12 Questions with a Writer: Will Bardenwerper

The best journalism recognizes what an issue means beyond the instant. In "Homestand," Will Bardenwerper looks at baseball and small town America and asks what they means for one another and all of us

1. Who are you, what have you written, and why?

My name is Will Bardenwerper. I was living in New York on 9/11 which was the catalyst for my quitting that job and volunteering to serve as an infantry officer in the Army for five years. Then I went to graduate school, worked in the Pentagon for five years, and left that to write a book about the unique relationships that developed between Saddam Hussein and his American guards. That book was titled The Prisoner in his Palace: Saddam Hussein, His American Guards, and What History Leaves Unsaid. My newest book, Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America was published by Doubleday on March 11^th. It tells the story of what baseball teams have historically meant to smaller cities and towns across America and what could have been lost when Major League Baseball cut forty minor league teams a few years ago. The city I write about, Batavia NY, fought back though and established a collegiate summer league team to fill the hole that Major League Baseball had left behind. So it is the story of death and rebirth of baseball in this Rust Belt city in Western New York. I also use baseball as a lens through which to examine a number of other sociocultural trends in our society.

2. At Lethal Minds Journal, one of our goals is to offer exposure for current and veteran service members and give them a platform to write, think, and share their visual art. Why are you a writer?

I enjoy telling the stories of real people that help illustrate larger issues impacting our society today. And I am always grateful that they allow me into their lives to do so.

3. Tell us about the process you undertook to write Homestand.

I spent the better part of a year commuting back and forth between Pittsburgh and Batavia NY, getting to know a colorful group of people who inhabit the grandstands at Dwyer Stadium while cheering on their Muckdogs. This was a challenge as I had to leave a five-year-old son and three-month-old daughter at home with my wife while I was gone for long reporting trips.

4. What did you learn in the process and what surprised you?

I learned just how much going to these games meant to these people and how it was such a critical ingredient of their summer. And even though I had grown up playing baseball and been to minor league games before, I was still struck by how different the ballpark experience at this level was to major professional sports events, mostly for the better. I was also surprised by how it was so common to see three generations regularly together at the ballpark, since the games were so affordable and accessible, which is something you would rarely see at an MLB game.

5. Why should someone read Homestand?

I think that in these turbulent and sometimes toxic times, it is nice to escape to a happier place from time to time. And the ballpark, whether in person or through the experience reading this book, can hopefully help provide that.

6. You’ve been a soldier and journalist. Your work seems to look for the bigger lessons in the depth of a story. It’s a lot of hard work to write. How do you sustain the drive over a period of time like the five years this book took from start to publication?

That's a good question and it is certainly not easy. Nor is it likely to make you rich. But once I have determined that a story is worth telling, I am a pretty hard worker and determined to do the best I can to make it happen.

7. What advice do you have for veterans aspiring to write, many of whom have no entrée into the world of writing or idea of how to get it?

It is a tough business. I would say first of all read a lot and write a lot in order to continually get better. And don't be afraid to network and try to build connections in the field. I think you may even be surprised at how supportive other writers can be sometimes, since we all know what a tough job this is. But make no mistake, it is very difficult and even opportunities to write for some of the best publications will sometimes come out to less than minimum wage when you take into consideration how many hours you are investing into the project.

8. You write meaningfully about a Vietnam veteran named Guy Allegretto for whom baseball has been deeply important. Why do sports, particularly baseball, matter to people so much?

I think for Guy, and even myself to some extent, there was something very restorative about going to the ballpark. It provided a sense of serenity that can sometimes be difficult to find in our lives. Obviously the ballpark is not the only place to find this, but for some people it is certainly a valued one.

9. You make a lot of references to social, political, and cultural divisions in the nation as well as writing about our glaring need get to some place of national unity. Having spent all this time thinking about small town America, which played a large part in the most recent elections, and America’s national past time, what did you learn and how do we do it?

I think one key element is to view people as three-dimensional human beings and not reducing them to avatars of a political ideology. During the course of researching the book I never asked who anyone voted for. I was more interested in getting to know them as a person. For example I was way more curious about Betsy Higgins's love for the author Thomas Hardy, or the collectibles store owner’s favorite Star Wars characters, than I was in who they voted for. Obviously I could sometimes deduce political leanings the better I got to know someone, but I think there is a real value in viewing people as complicated individuals and not just reducing them to a representative of a political party.

10. This is your second book. Will you write another? If so, what’s next?

Yes, I very much hope to. But I have yet to settle on a particular idea. And the one thing I have learned in the process of writing my first two books is that you really have to be passionate about the subject to maintain enthusiasm for it over a number of years.

11. Everyone hates this one: What is your favorite book and why?

The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. And I think this is largely because I took a really cool class in college where all we studied for an entire semester was this one book, reading it in multiple translations, along with biographies of Dostoyevsky, and lots of Russian history. So, as a consequence, we were able to develop a deep appreciation for one of the best novels ever written. Conversely, there are some other great books, likeMoby Dick, that I read on my own and without any instruction and as a result I feel like I really didn't get as much out of them as I could have

12. What have I not asked that I should have?

Who is going to win the 2025 World Series? And, despite my very mixed feelings towards MLB, I can't bring myself to completely stop paying attention. Therefore I am going to choose my childhood team, the Baltimore Orioles.

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You can get Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America here or at your favorite independent book seller. Support veteran authors!