In terms of keeping two ideas in your head, author Ryan Basen illustrates that (i) the golden age of sports tends to be what it was like when you were 10 to 12 years old and (ii) otherwise, pre-teens is a terrible time — especially if you grew up in a generation where there was less awareness and much more stigma with mental health.
And there is a lot of “rewiring” one needs to seal in that sports is about the journey and not the end, even if that is what gets recognized formally.
Basen’s book, Death of a Childhood: A Memoir of 1989 and the ‘Why Not’ Baltimore Orioles (April 2025, The Sager Group), sent up a sufficient signal that this is not quite a conundrum. His book explains how sports can be a port in the storm at a time when you are doubting yourself and the people around you.
It’s baseball and it’s mental health, so it is right in the wheelhouse(s) of 790 RISP, the Reading Into Sports podcast.
Throughout the book, Basen shares his 11-year-old self’s inner monologue and trials as symptoms of his “nascent” anxiety disorders begin to emerge as he confronts social situations, family stress, and eventually, an adjustment to a new school. One can readily relate to the despair and anxiety in young Ryan’s words, “Who could I trust wholeheartedly anymore? Anyone?” and “How long could baseball prevent me from having to confront these issues?”
His welcome distraction comes in the unlikely form of the 1989 iteration of the Baltimore Orioles, who challenged the more highly regarded Toronto Blue Jays for a division flag in those days before wild-spot spots, when it was ‘first place or no place.’ Coming off what had been the worst season in the history of the Charm City crew, the Orioles achieved the biggest one-season improvement in MLB history to that point, improving by 33 wins with a cast that, beyond peerless Iron Man shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., consisted of youngsters, reclamation projects, and control pitchers such as Jeff Ballard and Bob Milacki.
(The only team to take a bigger jump is the 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks, a second-year expansion team that improved by 37 wins. They had Randy Johnson starting every five days. Coincidentally enough, centrefielder Steve Finley had been a rookie on the ’89 Orioles, and the bullpen included Gregg Olson, who closed for those ’89 Baltimores.)
To follow Basen, visit ryanbasen.com or peruse his Ryan Basen’s True Childhood Stories Substack. Once an award-winning reporter with the Charlotte Observer, his journalism has graced The New York Times, Washington Post, and Baltimore Sun. He is an alumnus of Washington University in St. Louis and earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland in his home state.
There will be more 790 in two to three weeks. I am told you should always say you will have more in two weeks.
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Sept. 8-Oct. 30, 2025
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