Marty Lurie’s Foreword from Falling in Love With Baseball

What separates baseball from all the other sports are the stories of the game. These stories that cover more than 150 years of baseball connect families, friends, coworkers, and strangers in the sweetest way.

Falling in Love with Baseball, a collection of the baseball remembrances of Chris Mavraedis, takes one back through the times of the San Francisco Giants, from their first season in Seals Stadium to Candlestick Park and finally to the best baseball park in America, AT&T Park. Along the journey, Chris connects us to the iconic names of Giants history with personal stories about the greats, such as Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, and so many others. But it’s not just the names, it’s the intimate details Chris relates about the players, his personal experiences seeing or listening to the games with his father, and the grace of baseball he fell in love with as a boy that touch my heart.

Personally, I love bringing the stories of baseball to the fans through my pre- and post-game Giants radio shows on KNBR 680. Chris is my most faithful listener, often commenting on the segments connecting Giants history within moments of the broadcast. Trust me, I double-check my facts, knowing Chris is listening to each word.

Chris suffers from ALS, the dreaded Lou Gehrig’s disease. He is the most courageous, remarkable person I have ever met in baseball. His love for baseball comes across marvelously. When I read Chris’s e-mails after a show, I say to myself, “How in the world does Chris write with such perfect detail about these baseball memories?”

This collection of Chris’s writings is a must-read for any baseball fan. “As one stares out the window waiting for winter to end and spring training to begin” (quote from the great Rogers Hornsby), pick up this book; it will warm your heart in a way you’ll never forget.

You are a special man, Chris Mavraedis.