Author Will Bardenwerper has become well-acquainted with the road from Pittsburgh to Western New York. Three years ago, he made the trip multiple times to conduct research for "Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America." He'll be making that familiar trip again Tuesday night when he visits The Place on Lexington Avenue to discuss his work during an appearance with "Buffalo, Books and Beer."
The work never seems to stop for the author. Last month, he conducted book signings at "The Author's Note" in Medina and a Batavia brewery. "Skin in the Game," Buffalo Toronto Public Media's sports business talk show, welcomed him recently for a lengthy conversation. That effort and commitment has been on display during what he calls "an unconventional and circuitous route" to becoming an author.
"I was actually working in finance in New York City on September 11th, the day of the terrorist attacks. That was sort of the catalyst for my leaving that job and deciding to serve in the U.S. Army," Bardenwerper shared during a 2022 interview.
"I was just made aware of the sacrifices that were being made at the time by the NYPD and FDNY. My financial job suddenly seemed less meaningful and less fulfilling so I quit a week later and spent the next five years serving as an infantry officer in the Army to include about 13 or 14 months in Iraq."
After his tour of duty, Bardenwerper says he went to work at the Pentagon. Later, he would pen his first book, "Prisoner in His Palace," the story of the Americans who were charged with guarding Saddam Hussein prior to his execution.
In "Homestand" Bardenwerper details his disillusionment with the present political divide. After witnessing great sacrifices in combat, he writes, that he had become "demoralized by, a country that seemed to be coming apart at the seems."
So, three years ago he went searching for community in Batavia, a town that was among the 40 that had their minor-league affiliations ripped away by Major League Baseball in 2020. Trying to fill that void was a new team in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, where college baseball players work to improve their skills during the summer months.
Bardenwerper was a fixture at Dwyer Stadium (home of the Batavia Muckdogs) for most of the 2022 season where he'd spend games, notebook in hand, moving from conversation to conversation. That work has resulted in the number of memorable profiles that comprise "Homestand." The reader gets to know fans, players, stadium workers and team owners who, on summer nights, are able to put their concerns and differences behind them for a few hours.
