Season of Shattered Dreams: The Gripping Story of the 1946 Spokane Indians With Eric Vickrey

Let’s dive into an incredible story that combines baseball, tragedy, and the resilience of the human spirit!

In this episode author Eric Vickery shares the remarkable tale behind his latest book, “Season of Shattered Dreams.” This gripping narrative centers around the 1946 Spokane Indians and a devastating bus crash that changed lives forever. The crash is the largest death toll in American sports history.

The conversation is an in-depth exploration of the book’s themes, delving into the impact of the tragic event on the survivors as well as the broader baseball community. It’s a story that captures the highs and lows of the sport and human experience.

Eric Vickery’s meticulous research and dedication to telling the players’ stories shine through in his book. From the chaotic post-WWII baseball landscape to the personal journeys of those affected, the book unfolds like a compelling drama that’s both heart-wrenching and inspiring.

The discussion also offers valuable insights into Vickery’s writing process and how he unearthed the untold stories of unsung heroes of baseball. It’s a testament to his passion for the game and his commitment to preserving its history.

Overall, this episode of the podcast provides a unique and profound perspective on baseball and the resilience of those who faced unimaginable loss. It’s a testament to the power of storytelling and the enduring impact of historical events.

Check out the podcast episode and grab a copy of “Season of Shattered Dreams The Gripping Story of the 1946 Spokane Indians” to embark on an unforgettable journey through baseball history and human perseverance.

Eric Vickrey Episode Transcript

Hello, friends, and welcome to the exploring Washington State podcast. My name is Scott Cowan, and I’m the host of the show. Each episode, I have a conversation with an interesting guest who is living in or from Washington State. These are casual conversations with real and interesting people. I think you’re gonna like the show. So let’s jump right in with today’s guest. Alright. I am sitting here this I’m recording this in the afternoon.

Scott Cowan [00:00:28]:

So I’m sitting here this afternoon with Eric Vickery. Eric is an author, and we’re gonna talk about his latest book, season of shattered dreams. There’s a whole lot more to that title, but we’re just gonna call it season of shattered dreams. But it’s about the 1946 Spokane Indians and a tragic bus crash that happened. Eric, thanks for sitting down with me. And Thanks for having me. What I wanna start with is what I know about you is this is you you do not grow up in Washington state. You’re currently living here now.

Scott Cowan [00:00:58]:

And your first book was about the Scott. Louis Cardinals, which I could harass you and tease you, like, why? But but that’s kind of the area you grew up in. Right? The Midwest. And were you a Cardinals fan as a kid?

Eric Vickrey [00:01:09]:

Yes. I was. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:01:10]:

I grew

Eric Vickery [00:01:11]:

up in Alton, Illinois, which is, like, 20 miles from Scott Louis.

Scott Cowan [00:01:14]:

Okay. And so that makes perfect sense that you would would wanna write about the hometown team. Mhmm. Your bio also says you’re a lifetime baseball fan. I am as well, and I got in I got introduced to baseball through my grandfather who, pitched semi pro in the twenties, and and maybe the early thirties, in the Seattle area. And he took me to what my earliest memory what I remember is he took me to a Tacoma Twins game, which would have been, like, 70 or 71. And I just remember him telling me that I needed to pay more attention or I was gonna get hit by a foul ball. That’s the thing I remember.

Scott Cowan [00:01:53]:

Okay? I don’t really remember anything else about the game. I just remember him kind of in his curmudgeonly way telling me to pay attention. And I think it was because I, yeah, because I wasn’t appreciating the game. I was, I was 10 years old. I was, you know, oh, okay. But baseball’s been a thing, in my life forever. I also, my junior high history teacher pitched in the in the major leagues. He he pitched briefly for the San Francisco giants, pitched for the Tacoma Giants as well.

Scott Cowan [00:02:23]:

His name was John Preginzer.

Eric Vickery [00:02:25]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:02:26]:

And I remember as a middle schooler thinking that this man was huge, and he just recently passed away. But when I saw him as an adult, I realized that, you know, he wasn’t a very large he he was tall, but I’m I’m a much bigger human being than I was when I was in middle school. So baseball’s been around my world, never written about it. So how’d you get introduced to baseball, and what made you decide to to write about baseball?

Eric Vickery [00:02:59]:

Sure. Well, my, baseball fandom goes back to a very early age. I went to my first game in 1986. I remember it very vividly.

Scott Cowan [00:03:10]:

Did your grandfather tell you to sit down?

Eric Vickery [00:03:13]:

We were in up in the nosebleeds, so we didn’t have to worry about a foul ball coming up there. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:03:18]:

This is

Eric Vickery [00:03:18]:

at the old Busch Stadium in Scott Louis.

Scott Cowan [00:03:20]:

K.

Eric Vickery [00:03:21]:

Bob Forsch pitched that day.

Scott Cowan [00:03:23]:

He

Eric Vickery [00:03:23]:

was the starting pitcher, and he also hit a grand slam.

Scott Cowan [00:03:25]:

Oh, wow. Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:03:26]:

So so pretty memorable just from that alone.

Scott Cowan [00:03:29]:

Right.

Eric Vickery [00:03:31]:

And that same year, I started collecting baseball cards, kind of fell in love with collecting those, and then started, like, listening to games on the radio.

Scott Cowan [00:03:42]:

K.

Eric Vickery [00:03:42]:

Back then, there weren’t a whole lot of games on TV, and then started playing the game too all around the same time. So, it’s always just been a huge part of my life. And, of course, the Scott Louis Cardinals being my hometown team, that was my kind of my first love.

Scott Cowan [00:03:56]:

Mhmm.

Eric Vickery [00:03:56]:

And that was more or less I’ve always just been a fan. And since moving out here, I’ve also, jumped on the Mariners bandwagon.

Scott Cowan [00:04:03]:

Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:04:03]:

But had never written about the game up until 2020 during the pandemic. I I think I was just kinda bored and looking for something to pass the time, and I, I tend to go down rabbit holes on baseball reference, which is like the online baseball encyclopedia. Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:04:23]:

And

Eric Vickery [00:04:23]:

I noticed that there were biographies for some players on the website, and, that linked me to the Sabre website, Society For American Baseball Research. And, then I found out that you could write bios for these players. So I signed up and kinda fell in love with the process.

Scott Cowan [00:04:39]:

So what was your first bio that you wrote?

Eric Vickery [00:04:43]:

1st bio. So I was I was a little, timid, and I I didn’t wanna tackle a big player and have that that responsibility. So I picked a guy who, played one single game for the Saint Louis Cardinals back in, like, 1959. He was a pitcher, pitched 1 game, and his name has escaped me.

Scott Cowan [00:05:03]:

That’s okay. But it’s almost to me, that almost seems more daunting in the sense that if you picked and we’re gonna talk about Alvin Dave we’ll just we’ll just mention Alvin Davis because one of the articles you wrote was Alvin Davis. Yep. You know, Alvin, not that Alvin was a a superstar baseball player, but he certainly was, a hometown fan here in in in in Sure. Washington. There’s a lot of there’s a lot of information about Alvin Davis, but to to pick somebody who only played one game, how’d you go that had to be some digging.

Eric Vickery [00:05:38]:

Yeah. So, I found out that you can find old, editions of the sporting news online and newspapers through newspapers.com. So, by putting in, you know, somebody’s name and a range of dates, you can find out quite a bit. So the guy I tackled, you know, just playing that one game, had had, of course, a minor league career as well, but there was a lot less information to distill into a few thousand words than, say, Alvin Davis, who played at the majors for, like, 10 years. And, so there’s a lot lot more information at my disposal. So I, in some ways, I think tackling a player like Alvin Davis, certainly, as a writer is a little more complicated because there’s just a lot more information out there and you wanna try to distill it down to the most important.

