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Baseball expert invites fans and non-fans to lecture linking sports, ethics and society

By David Gonnerman '90 with Jacob Erickson '06
November 5, 2003

St. Olaf Professor of English David Wee will present ?Sport (Mostly Baseball) in Culture and the Curriculum: Seabiscuit and the Babe, Corked Bats and Teddy Ballgame, Dr. Strangeglove and a Little Chin Music,? on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. in Viking Theater, Buntrock Commons, St. Olaf College. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is the first of this year?s 22nd Annual Carl Mellby Memorial Lecture Series.

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An accomplished runner and coach, English Professor David Wee's passion is baseball.
?Sport is not merely a diversion. It?s very central part of human impulse,? says Wee. His lecture title refers to sporting events and history that have had a social impact outside of sports. ?I wanted to reflect on things that had become prominent in the news in the last year and have brought sport to the news and raised ethical issues,? he explains. He also hopes to lure sports fans who might not typically find time for an academic lecture.

The reference to Sea Biscuit, for example, focuses on the fact that the career of that racehorse was cause for hope inspiration during the depression. ?It reportedly made a difference in the lives of millions of people,? says Wee.

?The Babe? refers to Babe Ruth, the flamboyant figure who changed the nature of baseball and brought sports into the headlines ? and not just on the sports pages. He was a national icon whose every personal and professional move was scrutinized.

?Corked Bats? touches on Sammy Sosa being caught with a corked bat in June and addresses the issue of athletes breaking rules to gain an advantage. ?Teddy Ballgame? is baseball great Ted Williams. Wee will address the ethical issues surrounding cryogenics which surfaced at Williams? death. ?Dr. Strangeglove? was ballplayer Dick Stuart. ?He was such a bad fielder that he was called ?Dr. Strangeglove? when the movie Dr. Strangelove was released.?

?Chin Music? is baseball slang for throwing a pitch at a batter?s head. He knew a reference to music would fit well within St. Olaf?s liberal arts context. ?I actually thought of that for the title before the Don Zimmer and Pedro Martinez incident during the World Series,? says Wee about the profession?s most recent episode of ?chin music.?

Currently in his 39th year on the St. Olaf faculty, Wee received his B.A. in English and history from St. Olaf in 1961, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English from Stanford in 1967. He has taught Victorian literature, ?Women and Literature,? expository writing, creative writing, ?Reading the Short Story,? literary studies and ?Baseball and American Values? ? a popular course that combines baseball, literature, language and philosophy. He has also been a visiting professor at Macalester College and the University of Northern Iowa.

Wee has published articles, reviews and poetry in The Minnesota English Journal, Modern Philology, The Forum for Liberal Education, The Journal of American History, Intersections, The Minneapolis Review of Baseball, The Minnesota Poetry Calendar and elsewhere. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Sport Literature Association and the Society for American Baseball Research.

Wee is a also devoted distance runner, having run countless races since 1952. In 1977 he set the world?s record for the two-mile run by a 38-year-old. He was an NCAA All-American and is a member of the St. Olaf Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1975 he started the St.Olaf women?s cross-country program, and since 1997 he has been an assistant coach for the team.

He and his wife, Karen, have three children. Rebecca is a poet and English professor at Augustana College in Illinois, Jonathan is a professional comic juggler and Allison is an English professor at Carleton College.

The annual Mellby Memorial Lectures are given in remembrance of Dr. Carl A. Mellby and were established to let St. Olaf faculty members share their research with others. Mellby, known as ?the father of the social sciences? at St. Olaf, started the first courses in economics, sociology, political science and art history at the college. He was professor and administrator from 1901 until 1949, taught Greek, German, French, religion and philosophy, and is credited with creating the college?s honor system.

The next Mellby lecture will be presented in the spring by St. Olaf Professor of Physics Amy Kolan.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-646-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.