Brad Balukjian's Debut "The Wax Pack" Takes Readers On A Soulful Journey Via A Pack of Baseball Cards, And A Road Trip Seeking Out The Men Behind The Stats
Philadelphia, PA-- Brad Balukjian wanted answers.
As a biology teacher, he's accustomed to helping to answer many questions every day. But beyond science, he wanted to understand more about himself. He wanted to understand more about the people he’d known as a kid. Not his neighbors, but baseball players. And particularly those who were not exactly in the limelight anymore, or, perhaps, never quite were in the white hot spotlight, even when they played in the major leagues.
The entire project began with a few scribbled questions in his scorebook. One of which was, "What can I learn from them about what lies ahead for me?" That question led to others, and then, to a plan. The final project, "The Wax Pack: On The Road In Search Of Baseball's Afterlife,: isn’t just a book about baseball or players; it’s not just a record of history: it’s biographical, yes, but there’s a deeper intimacy that permeates the stories--both Balukjian’s and the players--and how they’re told.
“Some of it developed as I wrote. I didn’t know I was going to write about OCD, or relationships," said Balukjian by telephone in late spring. "But I ended up writing about connections and fear. I knew I’d be a character in the book but I didn’t know to what degree.”
Tonally, there’s a mixed bag in his repertoire: humor, heavier elements recalling personal failures and loss, there are tales of wild times, settling down, and, ultimately, family. :
“I’m glad you picked up on that. Thank you. That was my intention. Some of the stories were just going to be funny, others were going to be very sad and serious,” he said.
Balukjian grew up obsessed with underdogs, feeling like one himself, he talks about the feeling of standing alone in a corner, or a favorte train track at the local station, simply beause it was underused.
Baseball underdogs and "benchwarmers" were also a favorite as his passion for baseball deepened throughout his childhood. He attended "countless ball games as a kid," he writes, and it was his dad to taught him how to wrap tin foil around the antenna of his transistor radio in order to hear Philadelphia Phillies games.
The book is as much about fathers and sons, as it is about the experience of baseball, and personal struggles. The real romance here, is about a boy and his dad, bonding through the love of the game. A passion passed down, and nurtured simply by sitting and gazing ahead at a field and an unfolding contest.
He bridges that kind of experience to players he talks to on the trip. One of those players Lee Mazzilli, a former New York Mets first round pick, who played part of his thirteen year career in the outfield for the Mets, as well as the Yankees and Texas Rangers. When his son, Lee Jr., known as L.J., was drafted out of the University of Connecticut, the former Husky was greeted with fanfare by Mets media, personnel and fans. Following in his father's footsteps, a story that fits so snuggly into this collection, young Mazzilli had some pressure on him to be part of a story bigger than himself. But while covering him when he played for the Short Season Mets affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones, he never seemed wrapped up in that; perhaps on guard is a better way to describe his demeanor. The night of the MLB Draft, he could've immediately been pulled into the media lights. But instead of agreeing to talk, he quickly informed me that it wasn't quite time for that.
"Yeah, I just want to be with my parents right now," he said. That personal story didn't surprise Balukjian.
"With them, it's all about family," he said, recalling the unassuming warmth and welcome mat he received upon talking with Mazzilli matriarch Dani."She treats you like an old friend. It's a wonderful family life to witness."
During that portion of the trip, Balujkian's father was able to join his son's adventure. It was an important moment for him to connect his relationship with baseball, his dad and his mission.
"The timing was perfect to bring those stories together. [Him being there], and talking with Lee, showed the bonds between father and sons, through baseball," Balukjian said.
While the author intimates that the book is largely about fathers and sons, he recently clarified on his Twitter account that his relationship with his mother, and her support of his love for baseball, particularly collecting hard to find cards, was a big part of his childhood; calling her “supportive and loving;” he remembers her being open to a drive to search for something he pined for.
“I would make lists of all the “common cards” that I wanted to collect. This is all pre-internet, so getting those cards meant going to baseball card shops or the houses of private collectors with my lists of players no one wanted, and it was my mom who would drive me to all these places because she saw how passionate I was, and how much joy it brought me. She is one of my heroes,” he said. In the book, he also thanks for not throwing out the collection, keeping them stored safely in her condo.
As he prepared to release the passion project, one that had been rejected 37 times before Nebraska Press gave it the green light, a dark cloud moved in. At first, our safety didn't seem threatened, but worry grew quickly: what would become of this thing called “COVID-19?” We never imagined the weeks ahead. How life would become unrecognizable; our worries were transformed to something often seen in movies (PANIC), Leisure and the day-to-day humdrum would suddenly be thwarted, shaped into a new and strained normal. For authors with promotional book tours, well, that wasn’t going to happen. From that vacant space, a special club was borne of the need to amplify their work, and not see threir long-developed projects fall through the cracks.
“The Pandemic Baseball Book Club started when several of us with books affected by the pandemic, began promoting each other’s works on Twitter, and discussing how we might help each other,” he said. “It’s grown to a group of twenty-three writers with a podcast, swag, a blog, and much more. Although I haven’t met most of the members in person, I feel like they’ve been friends for years. It’s been touching to see how everyone has worked to help each other.”
The club includes Anika Orrock (“I’ve known her for years”), Emily Nemens, D.B. Firstman, Joan Ryan, Ralph Carhart, and Kat Williams.
His plans for a future project will likely focus on his vocation, something scientific (one could argue that he could write a scientific book about baseball!), but, according to Balukjian, there will be no sequel to something he feels turned out so perfectly, all the pieces, the stories, the characters, Balukjian included, found their way to one another in a fateful, fascinating way.
Perhaps he found some of the answers he was looking for.
Follow Brad Balukjian on Twitter @waxpackbook