Scott Cowan [00:06:27]:

Right. Right. Yeah. I still think I would have picked Scott necessarily Alvin per se, but I would have picked a journeyman player because I would have thought the process would have been easier for research. I see your point though. So you started writing for, for sabre and, and for the audience, if that doesn’t know what sabre really is, this society of American baseball research, it’s been around for 60 years or so if I’m a member, I’m an on and again, off again, I’m a member for 5 years and I forget and I just joined up again, you know? It’s a great if you’re into baseball, it’s, it’s well, forget free time. If you fall, you’ll fall into it and you’ll just, you’ll, you’ll be reading all about players that played one game at St. Louis, one game in Seattle.

Scott Cowan [00:07:11]:

There’s a minor league player here that was a barber. You know, I mean, it is just all the stories. There’s 100 and thousands of stories that are available to you. Yeah. And then the communities, you know, their local, the Pacific Northwest has a chapter. In fact, if I, not that this relevant for our podcast, but this coming, is it this weekend you’re speaking?

Eric Vickery [00:07:33]:

It was actually this past week.

Scott Cowan [00:07:34]:

So you just spoke, so you spoke at the Sabre of the PNW Sabre, meeting at the University of Puget Sound to give a talk about your book. So there’s events like that all across the US. They have a convention. I went to the Seattle convention. That was, that was an overwhelming experience many years ago, but it’s a pretty fascinating organization and a great way to be involved. Prior to writing, I mean, you said COVID and you were bored, what’s your what’s your professional background? What do you

Eric Vickery [00:08:07]:

So I am a physician assistant. Okay. It’s my full time job. So I’m in the medical field. I’ve worked in emergency medicine and oncology. So totally unrelated. Yeah. I I have done some medical writing before.

Eric Vickery [00:08:21]:

I think I I do I’ve always enjoyed this the process of writing Okay. Whether it’s, like, writing for my high school yearbook, for example, or professionally, you know, medical papers. Just enjoy putting words on paper and kind of expressing myself that way. So I guess it was a bit of a natural fit that I Yeah. Kinda stumbled on this opportunity with Sabre. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:08:45]:

So your first full book was The Ronin’ Redbirds. It’s about the 82 champion the year of the 1982 that they won the championship. Mhmm. That was 4 years before you went to a baseball game, though.

Eric Vickery [00:08:56]:

So That’s right.

Scott Cowan [00:08:57]:

So this was this was you looking back even predating your your involvement with, you know, being a fandom.

Eric Vickery [00:09:05]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:09:07]:

Growing so when you wrote this, were you living in the Midwest, or were you had you moved out here?

Eric Vickery [00:09:13]:

Yeah. I was living out here.

Scott Cowan [00:09:14]:

You were living out here. Okay. Mhmm. And I

Eric Vickery [00:09:16]:

had written, a couple of bios for, like, Willie McGee and Tom Hurr.

Scott Cowan [00:09:21]:

Okay. So

Eric Vickery [00:09:21]:

those were some of my favorite players growing up, like, in the mid to late eighties.

Scott Cowan [00:09:25]:

K.

Eric Vickery [00:09:25]:

But they were also key members of the 82 team. So, in

Scott Cowan [00:09:29]:

some ways, I I felt like I

Eric Vickery [00:09:30]:

knew the team, but I didn’t know the story of how that season unfolded.

Scott Cowan [00:09:35]:

So it

Eric Vickery [00:09:35]:

was fun to go back and really dig into that.

Scott Cowan [00:09:38]:

From a research standpoint, that would have been I don’t wanna say easy. I don’t mean like that. But new, like you said, newspapers, newspaper.com, research, material was readily archived from, from that period of time versus going back. You might, and we might just we’ll touch on that in a little bit, I’m sure, but the Spokane story might have been a little bit more, spotty in the coverage.

Eric Vickery [00:09:59]:

No doubt. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:10:00]:

Okay. So you wrote your first book. Perfect. It went perfectly. There was no no hardships. You found a publisher. There was no spell check. Everything was perfect.

Scott Cowan [00:10:12]:

Cowan what was it like when you so walk me through let’s walk me through the decision to write a book. Did you, did you think you’re going to self publish? Were you going to look for a publisher? You’re married. Right?

Eric Vickery [00:10:26]:

I am. Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:10:26]:

And did your partner, your wife tell you you were crazy? What, you know, what what was the kind of what’s the backstory here?

Eric Vickery [00:10:37]:

Yeah. So so first of all, she’s always been very supportive of, of my my endeavors, in any realm, in in particular, my baseball writing. And she’s a big baseball fan as well. So

Scott Cowan [00:10:49]:

Okay. I

Eric Vickery [00:10:50]:

think she gets my my love for the game.

Scott Cowan [00:10:51]:

And who what team does she root for?

Eric Vickery [00:10:55]:

So she’s very much like me. She grew up, in the Midwest in Central Illinois. Her parents were diehard Cardinal fans. So

Scott Cowan [00:11:02]:

Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:11:03]:

She grew up a Cardinal fan. And like me, she’s also on the Mariners bandwagon, and we go to a bunch

Scott Cowan [00:11:08]:

of games every year. It’s not like she’s a Cubs fan, and you have that that tension at the household. No.

Eric Vickery [00:11:13]:

And I’m not sure we’d be married if that were

Scott Cowan [00:11:16]:

the case. I’ve been to Wrigley twice to see the Cubs play.

Eric Vickery [00:11:21]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:11:22]:

Both games were against the Cardinals. I think I know what it’s like to be at the St. Louis home game. It’s overwhelming how much the Cardinal fans traveled to Chicago and how I don’t wanna say there’s tension, but there’s there’s definitely, you know,

Eric Vickery [00:11:40]:

no doubt. There’s definitely some tension.

Scott Cowan [00:11:41]:

Yeah. There’s definitely where you were yeah. There’s fans. Okay. Yeah. Alright. So anyway, I I hijacked. So let’s go back.

Scott Cowan [00:11:50]:

Decide to write a book. What’s the what what what was your process? Getting some So

Eric Vickery [00:11:55]:

first of all, I I had written some of these bios that were, like, 3 to 4000 words.

Scott Cowan [00:11:59]:

Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:12:01]:

And I had I’d probably done, like, a dozen of these over the course of a year.

Scott Cowan [00:12:04]:

Oh, okay.

Eric Vickery [00:12:05]:

If you add all that up, you know, that’s kind of approaching, the equivalent of a book. And it I had always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to write a book. I had no idea, what I would write about, whether it’d be my memoir. Not that my life is that interesting, but I always just kinda had that as a goal in the back of my mind. I think a lot of people do. So once I had this experience riding with Sabre under my belt and had written all these bios, it seemed much more, practical to do this. And and and then I it was just a matter of landing on a topic, and there really hadn’t been a full book on the 82 season. So, that was my team growing up.

Eric Vickery [00:12:45]:

So I figured it would be relative you know, not easy, but easier since I have some familiarity with the team and the players. Right.

Scott Cowan [00:12:53]:

And I

Eric Vickery [00:12:54]:

had already done some of the research, for a few of the players. So so that was kinda where I jumped in, and, it took me about a year to write that book.

Scott Cowan [00:13:02]:

Okay. And from the publishing standpoint, did you Okay. Did you shop it after you were the manuscript was done, or did you have what how did we get it to market?

