Sports beat writer recounts USC baseball’s championship season, young fan’s hard-fought battle
If you judge “Gamecock Glory” as a simple recounting of the 2011 baseball season, it is a more than adequate book. It dissects action well, provides ample analysis and shows a solid grasp of the national championship team.
But this is a compelling, emotionally gut-wrenching book that intricately and powerfully weaves the majestic sport of baseball and human emotion in a way few books can.
At its core, the book vividly reconstructs the 2011 national championship season through interviews, first-hand accounts and dutiful analyses. Author Travis Haney, the USC sports beat reporter for The Post and Courier, is more than qualified to do just that.
But instead of providing box scores and statistics, he provides a clear understanding of how this team — which even head coach Ray Tanner didn’t think would be wildly successful — blew away all expectations.
He takes readers on the bus with the team returning from an early season series loss at East Carolina, showing an angry Tanner and an insecure team. He notes the number of on-paper flaws that made winning the College World Series seem improbable at best.
Haney travels with the squad through rigorous SEC play, where the team seemed to take one step backward each time it took one step forward. And he drives the book home with a powerful recounting of the emotion that was Omaha, Neb.
He shows how this team of goofballs shared deep bonds and brought a striking sense of humor even to the tensest situations.
You feel compelled to like this team, to want to learn more about them, and see how their personal relationships made the season possible.
But there’s a second storyline that is even more captivating — the relationship between the team and 7-year-old Bayler Teal, a joyful South Carolina native dying from terminal cancer.
Teal is no average child. This boy has dreams, an incredible faith in God, a sharp wit and a powerful way of interacting with others.
Could he have been a president? A preacher? A powerful businessman? Could he have been anything other than a beautiful kid dying of cancer?
Through lots of painful interviews and observations, Haney shows how Teal handled this incredible struggle with grace.
Teal threw out the first pitch at Carolina Stadium for a game. He joked with members of the team in his hospital room. He belted out powerful gospel lyrics in church.
And he died during the College World Series, leaving his family to mourn and celebrate with a team that both celebrated and mourned itself.
As someone who loves baseball, the Gamecocks and emotionally powerful writing, I hesitated to review this book. And when I eventually chose to do so, I asked two of my friends who don’t have a particular affinity for baseball or the Gamecocks to read it as well.
They were just as impressed as I was.
Bestselling books are impressive for their stylistic writing, beautiful storylines and complex, emotional characters. Haney was given the beautiful storyline and lovable characters. He added stylistic writing and hundreds of hours of reporting to craft a brilliant, historic novel.
His book ends simply: “I thank Bayler too, for living seven and a half big, brave and bold years. Your legacy will outshine most everyone I know. I look forward to meeting you one day. I am glad to know you are not in pain anymore. I hope there is baseball in Heaven.”