Many legends of the game of baseball have been immortalized by their famous quotes. The most well known example is Hall of Fame Yankees Catcher Yogi Berra, who was famous for lines that weren’t necessarily logical, but always had an essence that rang true.
“If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be,” Berra famously said in 1925.
With Opening Day and the first weekend of Major League Baseball this season now behind us, Bryant resident Richard McKeown is publishing a book, “They Said it… About The Greatest Game of All,” that captures the words and examines the careers of ballplayers, coaches, and umpires, from the early 1900s up to as late as 2015.
“Any baseball quote book has to include Yogi Berra,” said McKeown. “The challenge is picking which ‘Yogi-ism’ to include. I settled on a favorite of mine but it’s probably not one most people are familiar with.”
McKeown said he tried to avoid quotes that are widely known or are merely humorous.
“One of my favorite quotes from the book is from (Tony) La Russa,” said McKeown.
“The thing I learned when I was playing was that your best way to winning was to make it difficult for the other team to score in the last three innings,” legendary Head Coach of Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, and St. Louis Cardinals Tony La Russa once said. La Russa won a Manager of the Year award on every team he ever coached, and won three world series managing ball-clubs as well.
McKeown began working on the book two years ago.
“I always liked baseball and I was always kind of interested in quotes, as we all are,” McKeown said. “I started saving my favorites (quotes) a few years back,” he said. “It’s something I thought would be fun to put together.”
McKeown said he fell in love with the game of baseball, America’s past time, when he was growing up in Northwest Vermont.
“You were either a hockey fan or a baseball fan and I couldn’t skate, but I could swing a bat,” McKeown added.
He said he spent a lot of time listening to baseball games on the radio before they were regularly broadcasted on television. At the same time he fell in love with the game itself, he also fell in love with his favorite team, the Boston Red Sox.
The book is the third published by McKeown, who is also the author of “State of Redemption,” and Leave the Last Cookie for Someone Else.”
“Baseball is a game a lot of people have fond memories of playing or watching,” said McKeown. “Rarely do you go to a baseball game alone and it’s common to associate the game with special people or a special time in our lives. It’s not only a sporting event, it’s a social event with sights and sounds we remember and associate with a good time.
“And everyone is in a good mood at the ballpark. There’s not many places you can say that about.”
“They Said it… About The Greatest Game of All,” is available to be purchased in print and digitally on Amazon.
McKeown lives in Bryant with his wife, Tracye (Dicus) McKeown, who works at the Arkansas Division of Higher Education, which is part of the Department of Education. they both moved to Bryant in 1987 and have four adult children: Kristen McCrary, a broker at Century 21 Parker/Scroggins Realty in Bryant, married to Mark McCrary, an engineer for Windstream; Courtney Jones, also a broker at Century 21 Parker/Scroggins Realty in Bryant, married to Ryan Jones, a counselor at Bryant High School; Kristen Darden, a stay-at-home mom and former Southwest Power Pool employee, married to Chris Darden, who works for Entergy—while they technically live in Saline County’s Springhill Farms area, they are part of the Bryant School District; and Nick Kitchens, a registered nurse at UAMS currently working toward a doctor of nursing practice, living in Little Rock.
They have seven grandchildren ranging in age from 3 to 19. granddaughter Ella McCrary, 17, plays soccer for Bryant High School. grandson Cash McCrary, 14, plays on the Bryant Black Sox 14U. granddaughter Edie Jones, 9, has played softball for several years with the Saline County Slammers and basketball in the Bryant Parks & Recreation League. granddaughter Annie Jones, 8, is active in gymnastics. granddaughter Sophia Darden, 5, is in her second season of soccer in Bryant. grandson Scout Darden, 3, just started his first year of T-ball in Bryant. their oldest grandchild, Evan McCrary, 19, attends the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and previously participated in multiple sports programs in Bryant.