Eric Vickery [00:13:15]:

Yeah. So that that’s a great question because and and this I I’ve learned a ton about the publishing process because I went into this totally blind. I think if I would have reached out to publishers before I had written the book, not having any sort of platform or name recognition

Scott Cowan [00:13:32]:

Mhmm. It would

Eric Vickery [00:13:33]:

have been very difficult for me to get, like, a publishing contract. So I actually wrote the book and then re started reaching out to publishers and agents. And I had in the back of my mind that my my backup plan, if all else fails, you know, nowadays, you can self publish Mhmm. Relatively easily, and that would be a acceptable option if if need be.

Scott Cowan [00:13:56]:

Right. Right. Yeah. Things have really changed. So you you can self publish, print on demand the book if you want to. Lots of things that, you know, 20 years ago weren’t available to to authors. So you you published the book. Did you go on a book tour?

Eric Vickery [00:14:17]:

Not really. Okay. I published the book through McFarland. They’re a a small press that does a lot of baseball books

Scott Cowan [00:14:24]:

Right.

Eric Vickery [00:14:25]:

With with Sabr authors. So, it was kind of a natural fit. And, you know, living out here in in Washington Scott, you know, the book certainly has regional appeal to the Midwest. So I did go back and do a a couple of book signings, in the Midwest after the book came out, but not a not a big tour or anything. Nothing like I’m I’m doing currently with my, new book.

Scott Cowan [00:14:52]:

And so that book, what year did you publish that? Was that 20 20? It was

Eric Vickery [00:14:56]:

actually just last year.

Scott Cowan [00:14:57]:

Last year. Okay. So now with with the Spokane Indians book, did you were you completely done with the the Redbirds book before you start? Okay. So you finished one and that didn’t overwhelm and daunt you. So you decided to write a second book. Now, the question I’ve been wanting to ask you, you’re not from here and that’s neither here nor there. And the bus crash crash is not exactly I’ve been aware of the bus crash way off in the corner back of my mind type thing, but it’s not something that ever got a lot of press in you know, because it happened in many years ago. What what led you to picking this topic? How did you how were you introduced to the topic?

Eric Vickery [00:15:55]:

Well, I I actually stumbled across this while doing one of these Saver bios. Okay. I was writing a bio for John Leavich, who’s a guy from Portland, Oregon who got one majorly hit off of happened to be off of Bob Feller. Oh. And he played for the Bremerton Blue Jackets in 1946. So

Scott Cowan [00:16:18]:

Mhmm.

Eric Vickery [00:16:18]:

I just put in, like, Bremerton Blue Jackets, Leovitch 1946, and Newspapers dotcom, and, head headlines of this accident

Scott Cowan [00:16:29]:

Right.

Eric Vickery [00:16:29]:

Came up. And I had never heard of this and it yeah. Just,

Scott Cowan [00:16:33]:

Well, that makes sense. Okay. That so you you stumbled into it. I mean, it was, you know, now I would have thought maybe you were at a Sabre meeting and one of the members was giving a small presentation about it or, you know, something. But that actually okay. Alright. So but before we start talking about the this, I’d like to talk about the the the nuts and bolts of the of publishing a second book. Did you did you pitch this to a publisher before you started this time? Or was it, like, the first book you completed it and then found the publisher afterwards? Or how how’d you go about the the business of book writing, I guess, is the question?

Eric Vickery [00:17:13]:

Yeah. It was a similar process to my my first book and that I, wrote the manuscript, before reaching out. I guess I started reaching out as I was finishing. I was probably 90% done.

Scott Cowan [00:17:26]:

Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:17:26]:

And then started again reaching out to publishers, agents. And, you know, my the response I got from the the Cardinals book was I Scott, you know, a lot of rejection from from agents, and a couple of small publishers were were interested. And Mhmm. Ultimately, I got published by McFarland. With this book, I found the that there was a much more interest in it. Mhmm. And I ended up signing a contract with The Roman and Littlefield, which is another smaller press, that that tends to do a lot of nonfiction baseball, and had had a couple other offers out there as well.

Scott Cowan [00:18:12]:

Okay. So walk me through the the process and and and weave in some of the story. I don’t want you to you know, read the book. I mean, that’s the goal here is that you get out and read the book. It’s a it’s a it’s a very, I mean, as I told you before we hit record, you know, it’s a depressing book because it’s about a bus bus crash where 9 people died, which am I I always feel like I’m saying this wrong, so I’m gonna say it, and then you’re gonna hopefully back me up. This is still the worst accident in sporting history in North America.

Eric Vickery [00:18:52]:

American Professional Sports.

Scott Cowan [00:18:54]:

American Professional Sports. Okay. So 9 people lost their lives during this this event. Okay. What was it like to research this, and and how did you, you know, walk us through that? How’d you go about putting the book together?

Eric Vickery [00:19:09]:

Yeah. So, initially, I you know, when you go to the Spokane Indians baseball reference page, it’s a list of, like, 50 names. And there’s no indication on there, you know, who was involved in this accident. And even, you know, Google, you you have to really, really dig to find out who was involved. And, there are a couple players whose stories are pretty well known, but the vast majority of the team, the people involved in the accident, are were relatively unknown. So for me, it was, I started by going through and sort of researching each individual, because each was, you know, a professional baseball player. So they had been in in the news, 4 years before this as they were coming up in their careers.

Scott Cowan [00:19:59]:

Mhmm.

Eric Vickery [00:20:00]:

And so I my first goal is just to find out everything I could about each player. And then also going through that season, you know, a part of the book is also describing, you know, what unfolded that season from spring training through the 1st 2 months as they played games

Scott Cowan [00:20:17]:

Mhmm. In

Eric Vickery [00:20:17]:

the Western International League.

Scott Cowan [00:20:20]:

And now being in 46 post right post World War 2, a lot of these guys had military service. The economy was kind of well and I never really realized this, you know, post World War 2. I mean, you and I are much younger than that. I wasn’t present. You weren’t present. You know, I but we, you know, we think of the explosion of America of suburbia during the fifties if, you know, sub you know, look alike homes, 2 cars in the driveway, you know, all kind of fueled by that post war, economic engine. But immediately post war, there was a lot of inflation. The economy was a little little wonky.

Scott Cowan [00:21:02]:

It wasn’t the best of times. And baseball I think baseball’s a a really good mirror of American society at any given moment, good and bad. It it it Yes. Showcases the the good and the bad of of what’s going on in our country. And I’m under the impression that, you know, minor league baseball in 46 was kinda cobbled together. People struggled in some ways of getting talent, you know, just like they did during the World War 2 years where, you know, if you were a healthy man, you were you’re you’re called off to duty in most cases unless you had some, you know, ailment. But if you had an ailment that stopped you from going in the military, probably stopped you from being a good athlete too at the same time. I mean okay.

Scott Cowan [00:22:01]:

So these guys are back from World War 2. They end up in Spokane. Not all the players. Most of them are from weren’t most of the players on the roster kind of California centric?

Eric Vickery [00:22:13]:

Yeah. The the I would say about half the team was from California. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:22:17]:

There were

Eric Vickery [00:22:18]:

a couple from, the Midwest and East Coast, but most of them had actually, I think 3 or 4 were from San Francisco.

Scott Cowan [00:22:25]:

Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:22:26]:

And a lot of them were under contract with Pacific Coast League teams.

Scott Cowan [00:22:30]:

Right. Which was, you know, the 3rd major league, if you will. And and in some cases, I have a I have a good friend whose grandfather pitched semi pro baseball in the twenties thirties, and my friend is cataloging all these all of his grandfather. He’s don’t quote me 340 wins so far. Wow. And, he he played semi pro because he got paid more money than he would have playing in the minors and with a shot to go to the bigs. And he my friend has dropped names of, you know, Lefty O’Dull, Ty Cobb came to his house supposedly to try to recruit him to to go sign with the Tigers, things like that. And this guy stayed in the Bay Area because he got paid a lot of money to throw a baseball.

