Baseball Imposters (eBook)

The Dark Side of Fandom

Rob Sheinkopf (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
160 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3178-2379-5 (ISBN)

Infos

This book is a non-fiction narrative of men falsely claiming to be former Major League Baseball players. The author suggests that these baseball imposters are suffering from Eddie Scissons Syndrome, a moniker created by author W.P. Kinsella in his book, Shoeless Joe, upon which the movie Field of Dreams is based. While the syndrome derives its name from a fictional character, its reality is disturbingly widespread. Drawing upon real-life examples, Sheinkopf recounts these true stories, altering names to protect the guilty, (at the recommendation of legal counsel), with a blend of humor, contempt, and sometimes compassion for the families who all too often uncover the truth only when verifying facts for obituaries or personal histories. Most people are unaware how widespread this phenomenon is. These stories will surprise, amuse, and enlighten readers, revealing that the deception often echoes their own experiences with familiar tales told to them by their colleagues, teachers, neighbors, or even family members-stories that, upon closer inspection, may arouse suspicion. BASEBALL IMPOSTERS is both entertaining and eye-opening, offering a compelling look at a peculiar and persistent phenomenon in the world of baseball and beyond.

Rob Sheinkopf, originally from Syracuse, New York, is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and has presented his research over many years to SABR and to the Sport Literature Association (SLA), to NINE - the history and culture of baseball, and to the Cooperstown Symposium at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Rob is the author and editor of 'Hey Mom, wanna have a catch?', an anthology of baseball stories honoring parents who encourage or simply put up with their child's love for and obsession with our National Pastime. He is also the author of 'BASEBALL IMPOSTERS, the dark side of fandom', based upon his research and writing about grown men who falsely pass themselves off as former major league baseball players. Both of those books are available wherever great books are sold online and on the author's website. After a 40 year career in college admissions, Rob retired and moved to San Francisco where he found his dream job as a luxury suites concierge for the Giants. Keeping a diary of his first year's daily activities, he wrote and presented a paper, My Year in the Big Leagues at the international conference of the SLA in Limoges, France. Unfortunately, the global pandemic abruptly ended Rob's promising baseball concierging career. Rob and his wife, Lisa, provide a loving home for their dog, Bochy, in Las Vegas as well as in Ponte Vedra, Florida, dividing their time between the two as they trade intense heat and traffic jams for uncomfortable humidity and large palmetto bugs at various times of the year to spend time with their 5-year-old granddaughter, Molly, and her mom and dad.

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For over 40 years, author Rob Sheinkopf has collected stories of grown men who falsely claim to have played Major League Baseball. In BASEBALL IMPOSTERS, Sheinkopf explores what author W.P. Kinsella called "e;Eddie Scissons Syndrome,"e; inspired by a character in his novel Shoeless Joe, the story behind the movie, Field of Dreams. Though the syndrome is named after a fictional character, its reality is disturbingly widespread. Drawing on real-life examples, Sheinkopf recounts these stories, altering names to protect the guilty (at the recommendation of legal counsel), with a mix of humor, contempt, and sometimes compassion for the families who all too often only uncover the truth when verifying facts for obituaries, biographies, or personal histories. His fascination with this practice of deception goes back to 1985, when he completed a master's thesis based upon interviews with 53 former Major League players who retired before free agency. His research focused on how athletes prepared for life after baseball during a time when very few professional baseball retirees were millionaires, and the vast majority were not financially secure enough to retire comfortably without a plan to pursue a second career. Among those former major leaguers interviewed was a high-profile local businessman who proved to be an imposter someone whose false representation of his past was both puzzling and disturbing. This discovery of "e;patient zero"e; sparked Sheinkopf's curiosity about why individuals engage in such deception, leading to over four decades of research revealing that imposters are far from rare. Most people are unaware of how widespread this phenomenon is. These stories will surprise, amuse, and enlighten readers, revealing that such deceptions often echo familiar tales told to them by their colleagues, teachers, neighbors, or even family members... stories that, upon closer inspection, may arouse suspicion. BASEBALL IMPOSTERS offers a compelling, entertaining, and eye-opening look into a peculiar and persistent phenomenon that extends beyond baseball into the human experience.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 4.11.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3178-2379-5 / 9798317823795