As we wait for definitive news about a publication date for Diamond Stars events continue to unfold—check … www.facebook.com/MarcPeterReyna ... and—I have found myself researching another piece to complement our book project and challenge my overall writing experience.
If you check out the "Diamond Stars" synopsis on the home screen—you will see at least three references to the name—Van Lingle Mungo—over the past three weeks, I have been diligently digging for facts and stories about this Depression era ballplayer, in an attempt to see if there is enough information out there that we can use to create a show…one that would contrast and complement the Van Mungo in and of Diamond Stars.
Having an experienced playwright, my writing partner Jim Brown, and an actor, yours truly, in this duo—once the pieces came to light everything fell into place. Now Jim and I are on track to create a play that could also serve as a book promotion event. This will be not only a self-contained one-man play about the man with the most colorful name in baseball history...but a companion piece to "Diamond Stars" in which Van Mungo plays a prominent role.
Jim is at the helm at this point, writing the first draft. Then he will pass it back to me and I will take my crack at writing a play. I have performed enough of them. Time will tell if that is a help or a hindrance. Next we will take what we have to a play-writing workshop—one that Jim has had positive experiences with in the past—and spend a large handful of weeks trying out our incarnation of Mungo with a group of produced/aspiring playwrights.
From there we are hoping to find a venue to stage our piece. We are working towards 30 to 45 minutes at this point—but we will see what all the effort and input produces...
I have to say that I am pretty excited. I think that a part of me has always wanted to write a play—and I cannot imagine having better circumstances surrounding me when I dive into this offered writing discipline for the first time. Another part of me is a bit scared but I believe that is productive as well...
Some quick notes about Van Lingle Mungo:
He played Major League baseball from 1931 to 1945 with one year off (1944) to attend to WWII. Van mostly pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1931-1941) and finished his career with the New York Giants. Mungo was an All Star in 1934, 36, 37 and 45. He led the league in strike outs in 1936 with 238—and also led the league in walks that season and a couple others (32 and 34). As the synopsis says he was a “... hard-drinking, fireballing Brooklyn Dodgers right-hander with (a) melodious name...”
He was “colorful” which in the parlance of newspapers in the 1930's meant alcoholic...
...but wait. Is there another side to this story? Has history given Van Mungo a bum wrap or does he truly deserve to be remembered in words of his one-time manager, Leo Durocher, who said he talked “…like Edgar Bergan doing Mortimer Snerd from the bottom of a well…and he drank a bit. Anything. Including hair tonic.” Van Lingle Mungo doesn't think so—and that is why he's coming back—to set the record straight...
...I think I see him now, strolling up Van Lingle Mungo Boulevard, togged out in that old beat-up Brooklyn uniform, number 16...spikes clattering on the asphalt, his well used five fingered glove stuffed in a back pocket. Mungo's been working this two and a half mile bypass, around Pageland, South Carolina, for quite a time—looking for someone who'll listen to his story...wait...he's stopping for a breather, on that bench over there...Perhaps Van is on his way to Goob's Bar & Grill; it's just a short walk from his current residence (right behind First Baptist Church). Goob's is where Van picks up local gossip and the latest baseball news...but I think today, he might be more concerned about another kind of news...something more personal...a story he wants to tell, needs to tell—one that features—Van Lingle Mungo—and Van needs to tell us about it, right about now...
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If you check out the "Diamond Stars" synopsis on the home screen—you will see at least three references to the name—Van Lingle Mungo—over the past three weeks, I have been diligently digging for facts and stories about this Depression era ballplayer, in an attempt to see if there is enough information out there that we can use to create a show…one that would contrast and complement the Van Mungo in and of Diamond Stars.
Having an experienced playwright, my writing partner Jim Brown, and an actor, yours truly, in this duo—once the pieces came to light everything fell into place. Now Jim and I are on track to create a play that could also serve as a book promotion event. This will be not only a self-contained one-man play about the man with the most colorful name in baseball history...but a companion piece to "Diamond Stars" in which Van Mungo plays a prominent role.
Jim is at the helm at this point, writing the first draft. Then he will pass it back to me and I will take my crack at writing a play. I have performed enough of them. Time will tell if that is a help or a hindrance. Next we will take what we have to a play-writing workshop—one that Jim has had positive experiences with in the past—and spend a large handful of weeks trying out our incarnation of Mungo with a group of produced/aspiring playwrights.
From there we are hoping to find a venue to stage our piece. We are working towards 30 to 45 minutes at this point—but we will see what all the effort and input produces...
I have to say that I am pretty excited. I think that a part of me has always wanted to write a play—and I cannot imagine having better circumstances surrounding me when I dive into this offered writing discipline for the first time. Another part of me is a bit scared but I believe that is productive as well...
Some quick notes about Van Lingle Mungo:
He played Major League baseball from 1931 to 1945 with one year off (1944) to attend to WWII. Van mostly pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1931-1941) and finished his career with the New York Giants. Mungo was an All Star in 1934, 36, 37 and 45. He led the league in strike outs in 1936 with 238—and also led the league in walks that season and a couple others (32 and 34). As the synopsis says he was a “... hard-drinking, fireballing Brooklyn Dodgers right-hander with (a) melodious name...”
He was “colorful” which in the parlance of newspapers in the 1930's meant alcoholic...
...but wait. Is there another side to this story? Has history given Van Mungo a bum wrap or does he truly deserve to be remembered in words of his one-time manager, Leo Durocher, who said he talked “…like Edgar Bergan doing Mortimer Snerd from the bottom of a well…and he drank a bit. Anything. Including hair tonic.” Van Lingle Mungo doesn't think so—and that is why he's coming back—to set the record straight...
...I think I see him now, strolling up Van Lingle Mungo Boulevard, togged out in that old beat-up Brooklyn uniform, number 16...spikes clattering on the asphalt, his well used five fingered glove stuffed in a back pocket. Mungo's been working this two and a half mile bypass, around Pageland, South Carolina, for quite a time—looking for someone who'll listen to his story...wait...he's stopping for a breather, on that bench over there...Perhaps Van is on his way to Goob's Bar & Grill; it's just a short walk from his current residence (right behind First Baptist Church). Goob's is where Van picks up local gossip and the latest baseball news...but I think today, he might be more concerned about another kind of news...something more personal...a story he wants to tell, needs to tell—one that features—Van Lingle Mungo—and Van needs to tell us about it, right about now...
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