Scott Cowan [00:23:19]:

He played 1 the my friend and I met online because his grandfather pitched in 1918 for the Aberdeen black cats team in Aberdeen, Washington. He took a a steamer up and played in Aberdeen because he was paid a lot of money to play in this, and and that was in the Pacific Pacific International League. It was a competing league. I mean, there was baseball’s always fractured. Leagues are, you know, wealthy men get upset with other wealthy men, so they go start a league of their own type thing, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And the Western International League, the Indians was was in was a minor league. They got their players both though from from all over, but some were Pacific Coast League players, but some were also wasn’t there a couple of Yankee, contracts on there, you know, that sent them to spoke to me for yeah. Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:24:14]:

Exactly.

Scott Cowan [00:24:14]:

So they kind of cobbled together a roster just like just like the Wenatchee team did in in that league, just like Bremerton did in that league, Salem was in Cowan that league. And the team was doing pretty well. Right. I mean, they were, they they weren’t in 1st was Wenatchee still in 1st place at that time?

Eric Vickery [00:24:35]:

Salem, I believe was in 1st place, in in the crash occurred. They were

Scott Cowan [00:24:39]:

Yeah. So this so the event that was in a you know, is that they were on they’re they they loaded the bus up in Spokane to where they were heading were they heading to Salem to play, or were they heading to Bremerton?

Eric Vickery [00:24:53]:

Bremerton.

Scott Cowan [00:24:53]:

Bremerton. So Snoqualmie Pass in 46 looks radically different than Snoqualmie Pass in 2 2024. One of the things in the story, and I don’t think I’m giving it away. Well, it is, but, you know, still yeah. Is they stopped in Ellensburg?

Eric Vickery [00:25:13]:

Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:25:14]:

Okay. I went to college in Ellensburg. So it’s like, you know, I get, you know, there anything, anytime my Ellensburg’s in a story, I’m like piques my curiosity. And they stopped in Ellsberg, and one of the players was contacted. Now in today’s day and age, you think he would have gotten a text or a cell phone call, but how did they get a hold of him in Owensburg?

Eric Vickery [00:25:33]:

So someone from the team, notified the state police, and the state police passed the message along to a local, police police station.

Scott Cowan [00:25:46]:

Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:25:47]:

And they they knew where the team was having dinner. So they they tracked the team down at this place called Webster’s Cafe and, passed the message along that, hey. You need to report to the San Diego Padres. You’re being, you know, called up to the Pacific Coast League. So

Scott Cowan [00:26:05]:

Right.

Eric Vickery [00:26:05]:

That player, hitch hitchhiked back to Spokane.

Scott Cowan [00:26:10]:

So think about what we know about sports today. The, the, the fact that the player hitchhiked back to Spokane, the San Diego team didn’t pay for him to get to San, you know, you know, don’t kid you hitchhike back to San Fran or to Spokane. We’ll, we’ll figure out how to get you to San Diego, but you got to hitchhike. Okay. Yeah. So Webster’s Cafe. You know, it’s so funny. I read the book.

Scott Cowan [00:26:34]:

I read Webster’s Cafe. I thought about it lots of times. I was watching some of your talk that you did with Ellensburg Historical Society. Right? Mhmm. And you were correct you were politely corrected by someone in the audience about the building. Yes. But but I didn’t think for the life of me, it didn’t click until just now that Webster’s Cafe is where I hung out when I was in college, drinking espressos and having cheesecake. That was our go to thing in the afternoons.

Scott Cowan [00:27:04]:

This was in the early eighties before espresso was really a thing. We we just thought we were were cool, but Webster’s was my favorite place in Ellensburg. I had no clue until just, you know, a minute ago that that restaurant is linked to this story.

Eric Vickery [00:27:20]:

Wow. That’s very cool. And it’s still, the building is still there.

Scott Cowan [00:27:23]:

The building’s still there. It’s, not Webster’s anymore. It’s, I think it’s like a wine bar now. Yeah. It’s it’s something. It’s Webster’s was great. Anyway, so this guy, they track him Cowan, and he’s hitchhiking back to Spokane. Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:27:42]:

The bus continues on. There’s an accident on Snoqualmie Pass, and the bus is I don’t I don’t know. Would we say it’s run off the road? I mean, that the way it’s written in this in the book, it’s a little unclear that it’s a a one car that kinda runs into the bus and

Eric Vickery [00:28:02]:

Yeah. A car, according to eyewitness accounts, crossed the center line, and the bus driver trying to avoid this car kind of moved to the shoulder of the road. Mhmm. And it was a, you know, gravel road and had trouble getting the bus back on

Scott Cowan [00:28:21]:

Right.

Eric Vickery [00:28:21]:

On the road.

Scott Cowan [00:28:21]:

Yeah. And so the bus crashes. 9 people are killed. And you you spend a lot of the book because that’s that’s, I mean, that’s the signature event of the book, but it only, like, a couple of pages because it’s it you know, it’s not you you spend the rest of the book talking about how this event impacts people. And that’s really powerful because it seemed like it really dramatically impacted these these these guys.

Eric Vickery [00:29:01]:

Yes. Yeah. Countless lives.

Scott Cowan [00:29:03]:

Yeah. And how did you so they weren’t ball well, you know, someone went back to play ball. Some of them were deceased. You know? But where were you able to find the the the details about their post accident lives? Was because that’s not like it’s in the local news, is it?

Eric Vickery [00:29:26]:

Not at all. So 6 players survived this accident. 5 of them went on to play professionally in some form.

Scott Cowan [00:29:37]:

Mhmm.

Eric Vickery [00:29:38]:

The 6th player who was severely injured and and nearly died actually did come back and play semi pro ball.

Scott Cowan [00:29:45]:

K.

Eric Vickery [00:29:46]:

And in his case, for example, I was able I got in contact with his son.

Scott Cowan [00:29:50]:

Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:29:52]:

And his son filled me in on, you know, what he did after this accident, how the accident, affected him and and and so forth. And that was the case for a number of, people involved in this story is just, getting in contact with relatives descendants

Scott Cowan [00:30:11]:

Mhmm.

Eric Vickery [00:30:11]:

Who had information about them.

Scott Cowan [00:30:14]:

And were they were the family members supportive of this? Did they want the stories? I mean, did they yeah. I mean, you’re you’re opening up a a wound at some point. But were the were the families receptive?

Eric Vickery [00:30:37]:

Yes. Everyone I, got in contact with was very supportive, of of the project and very willing to provide information. Now there were a few family members who I I reached out to and didn’t hear back from. So, you know, perhaps in in their case, you know, they they didn’t wanna, you know, delve into this for whatever reason. But, of the 16, players who are on that bus today, I got in contact with 12 of the players’ descendants.

Scott Cowan [00:31:08]:

Wow. Okay. That’s that’s Yeah. A very good success rate.

Eric Vickery [00:31:15]:

Yeah. And this was, in some cases, nieces, children

Scott Cowan [00:31:21]:

Mhmm.

Eric Vickery [00:31:22]:

Grand grandchildren in a couple of cases. And some some of the people knew, very little about their relatives. And in other cases, you know, it was a they had a treasure trove of information from scrapbooks to personal stories and and so forth.

Scott Cowan [00:31:42]:

And were they willing to share the the scrapbook collections and things like that with you?

