David W. Zang played junior high school basketball in a drained swimming
pool. He wore a rubber suit to bed to make weight for a wrestling meet.
He kept a log as an obsessive runner (not a jogger). In short, he
soldiered through the life of an ordinary athlete.
Whether pondering his long-unbuilt replica of Connie Mack Stadium or his
eye-opening turn as the Baltimore Ravens' mascot, Zang offers tales at
turns poignant and hilarious as he engages with the passions that shaped
his life. Yet his meditations also probe the tragedy of a modern
athletic culture that substitutes hyped spectatorship for participation.
As he laments, American society's increasing scorn for taking part in
play robs adults of the life-affirming virtues of games that challenge
us to accomplish the impossible for the most transcendent of reasons: to
see if it can be done.
From teammates named Lop to tracing Joe Paterno's long shadow over Happy
Valley, I Wore Babe Ruth's Hat reports from the everyman's Elysium where
games and life intersect.