"I admit it, I’m a baseball nut," says Bartruff, the director of theatre at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

 "But just listen to the first stanza of that song," he says:

"Life is a ballgame, being played each day.
Life is a ballgame, and everybody can play
Jesus is standing at the home plate,
He’s waiting for you there
You know life is a ballgame
But you’ve got to play it fair."

"It summarizes all  my passion for the game," he said.

"I Love to Tell the Story," the title of Bartruff’s play, which isn’t about baseball, will be staged on campus next spring.

But this fall, when the World Series is center stage, his attention is focused on  a game he calls a uniquely American metaphor for life.

"So much about baseball translates into philosophy that it becomes an endless conversation, part of the allure of the game"  he said. "For example, in baseball, when you strike out 70 percent of the time, you’re still considered a good hitter. What more graphic lesson about  enduring human quest for success can you find?"

Although football may have eclipsed baseball as America’s favorite sport, Bartruff said, there’s no comparing the two when it comes to inspiring song.

"American’s still have a soft spot in their hearts for baseball," said Bartruff,an avid collector of baseball paraphernalia, literature and song. "The game grew  up side by side with our nation, starting before the civil war. Even Walt Whitman wrote about it. As a result, baseball has become part of our collective memory."

And that, he said, is why baseball has inspired so much lyrical emotion. "Memory: that’s where our literature, art and music come from," he said.

While the first recognized song about the sport, "The Baseball Polka," was written in 1858, one of Bartruff’s personal favorites, Kenny Rogers’ "The Greatest," was released in 1999.

 "Hundreds of other songs about baseball were written between those years," he said. "Jazz, blues, rock, country and classical."

From Lee Brown and his  Orchestra’s "Joltin’  Joe DiMaggio" to Terry Cushman’s "Willie, Mickey & the Duke,"  from  Rockin’ Ritchie Ray’s "Baseball Card Lover" to Bruce Springsteen’s "Glory Days"; from the Big Blue Wrecking Crew’s "We Are the Champions" to  "You’ve Got To Have Heart" (from the hit Broadway musical "Damn Yankees"), baseball songs fill the spectrum of American music.

But  none come close to the legacy of the all-time favorite baseball tune, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." It was written in 1909 by a vaudeville actor named Jack Norworth who’d never seen a baseball game.

Bartruff said Norworth spent 15 minutes writing this classic, which is now sung during the seventh inning stretch at every ball park in the country. Then he revised it in 1927. Norworth said a subway poster inspired the song.

"Someone once said that football embodies two of the most repugnant activities in modern America—violence and committee meetings," Bartruff said. "Personally, I like football. It’s a made-for-television sport that began becoming popular after World War II. It doesn’t have the history of baseball."

By contrast, he said, baseball is a much slower game, not particularly suited to television. "It’s more contemplative, quieter, conversational and family oriented. "Going to a baseball game is like attending a family picnic," he said.

Is it too slow for 21st century viewers?

"Maybe," he said. "Modern life is pretty complex and there’s so much competing for our time. To borrow a line from poet Robert Frost, baseball is  like going ‘back to a time made simple by  the loss of detail.’ We could use some the game’s simplicity."

Along with some certainty, he said, like when a baseball umpire makes a call unaided by instant replay. "Justice is swift and irreversible," Bartruff said. "There are no gray areas on the diamond."

Maybe Kenny Rogers  said it best when talked about his recording of "The Greatest, " the story of a boy who struck himself out nine times trying to shag flies, then suddenly realizes he’s the greatest pitcher of all time:

"The first time I heard ‘The Greatest,’ it reminded me of how simple life used to be…a boy…a bat… and a ball," Rogers said. "This song captures that rare moment in every young kid’s life where the game is more important than the score. It goes beyond music and baseball. It’s about life."

But as the  baby boomers maudlin love affair with baseball begins to give way to the next generation, which seems addicted to  hyperactivity and burdened by a short attention span, what will happen to baseball?

"As long as there’s a parent and child playing catch somewhere, baseball will always have its fans," Bartruff said.

Nevertheless, to quote Yankee Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra: "The future ain’t what it used to be."

So what’s Bartruff’s favorite line from a baseball song?

"Put me in coach," from John Fogerty’s rock hit "Centerfield."