Eric Vickery [00:31:47]:

They were. And in some cases, for Vic Pacitti and Bob Patterson, 2 of the kinda more promising young prospects on the team, they had personal letters that these players had written during their the course of their minor league career

Scott Cowan [00:32:06]:

Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:32:07]:

That, kind of described, you know, what what was going through their minds, just on a day to day experience. So having their voices in the book and, like Vic Pichetti describes, you know, what movies he was going to on on road trips and, describing how he was concerned about paying rent and, you know, economic hardships and and things like that. I think just kinda provided a little more, detail than I I would have had otherwise just, you know, looking at newspaper archives and things like that.

Scott Cowan [00:32:36]:

Yeah. There was this point where what 4 of them were renting a cabin, and then one of them one of them moved out for whatever reason. And so they ended up moving back into the hotel that they had been staying at. And he was describing that in the letter. And yeah, there’s, there’s some backstory there that you wouldn’t, you wouldn’t have found in the Spokane, you know, review or the cell post intelligence or something like that. That’s that’s pretty yeah. It’s the book’s pretty, I liked how you you were weaving in to give kind of the flavor of the of the season. Now the copy that I read was, that you shared with me was a PDF.

Scott Cowan [00:33:19]:

It it was missing photographs, but I’m you I remember reading somewhere you you tipped your cap to Dave Eskenazi for providing some some imagery. And, you know, Dave’s the the the local, sporting memorabilia vacuum cleaner. He he he just sucks up everything that ever comes to market, grudgingly there sometimes with him. But, anyway Very true. Yeah. He’s just I mean, that man’s what a wonderful collection and what a wonderful resource for the for the northwest. I mean, you know? No doubt. But what how did you go about obtaining I mean, what were you able to find to add to to the words, in the book?

Eric Vickery [00:34:10]:

Well, that kind of differed amongst the the players that were described in the book. You know, there are there were a couple of players who actually actually, 3 of the players on the story played in the major leagues. So there are, of course, numerous photographs of them, throughout their careers. For other players, you know, they’re certainly more obscure, and so finding photos of them, was a challenge. In in the Vic Pichetti’s family scrapbook, they actually, had photos of nearly every player on the team. So in some cases, those were the only photos I had were from this scrapbook. Wow. In other cases, Dave Eskenazi, provided some very high quality, photographs that he, graciously allowed me to use in the book.

Eric Vickery [00:35:02]:

So, yeah, several different sources of where where the photographs came from, but, certainly, I think, helps, that that imagery helps, bring the players to life.

Scott Cowan [00:35:16]:

1 of the one of the people that you go into great detail with is is is that am I pronouncing is it Garrity? Is that the right pronunciation of his last name?

Eric Vickery [00:35:26]:

Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:35:26]:

So he spent he spent a very brief time in in the majors, but he was a well traveled minor league manager. And you kind of share his struggles post bus crash with traveling in buses and airplanes. And Okay. So I guess from a speculation standpoint, do you think that do you think he would have made a major league manager if he wouldn’t have been involved in the bus crash? Do you think his behavior and coping would have because I I kind of from reading what you shared, I kinda my interpretation of it was, you know, he seemed like he was became a very heavy drinker. And would did that stop him from maybe making that jump from being because he was extremely successful as a minor league manager in multiple locations with multiple, types of teams. He he was really good at getting his players to excel. Yeah. And am I remembering it right? Henry Aaron, like, held him in extremely high regard.

Eric Vickery [00:36:45]:

Yes. Called him the greatest manager he ever played for and perhaps the greatest manager who ever lived was a direct quote from Hank Aaron.

Scott Cowan [00:36:52]:

Yeah. So, you know, Hank Aaron was an okay ball player.

Eric Vickery [00:36:57]:

He was okay.

Scott Cowan [00:36:58]:

He was okay. I actually watched that game on TV when he hit the home run and they those 2 guys followed him around the you know? And think about what would happen in today’s day and age If, oh

Eric Vickery [00:37:08]:

my gosh.

Scott Cowan [00:37:08]:

Yeah. Just, just, you know, I just, and I didn’t really think anything of it watching it on TV as a kid. I was like, oh, a couple of guys running around. Didn’t like freak out. You know, Now it’d be okay. Anyway, in your opinion, do you think Garrity would have been gone on to manage in the in the majors?

Eric Vickery [00:37:27]:

I I think certainly the accident derailed, any chance of that happening just in in the from interviewing players who played for him and also reading, Pat Jordan’s memoir, A False Spring, which is is a very good Cowan. And he vividly describes Garrity and his baseball acumen and how talented of a baseball mind he was. But I interviewed Howie Badell, who played for Garrity and went on to have a long career in the game, as a scouting director. And he specifically told me that had it not been for Ben’s alcohol use, that he would have been, at some point, been elevated to a major league manager. And he pointed to this accident as being the source of his alcoholism. So, I do think that there’s a very good chance that he could have succeeded.

Scott Cowan [00:38:26]:

As not been for

Eric Vickery [00:38:28]:

this record.

Scott Cowan [00:38:28]:

Yes. He had. I mean, his minor league record coaching managing record was was, you know, remarkably solid with with lots of players. You know, it’s one thing to get a kid to hit well at AA, maybe get a guy to hit hidden field well at AAA, but for them to make the leap, it’s sometimes you gotta have that extra gear. And he seemed to find that in players. He seemed to help them, you know, and the game was different than it is today. Like, I mentioned earlier Wenatchee started John Preggenser, like I said, he pitched for the San Francisco Giants. He pitched for the Tacoma Giants.

Scott Cowan [00:39:10]:

In the off season, he was a school teacher. You know, in the off season, these guys had full time jobs. The the baseball didn’t pay. I mean, if if you were Henry Aaron or you were, you know, Willie Mays or you were whitey Ford or Mickey Mantle, you were getting, you got paid, But a lot of the guys that were on that major league roster or in the triple a rosters, they they were working extra jobs, you know, unlike today where the the major league rosters that, you know, I don’t think there’s a guy on the team that’s probably making less than $700,000 a year.

Eric Vickery [00:39:49]:

Exactly.

Scott Cowan [00:39:50]:

You know, it may be, maybe it’s a million now. You know, it’s certainly a million on average. You know, factor in showy Atani’s numbers to everything, and everybody makes a million because of him. But, you know, baseball was very different. It was something you did for a few months of the year, and then you went to your, quote, unquote, regular life, and then you came back to baseball. And, and and Gary seemed like he was able to, during those months that he had the players, to really get him to to perform at a very high level.

Eric Vickery [00:40:21]:

Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. And and, yeah, even though, you know, in the minor leagues, his roster would turn over every year. You know, players are are advancing up the the system, but no matter what level he managed that, almost every season, his his team was at the top of the standing. It was uncanny.

Scott Cowan [00:40:40]:

And it’s from what I can what little additional research I’ve done, it seemed like he was very well, respected. I don’t wanna say liked because that might not be the right word, but he was respected by Mhmm. The players that he was in charge of overseeing, you know, and and that’s

Eric Vickery [00:40:58]:

No doubt.

Scott Cowan [00:41:00]:

I mean, the the praise that Henry Aaron gave on him was, you know, my gosh. I mean, think about that. I mean, that’s a and that was being one of the greatest baseball players ever, and to to have him and yeah. It’s just it’s just amazing. And to think that he was tied to Spokane, you know, that’s the that’s the interest you know, it’s like you just never it’s just interesting how these all these stories weave in and out of things. So when you were doing your research and you were researching for this event, did you did you come across anything else that you thought was, you know, like, I mean, any other maybe that didn’t get into the book, but maybe were just, like, interesting anecdotes on the side that you you stumbled across?

