“Whoever wants to know the heart and the mind of America had better learn baseball.”— Jacques Barzon A merica’s passion for baseball is all over the map. It’s little leaguers with eye black and gloves bigger than they are. It’s road trips to ball parks all over the country for the sake of adding another yard to the list. And it’s suffering because Joe Buck is
calling a Saturday game on Fox. It’s even a 23-hour Ken Burns
documentary. That’s how you know we are dead serious about the sport and its place as our national pastime even in the midst of a world-gone-semi-nuts. If there is still any doubt about the importance of baseball in our culture, consider the movies Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and For the Love of the Game. All three use baseball as a vehicle for the story. All three feature Kevin Costner. And all three were popular despite Costner largely playing Costner.
For me, baseball is about the smells. Fresh cut grass. The sun baking the bat rack, pine tar floating in the air. A young sauvignon blanc with a little lemongrass on the nose. There’s a scene in the aforementioned Bull Durham where Costner irons in the middle of the afternoon, drinking a small bucket of scotch. Ironing? Later in the film there are other scenes where players argue, dance and shoot pool while drinking beer. Finding wine in
The late Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver and his wife Nancy purchased their future vineyard property on Diamond Mountain in the 1990s.
the film requires a search party. But things have changed. Just as baseball altered the game (and not for the good) by putting pitchers on the clock, the mighty grape has infiltrated baseball via wine bars at the yard, official wines of MLB and wineries themselves. Indeed, one can hardly swing a weighted bat and not hit a place making wine with a player (active and retired) at the top of the winery roster. Seaver Vineyards was helmed by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver and his wife Nancy. With Tom gone to the big clubhouse in the sky, Nancy runs the show these days. New York Yankee righthander Marcus Stroman has boutique winery Le Carenage with wines made from grapes grown in areas including Napa and Sonoma. Red Stitch Winery is owned in part by former San Francisco Giants shortstop Rich Aurilia and Dave Roberts. Roberts is better known as the current manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. JACK Winery in Napa is owned by two former major league players, Vernon Wells and Chris Iannetta. Selah Winery in Calistoga is owned by former pitcher Joe Blanton, who played for seven different clubs including the Oakland A’s. The wine country has its own Field of Dreams at Balletto Vineyards in Santa Rosa, the field sitting inside the winery not far from vines. And if you are going to talk baseball, you have to win on the road. Our road trip takes us to Baker Family Wines in West Sacramento, skippered by former Giants Manager Dusty Baker. Major League Baseball even has an official wine, Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi. While I can’t say much about the wine, I can attest to MLB understanding how wine has invaded the game. Never let it be said that MLB ever passed up a chance to pimp the game we love for some cash. More proof? The San Francisco Gigantes hired Evan Goldstein as the first master sommelier representing a major sports team. Goldstein was hired to not only select wines so Giants fans
Former A’s and Phillies pitcher Joe Blanton produces about 250 cases of cab a year out of Selah Vineyards in Napa.
26 NorthBaybiz
October 2024
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