"It confirms the notion that you don’t have to be the biggest, the fastest or the most athletic to be a good baseball player," Bartruff said. "It’s a game where you can see the best  and still say, "I can do that." Maybe that’s self deception. But for anyone who’s played the game, hope springs eternal and that song is always in your heart."

Bartruff’s top ten baseball songs (not including "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"):

10) "You’ve Got to Have Heart" from the Broadway show "Damn Yankees."
9) "The Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request" by Steve Goodman. A great American songwriter describes what it means to be a Cubs fan.
8) "The First Baseball Game" by Nat King Cole. One of Cole’s lesser hits, but memorable all the same.
7) "It’s a Beautiful Day for a Ballgame" by The Harry Simeone Songsters. A baseball tribute recorded in 1960 by the ensemble best known for its Christmas classic "The Little Drummer Boy."
6) "The Babe" by Dan Bern. A unique American vocalist depicts a man who comes to visit a dying Babe Ruth.
5) "The Ball Game" by Sister Wynona Carr. A gospel gem from 1955 that equates the game of baseball to the game of life. A great version of the song recorded by Maria Muldaur was the closing title for the film "Cobb" starring Tommy Lee Jones.
4) "Night Game" and "Mrs. Robinson, both by Paul Simon. Although Mrs. Robinson" isn’t really a baseball song, it contains one of baseball’s best lyrics, "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? The nation turns its lonely eyes to you…."
3) "Centerfield" by John Fogerty. "Put me in coach, I’m ready to play…."
2) "The Greatest" by Don Schlitz. Recorded by Kenny Rogers in 1999, this song evokes the pure essence of baseball—a boy, a bat, a ball, his dreams and his optimism."
1) "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen. A rock classic about one of baseball’s dominant themes—memory.

MSUM’S FALL ENROLLMENT
REACHES  7,373 STUDENTS
Moorhead, MN…Fall semester enrollment at Minnesota State University Moorhead sits at 7,373 students, up 4.4 percent from last fall’s total of 7,048, according to preliminary figures based on the 30th day of classes.

"It’s the largest enrollment we’ve had since 1993," says MSUM Registrar John Tandberg.

New entering freshmen numbers reached 1,205 (a 4.1 percent increase over last fall) and new entering transfers total 684 (up 1.6 percent).

Meanwhile, total credit hours taken by students is up 6 percent.

"We’re very closed to our projected enrollment of 7,400," Tandberg said. "That’s just about a perfect fit for us."

The 30th day of classes is used as a reliable benchmark for enrollment because most students have completed registering by then.

He’ll also a lecture on "Writing as a Man from a Woman’s Point of View" at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20 in Weld Hall Auditorium.

And that will be the last time that Minnesota State University Moorhead’s Weld Hall Auditorium will bear a generic name.

Prior to White’s Friday afternoon lecture, the university will officially rename Weld Hall Auditorium the Clarence "Soc" Glasrud Auditorium. The dedication will precede White’s lecture.

Glasrud, a Detroit Lakes native who taught in a country school before enrolling at MSUM in 1930 and graduating in 1934. Following a stint in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Glasrud earned both a master’s degree and doctorate at Harvard University. He returned to his alma mater in 1947 to teach, eventually serving 23 years as chair of MSUM’s English department, which is still housed in Weld Hall. He’s also credited with helping develop a separate department of speech and theatre here. He retired in 1977.

Glasrud has since written two comprehensive histories of the university: "The Moorhead Normal School" and "Moorhead State Teachers College." He’s now working on the final chapter of the university’s history.

The reading, lecture and dedication are free and open to the public.

White is the author of a collection of stories, "Marked Men," and two novels—"A Brother's Blood," which was a New York Times Notable Book and Edgar Award finalist, and "The Blind Side of the Heart," a Book-of-the-Month-Club selection. A new novel, "A Dream of Wolves," will be published next February. He has served as co-editor of American Fiction and as editor of Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose.  He teaches at Fairfield University in Connecticut.

Events get underway at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, with an all-campus picnic from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. followed by  a bonfire and pep rally on Murray Beach, featuring the traditional burning of the "M."

Wednesday, hypnotist Fredrick Winters is on stage at 8 p.m. in the student union ballroom. ($3 college I.D., $5 general admission).

Thursday, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., MSUM hosts its annual campus talent show and Homecoming coronation in the student union ballroom. That will be followed by a dance at the Ramada Plaza Suites with MSUM alum Johnny Holm and his band from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Friday, it’s free chili on the mall from noon to 3 p.m., an event called Dragon Bash that includes games and a Karaoke contest. It will be followed by a free 7 p.m. dance on Murray Beach.

