a diehard Orioles fan, who found solace and identity in rooting for the team. The story emphasizes how sports can unite people, even in the face of family diaspora or personal struggles.
Teresa Strauser's Journey in the Entertainment Industry
The podcast delves into Teresa Strauser's career in the entertainment industry, from being a writer for game shows to hosting her own show, While You Were Out. She shares her experiences of breaking into the industry, including her auditions and interactions with notable personalities like Dr. Phil and Steven Spielberg. Furthermore, the episode touches on her previous book, Exploiting My Baby, a collection of humorous essays about pregnancy.
The Healing Power of Little League Baseball
Little League baseball becomes a source of healing and reconciliation for the speaker and their father after the deaths of the speaker's brother and mother. The shared experience of watching their child play baseball helps them reconnect and overcome the tension in their relationship. The predictability and comfort of baseball's rules and the sense of hope and potential redemption it offers make it an ideal vehicle for healing and finding solace in times of grief.
Baseball's Mystical Connection to Hope and Normalcy
Baseball's timeless nature, with its lack of a clock and the possibility of never-ending games, creates a sense of optimism and hope. The speaker attributes this to the sport's mathematical beauty and the way close plays and comebacks are always possible. Baseball also provides a sense of normalcy and routine, particularly in the context of little league, where games and practices give families a place to be and something to focus on. In the speaker's experience, baseball serves as a bridge across generations, connecting the speaker's son with their deceased uncle and bringing the family together.
349: How to Get Cal Ripken Jr. with Teresa Strasser The Emmy-winning writer, TV host, and author swaps stories of near-miss television gigs with Mike, shares tales of growing up blue-collar with her auto mechanic dad, and reveals how she got the Iron Man of baseball to read and blurb her book, Making It Home: Life Lessons From a Season of Little League.
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