Double Play: Duo Will Celebrate Baseball With Songs, Stories at Museum
C.V. Museum hosts event with spoken word, nostalgic music
Sawyer Hoff, photos by Justin Patchin |
Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the … museum? OK! Local writer Ken Szymanski will be joined at the Chippewa Valley Museum by musician Derick Black to ring in the third phase of the museum’s new exhibit, “Play Ball.”
On Tuesday, Aug. 29, at 6:30pm, Szymanski will read three short stories he has written about baseball while Black performs songs that strike a nostalgic tone amongst baseball fanatics.
“Music is also an important part of the baseball experience, and Derick and I have done many shows together,” said Szymanski, the City of Eau Claire’s official writer-in-residence. “I love the spoken word, but I love music more. I think it can really elevate the stories, especially when the songs are related to the stories. I also think that spoken word can add a lot to the music so they really help elevate each other.”
Szymanski’s stories range in subjects but fall back on the same thing: a love for baseball, specifically local baseball and Carson Park – home of the Eau Claire Express. His first story is about a quest to take his father to different baseball games and how that coincided with his son being born. The second one is about an Express game that he and his other son went to right before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the games. The last is about the story of an Express player, Jose Vizcaino, and his experience coming from the Dominican Republic and living up to his father who holds a World Series record in baseball.
“You don’t have to be a baseball fan (to enjoy the event),” Szymanski said. “These are stories about the sport, but they’re also about summer and fatherhood and challenges in the passage of time.”
In each of the stories, Szymanski also uses play-by-plays and simulates a baseball announcer to really immerse listeners into a baseball scene.
“I think baseball is just something that’s always there in the background and it’s kind of a part of your life whether you want it to be or not,” Szymanski said. “It’s just something that’s always there and kind of marks the passage of time in the summer.”
Tickets to the event are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students and kids. Tickets can be purchased on the Chippewa Valley Museum’s website.
