Baseball and Route 66

Photographer mixes passion for baseball with Route 66

By Gregory “Highway” Hasman

Some people love baseball because it brings back memories of playing the game as a child or watching it with a loved one.

Folks travel down Route 66 for sentimental reasons as well.

For some, taking a trip down the Mother Road may conjure up thoughts of when they sat inside their family car as a kid while their parents drove down 66 on their way to Petrified Forest National Park or Disneyland.

Sports photographer Jean Fruth combines these nostalgic elements or concepts in her new book, “Grassroots Baseball: Route 66.”

“Baseball connects people, and it connects generations,” she said in an interview. “Route 66 connects people and connects generations.”

People attending Wednesday night’s Albuquerque Isotopes and Salt Lake Bees game at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, got a taste of nostalgia when former Major League Baseball pitcher and Hall of Famer Greg Maddux went back on the mound and threw out the first pitch.

The 18-time Gold Glove Award winner then gave an hour of his time to take photographs with fans who wore hats, T-shirts or jerseys of their favorite teams he played on.

Maddux came to Duke City to help promote “Grassroots Baseball: Route 66” after being asked by friend Jeff Idelson, a retired National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum president.

“He was excited to come,” Idelson said. “He has been to Albuquerque before as the pitching and baserunning coach at UNLV.”

Fruth and Idelson, co-founders of a nonprofit organization “Grassroots Baseball,” are touring places across the country promoting the book. In some locations they are appearing with a former major leaguer who played or grew up in a Route 66 community.

Maddux pitched for two 66 communities, Chicago and Los Angeles.

‘What America was really about’

“Grassroots Baseball: Route 66” is Fruth’s second book.

Her first, “Grassroots Baseball: Where Legends Begin,” came out a few years ago and it had some of baseball’s greats’ thoughts on the game from a global perspective.

Fruth took photos at major events like the World Baseball Classic in Japan while also taking time to shoot little league, minor league and other games in places around the world.

But for her current book, she wanted to see the game’s impact on an American icon.

A few years ago, she and Idelson decided to hit the road and watch baseball being played all along Route 66 from Illinois to California.

They wanted to see, Fruth said, “what America was really all about.”

“Grassroots Baseball: Route 66” contains over 250 images of the game along with slices of Americana that has come to define the Double Six since its birth in 1926.

Each chapter opens with a portrait of a baseball legend and first-person essay recounting their early memories of playing the game. Some of the stars highlighted in the book include George Brett, Johnny Bench, Jim Thome and Alex Bregman, Houston Astros infielder and Albuquerque native.

“If you were to ask me to describe what life was like in Albuquerque, I would tell you this: Everybody knows everybody,” Bregman wrote. “Everybody works hard, plays hard, and does everything the right way. It’s a small town hiding inside of a big city. In that way, it’s a lot like Route 66.”

The pages that follow show the game from the sandlots to major league ballparks, giving readers a look at how these legends’ career started.

“We made sure we included photography tying [the photos] in with the essays,” Fruth said.

Some of the New Mexico highlights include photographs of the game being played in Native American pueblos, 66 roadside attractions such as the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, and events like the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Hopefully, the book will bring back memories of that special baseball moment in someone’s life and/or that memorable Route 66 trip, Fruth said.

The book is $70 with the proceeds going to Grassroots Baseball, a nonprofit organization that promotes and celebrates the game around the globe.

The goal of the nonprofit is to give back by providing inspiration, instruction, and equipment to help ensure more children have the chance to learn, play and enjoy the game, according to its website.

“We are both at a point in our lives where we wanted to give back to the sport we both have loved and worked in for so long,” Idelson said. “Promoting the amateur game and helping to grow it at the youngest levels is our core mission.”

For more on the book and organization, visit  http://grassrootsbaseball.org.