By Ted Simpson –
Patrick Gauthier is the Hintonburg resident behind this year’s Ottawa Fringe Festival, and he has a book recommendation for the sports fans out there.
Gauthier’s first love is theatre, with over 10 years spent producing, directing and performing in plays. He was curator and producer of the Undercurrents Festival at the Great Canadian Theatre Company before moving to Arts Court last fall to take over as Fringe Festival Director. He’s also a lifelong baseball fan, which brings us to his summer reading pick: The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst.
“Baseball books in the summer time are kind of perfect,” says Gauthier, who spent some time himself on the field in his teenage years, and remains a long suffering fan of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The author, Hayhurst, was a minor league pitcher through the mid 2000’s who made a few brief appearances in the big leagues with the San Diego Padres, the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays from 2008 to 2011. After retiring from baseball, Hayhurst moved into broadcasting at Sportsnet radio. He’s currently an analyst with the TBS and ESPN television networks.
This was the first of four books Hayhurst has written about his time as a ball player. He made the New York Times bestseller list along with his second book, Out of My League.
The Bullpen Gospels is a personal narrative that chronicles the author’s time spent in the minor leagues, where the player’s lifestyle isn’t all you might expect.
“The book gives a glimpse into something that as a fan you don’t often see, which is how the players actually live,” says Gauthier. “This is crappy hotel rooms and riding buses and really poor conditions in stadiums, it’s a really interesting counter point to what you see in the media.”
This post is part of our annual KT summer reads issue. Read all of our other profiles right here.