Eric Vickery [00:41:50]:

You know, I I I think anything interesting probably made it in into the book. Gosh.

Scott Cowan [00:41:59]:

Well, like, did you like, when you were researching it, did you see anything, like, from like, about Bremerton or Wenatchee or Salem? Did any did any anything else about the 46 season strike an interesting chord with you?

Eric Vickery [00:42:16]:

Yeah. You know, the the very interesting thing about that season, of course, during the war, the thousands of minor league players went off to serve in the military. And now in 46, all these players were were coming back and looking to resume their careers. And so, like, in the Pacific Coast League, spring training that year, the camps are just overflowing with players. At the Oakland Oaks camp, for example, that’s where several of the, Spokane Indians played. They were managed by Casey Stengel.

Scott Cowan [00:42:50]:

Mhmm.

Eric Vickery [00:42:51]:

And they had something like 60 players in in camp and, of course, had to whittle the roster down to 20 something players by the start of the season. So, you know, I think an interesting component of 46 season was just and this was going on across the game in in many leagues and many teams. And so you had all these guys who were, you know, just kinda looking forward to getting their careers back on track, and now they were suddenly competing with, you know, twice as many guys as they were before the war. So, you know, I’m sure, you know, I I didn’t really dig into other teams in the Western International League, unless they were playing the Indians, but there were certainly some, interesting stories, across the league and across the game that year.

Scott Cowan [00:43:39]:

Right. And that’s that’s kind of the fun thing about doing research, you know, going back in history is you’re looking for, you know, you’re looking for information on the spoken Indians and a buzz crash, but then, you know, a blurb pops up about, you know, insert name of player you went, you played in this league? Cowan, type what, hon? Okay. At least that’s I’ve always found that. So how long, how long was the process for you from deciding you were going to write it to handing the finished manuscript over? When did you lock it down so words weren’t gonna change? How long did that period of time take you?

Eric Vickery [00:44:16]:

I’d say that was close to a year.

Scott Cowan [00:44:18]:

Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:44:19]:

It was just under a year.

Scott Cowan [00:44:21]:

Just under a year. Just under

Eric Vickery [00:44:21]:

10 or 11 months.

Scott Cowan [00:44:22]:

Okay. That’s it’s interesting. Writers are either, you know, very fast or they’re very slow. It’s like, that seems that that seems very fast to me to put together a book. You know, it’s a lot of works, a lot of research, a lot of editing. When you write, who do you hand it over to, to kind of, you know, do the first read, you know, because we’re, for like, for me, I’m too close to my work, so I’m not gonna catch things. It makes perfect sense to me. Yet if I handed it to you, you’d go, what do you mean this? So how do you how do you do that? How do you work what’s your editing process like?

Eric Vickery [00:45:03]:

Yeah. So I, of course, yeah, self edit, you know, probably a dozen times, you know, reading the book, rereading the book, rewriting certain parts. So after doing that for a few months, I handed the manuscript off to a couple people, that I’ve worked with, within Sabre.

Scott Cowan [00:45:21]:

Mhmm.

Eric Vickery [00:45:22]:

One guy, Bill Cowan, he’s written tons of books on the Boston Red Sox and and World War 2. So, I knew he had some expertise in the the time the era that this book took place. So

Scott Cowan [00:45:35]:

Right.

Eric Vickery [00:45:35]:

Having his input was very valuable. And then, another guy who was, incredibly helpful was Jim Price, who, was a he’s a retired sport rider from the Spokesman Review in Spokane.

Scott Cowan [00:45:48]:

Cowan.

Eric Vickery [00:45:49]:

And he has written about this accident, over the years, especially on anniversaries of the crash. Mhmm. He’s gone back and written, like, the 50th 50 year anniversary story, 60 year anniversary story. So he knows probably as much as anyone, out there about this. So having the input of those 2 guys, kind of fact checking and then also just providing some editorial guidance was very helpful.

Scott Cowan [00:46:15]:

Okay. What’s next? Got another book lined up? You got you you you have you? Are you gonna write another book? And if so, have you have you selected the next topic?

Eric Vickery [00:46:31]:

The to answer the first question, yes. I’ve I’ve kinda fell in love with the the process of writing, researching and writing. You know, there’s that, and those are 2 different things for me. You know, there’s the digging into the story and and finding out, you know, bits of information that have been maybe forgotten over time or haven’t been told or explored fully. And then there’s the the writing process of bringing that to the page and and telling it in a way that’s, you know, entertaining and impactful for the reader. So Mhmm. I I love the process. So I’m definitely gonna write a 3rd book, but I haven’t yet quite landed on, the topic yet.

Scott Cowan [00:47:14]:

And still baseball? Is that safe to assume it’s gonna be baseball?

Eric Vickery [00:47:18]:

I think so. That’s certainly my, you know, I it’s it’s a good escape from my everyday job k. In medicine. Like, I I wouldn’t wanna write any anything about medicine per se because that’s you know, baseball is my writing is my my escape from

Scott Cowan [00:47:37]:

that escape. Alright.

Eric Vickery [00:47:39]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:47:39]:

I can understand.

Eric Vickery [00:47:40]:

More about baseball than certainly other sports. And

Scott Cowan [00:47:42]:

k.

Eric Vickery [00:47:43]:

So that’s probably land on some topic within baseball.

Scott Cowan [00:47:46]:

Okay. So I warned you about this. And so going back to your Sabre profiles, how did you pick? No. Let me ask them before I let me rephrase that. Do you pick who you’re writing about, or does Sabre assign them to you?

Eric Vickery [00:48:05]:

Yes. You pick the player. Okay. Although many players have bios already, so it has to be a player who does not have a bio.

Scott Cowan [00:48:14]:

Right.

Eric Vickery [00:48:15]:

The goal with this project is for every player in history to eventually have a bio. K. And they’re up to, like, 6,000 of the 20,000 players. So there’s 4 14,000 players out there who don’t have bios.

Scott Cowan [00:48:26]:

Alright. I’ve never heard of this player before. I was just kinda scrolling through the the the bios of the players that you’ve written about, and a couple of them popped up. Number 1 was Alvin Davis, which for anybody that’s, you know, a mariners fan, you know, he’s he’s revered. I mean, he’s, he’s right up there with, you know, with Edgar and Ken Griffey Jr. And each hero and Randy Johnson. And he’s, he’s right there in that. And even though he was, he was a very good player, but he wasn’t a great player.

Scott Cowan [00:49:01]:

You know, he was not, I wish I was half as good of a baseball player as he was, but he wasn’t, you know, he was, but he was a fan favorite. Mhmm. So I get that. You’re you adopted you adopted the mariners. Yeah.

Eric Vickery [00:49:16]:

And actually named my childhood dog, Alvin.

Scott Cowan [00:49:19]:

Really?

Eric Vickery [00:49:20]:

In part in part because of Alvin Davis, having his baseball card and, being a fan from afar.

Scott Cowan [00:49:27]:

That’s funny. Okay. Cuddles Marshall. Now the reason I’m bringing Cuddles up is twofold. Number 1, it’s a hysterical nickname, but the guy was from Bellingham. So, so he’s a Washington state guy. So it’s perfectly appropriate for this, this podcast to talk about Cuddles Marshall. Why’d you pick him? How’d you find out about him? Give us a super quick high level overview of Cuddles.

Scott Cowan [00:49:54]:

Really, his name is Clarence Marshall, but he or Wenatchee was called Cuddles. How did you how did you land on Cuddles Marshall?

