Plus, I’m a fast-pitch softball umpire, and I knew that the poem was never written from an umpire’s point of view. When I finished my first book, I had Casey AT the Bat in the back of my mind. It’s a poem that has good balance and has a twist at the end, just like Casey At the Bat. JG: Why did you choose to center the novel around the poem Casey AT The Bat ?ĭel: I was having trouble coming up with a sustainable story for a novel, and my father had the poem, The Cremation of Sam McGee memorized. It allowed me to put my own personality into it. I’m not real strong at technology, but I used Audacity, which was pretty easy to use. You basically have to give them fifty percent of the royalties. It’s really easy to get an actor or professional book reader to do your book. What was that process like?ĭ: I really enjoyed it. JG: You also made an audiobook which really was fun to listen to because of how much personality you put into it. Sports journalism, to me, is the most creative form of journalism. I like business and economics but it’s not as creative.

I think the quickest way to a major newspaper is through business reporting. I started as a small-town sports reporter, and I don’t know if someone told me this or I just figured it out, but Its kind of like how in baseball, the fastest way to the major leagues is as a catcher. JG: In your time at USA Today you also wrote about Economics and Business Travel, how is that different than writing about sports?ĭ: It’s quite a bit different. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t an American league team because now I have two National league teams. When the Washington team started back up, I became a fan of theirs’s as well. area in 1992 which was before they even had a team. They were my favorite team until I moved to the Washington, D.C. My parents grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, so I inherited the Giants. Jamie Gatlin: (JG) I read that you are a Nationals and Giants fan, why those two teams?ĭel: (D) The Giants were my favorite team growing up. This Interviewed occurred on January 13th, 2020

On Tuesday morning, I was able to talk with Del about his journalism career and his most recent novel, which is becoming a must read.

Jones looks at how one strikeout affected so many in a truly unique story. The book expands on the legend of the Mighty Casey and the strikeout that is immortalized in baseball legend. The novel is set in 1888 and is based on the timeless fiction poem Casey At the Bat, by Ernest Thayer. Recently Jones published his second novel, At The Bat: The Strikeout that shamed America, which is currently number nine on Goodreads list of 112 greatest novels ever. Over the years, Jones has made his mark on the industry as he has written over 300 cover stories. Del Leonard Jones began his journalism career at USA Today in 1992.

At The Bat by Del Leonard Jones