The annual Distinguished Alumni Awards banquet starts at 6 p.m. Friday at the Ramada Plaza Suites, honoring MSUM alums Deb Jenkins, Mark Voxland and Helen Klassen along with Yvonne Condell and Erling Johnson, who will each receive special honors.

Saturday events start  at 11:30 a.m. with a Doo Dah Parade—no floats or marching bands, just gimmicks and craziness—marching down 8th St. to 7th Ave. to 11th Street and past the university’s front gates.

At 1:30 p.m., the Dragons face the Bemidji State University Wildcats in the annual Homecoming football game on Nemzek Field.

Saturday evening, MSU inducts five alums into the Dragon Hall of Fame during a 6 p.m. banquet at the Ramada Plaza Suites: Brenda Carver, Terry Harrington, Troy Hendricks, Elise Ericson and Erwin Warner

A student formal dance will also be held Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. in the student union ballroom.
 

They are: Deb Jenkins, manager of the Full Circle Café in Fargo; Helen Klassen, president  and founder of the White Earth Tribal and Community College; and Moorhead City Councilman Mark Voxland.

The awards are presented annually to alumni who have distinguished themselves in professional and community achievements.

MSUM professor emeritus Yvonne Condell will also receive a Distinguished Service Award from the university and Erling Johnson a Distinguished Volunteer Award.

They’ll be honored at a 6 p.m. Alumni Awards Banquet on Friday, October 13  at the Ramada Plaza Suites in Fargo. For tickets, contact the MSUM Alumni Foundation office at 236-3265.

This year’s award winners:

Deb Jenkins??a registered nurse, singer and manager of the Full Circle Café in Fargo??is a  1992 MSUM nursing graduate.

Originally from Richfield, Minn., she earned a degree in practical nursing from Mankato Vocational Technical Institute in 1974 and worked the next two years as an LPN for the University of Minnesota Hospitals’ kidney transplant department. She moved to Fargo-Moorhead to work at St. Luke’s Hospital and later MeritCare Medical Center where she spent 18 years as an adult intensive care unit nurse and as a charge nurse in the cardiac care unit.

Jenkins spends most of her time now with her catering business, TSW Catering, and as manager and job  coach at The Full Circle Café,  a non-profit transitional work site for people with disabilities. The café is also an extension of Community Living Service Inc., providing low-cost meals to needy people in the community. She also has her own band, "The Deb Jenkins Trio," and has produced a CD, "Freedom," with Barking Dog Records. Her annual Celebration of Women and the Arts project, now in its fourth year, raises scholarship money for graduating high school seniors in the arts with the help of volunteer female artists performing at the Fargo Theatre.

Helen Klassen, president  and founder of the White Earth Tribal and Community College, earned a degree in sociology at  MSUM in 1973.  She taught at the Circle of Life School, Bemidji State University and Pine Point School before joining the MSUM faculty in 1989 as a counselor and as the first native American instructor in the university’s White Earth program.

Originally from Ponsford and a graduate of Detroit Lakes High School, Klassen earned a master’s degree and doctorate at Harvard University in human development and psychology under a Bush Fellowship and returned for a year of post-doctoral work in higher education administration. In 1991 she was named Outstanding American Indian Counselor of the Year by the Minnesota Indian Education Association.

Mark Voxland, who owns Voxland Electric with his wife Donna, is a 1972 MSUM political science graduate. Originally from Moorhead, he’s been a member of the Moorhead City Council for 13 years and the Moorhead Chamber of Commerce since 1976.

He’s served a term on the MSUM Alumni Board and just retired after 13 years as advisor to MSUM’s Circle K service organization. He was recognized by both the Catholic church’s St. George Award and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s Lamb award for service to youth for his 25 years as scoutmaster at Trinity Lutheran Church. He’s also a member of the League of Minnesota Cities board of directors and once served as Minnesota’s delegate to the pre-White House Conference on Library Service.

Yvonne Condell, who retired from MSUM in 1995 after 30 years of teaching life sciences and biology, was elected executive vice president of the American Association of University Women last year. The association, with 160,000 members and more than 1,500 branches nationwide, promotes education and equality for all women and girls.

