51ĀŅĀ×

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In a new book from , ā€œ,ā€ OHIO professor emeritus Samuel Crowl writes about his twin passions: literature and baseball. The book focuses on the Tigers, aspects of Crowlā€™s academic career, and connections between Shakespeareā€™s work and baseball itself (including beer consumption). One anecdote, excerpted here, captures both Crowlā€™s time at OHIO and his enthusiasm for Americaā€™s game.

Although Crowl is a die-hard Tigers fan, living in Athens for more than 50 years has meant catching the occasional live game in Cleveland or Cincinnati rather than Detroit. On May 15, 1981, he attended what turned out to be a historic game in Cleveland when the then-Indians played the Toronto Blue Jays.

ā€œThe great hulk of a stadium resembled a haunted house,ā€ writes Crowl about the old Municipal Stadium. ā€œAs we headed to our infield box seats ten rows or so behind the Indiansā€™ dugout, a voice called out ā€˜Professor Crowlā€™ and I turned to be greeted by Tony Grossi, a former student, who graduated in 1979 from the School of Journalism at 51ĀŅĀ×.ā€ Grossi was a rookie reporter filling in for a regular Cleveland Plain Dealer writer that night, and Crowl notes that he seemed ā€œa bit amazed to see his old Shakespeare prof in the crowd.ā€

By the end of the fourth inning, Crowl noticed that Cleveland pitcher Len Barker had a no-hitter going. ā€œBy the 6th [inning,] the tiny crowd realized what was up as well, though because we were keeping score, we realized that not only did he have a no-hitter working but also a perfect game.ā€

Crowlā€™s short, thrilling depiction of the crowdā€™s fever pitch and the bedlam that ensued is masterfulā€”small wonder from someone who has spent a career teaching Shakespearean drama. And thanks to Grossi, Crowlā€™s perfect game scorecard was signed by Barker. Grossi even signed the Plain Dealer front page story that he wrote.

A perfect game indeed.

Jeff Kallet is the sales and events manager at the 51ĀŅĀ× Press.