Eric Vickery [00:50:03]:

Well, I’ve having lived in Washington Scott now for about 10 years, I I’ve definitely grown a connection to the region. And, just like I, you know, started writing stories about these guys I grew up watching in Scott. Louis

Scott Cowan [00:50:17]:

Mhmm.

Eric Vickery [00:50:17]:

I I started digging into guys from Washington Scott. And on baseball reference, you can one of the search tools they have is you can go and see every player who was born in Washington State, who’s ever played.

Scott Cowan [00:50:32]:

So I’m gonna interrupt you. I’m gonna interrupt you. Last time you looked at that, how many players was that?

Eric Vickery [00:50:38]:

I think it’s about 200.

Scott Cowan [00:50:40]:

It’s not that many.

Eric Vickery [00:50:41]:

Not that many. Yeah. Especially compared to

Scott Cowan [00:50:43]:

Yeah. Not that many. Here. Right. Okay. Alright. Sorry. Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:50:46]:

Couple 100 players of from Washington state. Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:50:51]:

Yeah. And so, yeah, that’s you know, anytime I choose a a subject to write about, you know, I have to have some interest or connection. So whether it’s, you know, my hometown team, Mariners player, or in some cases, players from Washington Scott. You know? Part of the, for me is, when I’m researching is, you know, I’m I’m looking back at in the case of Cuddles Marshall, baseball in Bellingham in the 19 forties. So Mhmm. For me, that’s kind of just fun and interesting to to research. So that’s why I chose Cuddles. First of all, you know, looking at that list, of course, his name is gonna stand out amongst the other, players from Washington Scott.

Eric Vickery [00:51:35]:

And then he, you know, pitched for the Yankees. So, pretty interesting subject.

Scott Cowan [00:51:40]:

Yeah. It was a it was a very interesting, bio to read. But then the other thing is is I’m reading here. So there’s only 2. So Bellingham, at this point, has sent 3 players to the majors at this point in time. So, it’s not exactly a baseball hotbed even though it’s been a very good baseball town for years, supporting the local player. You know, the Bellingham Bells in the West Coast League now, they’ve been the Bells before that. I didn’t realize even Clarence’s bio mentions the Bells.

Scott Cowan [00:52:13]:

So, alright. So when you’re not researching and writing about baseball, when you’re not working the day job, what do you like to do for fun and excitement?

Eric Vickery [00:52:29]:

My wife and I love to travel, and we love hiking. So, getting outdoors and exploring Washington Scott, traveling abroad, That’s what we that’s kinda why why we work and, what we save our money for.

Scott Cowan [00:52:45]:

Okay. So I’m gonna guess that your careers brought you to Washington from the Midwest. Yes. Okay. And it’s adopted at home now. You you like you like living in Washington? Or do you miss love

Eric Vickery [00:53:04]:

it out here.

Scott Cowan [00:53:05]:

Or do you miss the humidity and and the

Eric Vickery [00:53:09]:

Not in the least. And in fact, we’ve my wife and I will only travel back to Scott. Louis, basically, like, April, May, or September, October because we don’t like the humidity, and we don’t like the bitter cold. So

Scott Cowan [00:53:24]:

first time I ever got off the airplane in Cincinnati and left the airport, I felt like somebody punched me in the stomach and threw a wet Scott blanket over me. I was not, I was not prepared. I do. Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:53:36]:

I’m familiar with that feeling.

Scott Cowan [00:53:37]:

Yes. It’s, Oh, why do you live here? Beautiful area. Don’t get me wrong, but it’s the I’m spoiled. Questions I ask everybody is, you know, and I prepped you for this coffee. You know, I drink coffee 25 hours a day. I love coffee. I love finding out about coffee shops. Put me on the Scott, even even though you know the question’s coming, but where’s a great place to get a get coffee? Where do you recommend?

Eric Vickery [00:54:06]:

Yeah. So I’ll go a couple different directions with this. Here in Seattle, Fontaine Cowan on First Avenue

Scott Cowan [00:54:13]:

Yeah.

Eric Vickery [00:54:13]:

And store Storyville, those are, 2 of my favorites.

Scott Cowan [00:54:17]:

I’m not familiar with Storyville. So that’s, that’s, that’s good. I okay. Bonte’s super solid, but Storyville, not familiar. Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:54:26]:

Yep. Yep. They have 2 locations. 1 in, Pike Place and the other, just a little bit south on First Avenue.

Scott Cowan [00:54:33]:

Okay. Alright.

Eric Vickery [00:54:35]:

And, my wife and I are actually moving to Port Townsend this summer. Okay. So we’ve been over there quite a bit lately, and I have a couple of favorites that I’ve quickly adopted

Scott Cowan [00:54:45]:

Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:54:45]:

There as well. Velocity Okay. And Better Living Through Coffee. Those are my go to’s in, Port Townsend.

Scott Cowan [00:54:53]:

What’s a name like Better Living Through Coffee? You gotta you gotta, you know

Eric Vickery [00:54:58]:

Exactly. It’s right on the water. So on a drizzly, morning when it’s, like, 50 degrees, getting a vanilla oatmeal latte from there, it’s

Scott Cowan [00:55:09]:

Is that so is that your go to coffee beverage?

Eric Vickery [00:55:13]:

Yep. Twelve ounce vanilla oat milk latte.

Scott Cowan [00:55:16]:

Does your wife does your wife drink coffee?

Eric Vickery [00:55:19]:

Yep. Eight ounce Americano.

Scott Cowan [00:55:21]:

See, I’m I’m kudos to her. There that’s the way to go. I mean, I I’m I drink I like Americanos. I drink espresso straight. I like well brewed drip coffee. Nothing wrong with a latte. There’s not but I I gravitate towards the the simpler things. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:55:36]:

So I’m gonna ask you this question now, but I’m gonna ask I’m gonna put you on a spot for both Seattle area and and Vancouver. Not Vancouver, Port Townsend. Mhmm. I’m gonna get to either of those places around lunchtime. I’m gonna wanna eat. Where should I go? What should I try?

Eric Vickery [00:55:52]:

I’ll start with Port Townsend, Tommyknockers. It’s on Water Street.

Scott Cowan [00:55:58]:

Yeah.

Eric Vickery [00:56:01]:

They have, it’s kinda like a, I guess, Scottish food there. I I should preface this by saying my my wife and I are also vegan.

Scott Cowan [00:56:12]:

So Okay.

Eric Vickery [00:56:13]:

That factors into, what restaurants we we choose. So they have a a separate vegan menu there K. With a ton of options. So, love that place.

Scott Cowan [00:56:26]:

K. What about in Seattle?

Eric Vickery [00:56:30]:

Seattle? I’m gonna go with, Peloton.

Scott Cowan [00:56:34]:

The basic the the the the Cowan that sells the exercise equipment?

Eric Vickery [00:56:41]:

So it’s it’s spelled the same way. Okay. But it’s, it’s a it’s a bicycle shop, on on one side and a a cafe on the other.

Scott Cowan [00:56:52]:

Really?

Eric Vickery [00:56:54]:

Yeah. It’s at, I wanna say, like, 15th in Jefferson.

Scott Cowan [00:57:01]:

Cowan. Never never thought bikes up in cafe would be in the same, you know, same breath, but, and Peloton throws me, as a name because I’m thinking instantly the the exercise equipment. Okay. Alright. Yeah. Alright. So the the I warned you there was a third question which I wouldn’t share with you, and this is this is the most important question, and you have a lot of pressure now.

Eric Vickery [00:57:24]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:57:25]:

You have to answer it, and you have to give your reason why. Just that setting the ground rules. Are you ready? Cake or pie and why?

Eric Vickery [00:57:38]:

I definitely like both, but if I had to choose You have

Scott Cowan [00:57:41]:

to for this. Yes. You have to.