The MSUM Alumni Foundation, in honor of Condell and her late husband James, a former university psychology professor, created a $150,000 endowment fund in their names for African-American students attending MSUM.

A member of the AAUW board of directors from 1975-78 and again from 1991-95, she also served as its representative for International Affairs from 1989-91, taking part in 14 educational missions around the world. In honor of her contributions, AAUW established a $110,000 fellowship in her name.

Condell, a  native of Quitman, Ga., currently sits on the board of directors for the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Minnesota Humanities Commission and Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union. She was a Minnesota Public Radio board member from 1991-95.

Erling Johnson, who retired in 1997 after 30 years in education, is honored for his volunteer work in organizing two successful campus school reunions—one in 1987 and the other this summer. The Campus School was an adjunct of what was then called Moorhead State Teachers College, now MSUM.  It served as a practicum lab for student teachers at MSTC and as a school for testing innovative ideas in education. More than 500 of the 950 students who graduated from the campus school between 1931 and 1971 returned this summer for a reunion. During the centennial reunion in 1987, 715 alumni returned.

Johnson, a Moorhead native, graduated from the campus school in 1955 and then earned an elementary education degree from MSUM in 1966. He taught 10 years in the Moorhead School District, and was named teacher of the year in 1970.

He then earned a master’s degree in counseling and guidance from North Dakota State University and served as a vocational guidance counselor over  the next decade for three North Dakota Schools—Wilton, Washburn and Turtle Lake-Mercer??where in  1984 he was named North Dakota’s vocational guidance counselor of the year. He later taught at the International School of Minnesota in Eden Prairie and then worked for Square One National Gift Testing Center one year before buying the business in 1994. Now retired, he lives in Casa Grande, Ariz

They are: Brenda Braun Carver, Terry Harrington, Troy Hendricks, Elise Olsgaard-Erickson and Erwin Warner.

For banquet ticket information, contact the university’s Alumni Foundation office at 236-3265.

A closer look at the winners:

* Brenda Braun Carver, a Moorhead High School graduate, logged a rewarding track career as an MSUM athlete, specializing in  hurdle events. She set a batch of collegiate records and captured the national championship in the 60-meter hurdles at the 1989 NAIA Outdoor. She also won six NSC titles and is an 11-time all-conference honoree and two-time team MVP. She earned the Jessie McKeller Outstanding Senior Student-Athlete award in 1990 and later served as assistant coach at MSUM. Now living in Hilliard, Ohio, she’s been working in the hospital-based fitness and wellness industry.

* Terry Harrington, a Halstad native, helped elevate the Dragons to national track prominence in the 1960s. A hurdling whiz, he was elected track captain as a senior and named the Dragons’ Most Valuable Track Athlete in 1969. Harrington participated at the NAIA National Championships and placed seventh in the 120-yard high hurdles at the 1969 NAIA Outdoor. He was also voted the Outstanding Senior Athlete at MSUM in 1968-69. Harrington is a longtime cross-country and track coach at Fergus Falls High School.

* Troy Hendricks charted a marvelous career as a Dragon running back in the 1980s. A three-year starter who was decorated with second team NAIA All-American honors in 1985, he led the nation (NAIA) in scoring, 12.4, and rushing, 138.4, as a senior. Hendricks recorded the second longest touchdown run in Dragon history, a 93-yard score against Northern State in 1984. He was voted the Dragons’ MVP as a junior and senior and captain-elect as a senior, then signed a professional contract with the Seattle Seahawks in 1986. He’s currently head football coach and director of athletics at Bemidji High School.

* Elise (Lisa) Olsgaard-Erickson, a Moorhead native, surfaced as a quality track athlete at MSUM in the 1970s. She set a batch of early Dragon sprint and relay records and served as head women’s coach here in 1979. She’s now a member of the athletic training staff at North Dakota State University.

* Erwin "Cactus" Warner, a Halstad native, was a basketball and baseball standout at MSUM in the 1960s. A three-time all-conference basketball guard, he helped the Dragons capture the 1964-65 NIC title and advance to the finals of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional tournament. He was a two-time Dragon basketball captain and was elected baseball captain as well. Warner collected 408 prep basketball coaching wins and produced seven state tournament teams in 23 seasons at Norman County West High School, guiding his team to a Minnesota state championship. Active in the regional sugar beet industry, he once served as chairman of the board for American Crystal Sugar Company. He now lives in Mesquite, Nev.