My Conversation with Michael Strautmanis was About More Than Baseball

Chicago Memories, Community Engagement, and More 'In The Booth.'

As mentioned in the eventual interview I had with Obama Foundation Chief Corporate Affairs office, baseball fanatic and proud Chicagoan Michael Strautmanis, there was a link between baseball and community that was strong in the inner city.

It was about ten years since Strautmanis (sometimes referred to as ‘Straut’) wrote an article for AndScape about how it was so hard to find Chicago fans of color at the game these days. That article stayed with me a mighty while, and so when the opportunity arose for the chance to sit down with Strautmanis, I jumped at the chance.

The discussion was lively enough. We discussed the role of sport in the black community, how Chicago ‘survives’ with two teams with very different aesthetics, what modern baseball means to the town today and more. Just don’t call him a celebrity!