Eric Vickery [00:57:45]:

I I would go cake.

Scott Cowan [00:57:46]:

Cake. Okay. And Yeah. What type of cake?

Eric Vickery [00:57:52]:

A good chocolate cake is hard to beat.

Scott Cowan [00:57:54]:

Good chocolate cake? Okay. And why? Why are you picking cake over pie? There’s no wrong answers here. It’s just, you know, we we have to

Eric Vickery [00:58:02]:

Yeah. You know, I I I do enjoy a good pie now and then, but it seems to be there’s a half of pie is just like crust and you know you know, if you have a a good piece of pie with a lot of fruit filling

Scott Cowan [00:58:15]:

Mhmm.

Eric Vickery [00:58:15]:

Then then that’s one thing. But and sometimes you get a piece and it’s like it’s more crust than anything. I just feel like I’m eating this a ton of carbs without getting that that sort of sweet fix that I’m looking for, like, with a good piece of chocolate cake.

Scott Cowan [00:58:31]:

Okay. Solid. There’s no there’s no judgment, no wrong answer, no right answer. I mean, there’s it’s funny to watch the expression on people’s faces. Sometimes it’s super easy for them. They’re like camp cake or camp pie and you will, they will die on that hill. Just like being a Cubs fan and a Cardinals fan, you won’t convert them. Other people like you are like, oh, good.

Scott Cowan [00:58:52]:

And then some people are like, I’d rather give up one of my children. That’s an easier choice. You know, you can have little Timmy, take him. Anyway, it’s always fun to watch and listen to the people on a very silly question. What didn’t we talk about that we should have?

Eric Vickery [00:59:13]:

Wow. Well, as far as the book goes, you know, there’s there’s there are a lot of layers to the story. Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:59:22]:

And

Eric Vickery [00:59:22]:

that was one of the fun things about writing the book for me is, you know, it’s you know, I think it’s a book about a team that was involved in a bus crash, but it’s it’s so much more than that. There’s stories within the story and a lot and a lot of connections to names people will know about. So there’s, like, Vic Pacetti participated in this all American game with, guys like Richie Ashburn and played with, for Mel Ott and Karl Hubbell and Connie Cowan met Babe Ruth. So, you know, it’s it’s a story about a minor league team that might seem somewhat obscure to to readers at first glance, but there are a lot of connections to names the reader will know about. And and by the end of the book, hopefully, that, these players will feel familiar as well. And that was ultimately my goal of writing the book was to bring the stories of these kind of forgotten players to life and kinda honor honor their memory. So

Scott Cowan [01:00:23]:

Yeah. And and you did an excellent job. Like I said, it’s a it’s not it’s Cowan up it’s not a a happy story. You know? It is, you know, it is it’s a story that its core is about a tragedy. But you’ve I really like the way that you focused in on some of the players. I really found, you know, the Ben Garrity. I don’t wanna say character, but, you know, I mean, he seemed like a very tortured human being and you, you brought that the word the way you chose to write your words to me, you kind of showed the tortured nature of his of his life without making it without making like, I didn’t feel sorry for him. I don’t mean it, like, you know, I mean, it’s just I mean, I felt like he would have been more as I think you I I’m on the opinion.

Scott Cowan [01:01:23]:

I think he would have been a major league manager had he is had he not drank so much. Mhmm. I don’t didn’t feel sorry for him though. And I didn’t feel that you you you I just like the way you walked a line there and and you you presented information without coloring it one way or the other. So I think that’s, I think that’s very difficult to do. And I and so I appreciate that about the book.

Eric Vickery [01:01:51]:

Yeah. Thank you. That’s kind of you to say that, and that certainly was my goal. And, you know, ultimately, you know, everything, I describe about him comes from my sources, you know Mhmm. Interviews with people who who knew him, you know, articles written about him at the time.

Scott Cowan [01:02:12]:

Yeah. Yeah. I just yeah. I just and so I’m I’m if you’re listening, you know, into this and you’re thinking about getting the book, I’m gonna encourage everyone to grab the book because it is actually, I think, a very it’s pertinent to Washington Scott, which is what this show is all about. It’s baseball, which is near and dear to me, so there’s, you know, 2 thumbs up. But it does. You did an excellent job. You just did an excellent, and I don’t, you know, I don’t wanna talk about in great detail about the book because I want people to read it.

Scott Cowan [01:02:48]:

You know, I want them to go, oh, you know, not go, oh, I already knew this. And, you know, you know, I want them want them to read it. And I look forward to you putting together another baseball book. So there’s, I’ll throw my 2¢ in, you know, should I write another book about baseball? So there, you know, and that, and then where where’s a good place to for people to find out more about you? Where where’s a good place for them to get a copy of the book? Yeah. Let’s go ahead and please pitch all of that. See how

Eric Vickery [01:03:15]:

it works as you pitched. Very clever. Yeah. I do have a website. It’s just my name, ericvickrey, vickrey.com.

Scott Cowan [01:03:27]:

K.

Eric Vickery [01:03:28]:

So there’s links to some of the Sabre articles I’ve done there and information about, both of the books I’ve written. My book is published through Roman and Littlefield, and their website is Cowan, r o w m a n, dot com. And you can find the book, anywhere you can buy books online as well as select bookstores here in the Pacific Northwest, particularly, Seattle and Spokane areas. In Spokane, it’s available at Anteys. I did a signing there. And here in Seattle, paper book books in West Seattle, Island Books on Mercer Island, and, Fisher Kingfisher Books, in Coupeville, that could be island.

Scott Cowan [01:04:10]:

So one question I didn’t ask you, I’m gonna go because you I I completely forgot about it, and you just said something that jogged my brain. I gotta ask you this question. I’d love to ask authors this question. I want you to go back. What did you feel when you saw your book in the wild for the first time in a bookstore? What was that like for you?

Eric Vickery [01:04:31]:

Yeah. That that’s a really cool feeling. That’s hard to describe. Because, of course, I I had seen the book. I’ve, you know, got copies mailed to my home.

Scott Cowan [01:04:40]:

Right.

Eric Vickery [01:04:40]:

That that’s one thing. That that and it’s not very exciting. Yeah. But to see it, in a bookstore next to, people I admire and respect, that’s, like, a very surreal experience, and, I don’t think it’s one I’ll ever get take for granted.

Scott Cowan [01:05:02]:

Or get tired of walking in walking into a walking into a bookstore and seeing your book on this would you I’m kind kinda kidding, but would you if you walked into, you know, 3rd place books in Seattle, let’s say you walked in there or, Elliott Bay Books in downtown, your book’s on the shelf. Would you would you open it up and sign it and put it back?

Eric Vickery [01:05:27]:

I have done that. Okay.

Scott Cowan [01:05:29]:

I think I would. If I if I was if I was a if I was an author, I think I I think I’d absolutely do that. Mhmm. Yeah. So well, I’ll put I’ll put links to your website and, your publisher in the in the show notes. I’ll put links to Sabre, each of your saber profile in, in B as that’s public. So they don’t have to be a member to get behind that. And, you know, I wish you all the best.

Scott Cowan [01:05:53]:

I’m glad you sat down and talked with me Cowan. And, yeah. Yeah.

Eric Vickery [01:05:59]:

I enjoyed the conversation.

Scott Cowan [01:06:01]:

I hope you do another, I hope you do another, baseball book.

Eric Vickery [01:06:05]:

I will. I, yeah, I hope I hope to find a topic I can, dig into and enjoy exploring as as much as this one. That’s always the the the key is, landing on that topic that you’re gonna spend a lot of time and energy on.