Ethan Bryan - 365 Days of Catch

“Dad, what would happen if you played catch every day?”

Ethan Bryan was first on the podcast in 2018 when he was in the process of playing catch every day for an entire year. Now, it is our pleasure to bring the author Ethan Bryan onto the podcast to discuss his newly released book, “A Year of Playing Catch”. This story started out as a sort of personal challenge and turned into something so much more. Part of that journey included having a catch with Tim and being interviewed for the Moonlight Graham Show. That conversation included the agreement that if that journey became a book, Bryan would come back on the podcast. Episode 174 brings that conversation full circle. 

The story really begins on Christmas 2017. Bryan’s daughters asked to play catch and that turned into a simple question: “Dad, what would happen if you played catch every day?”.That idea kind of stuck. Throughout the year, Bryan played catch with someone every day, traveling over 12,000 miles. The entire roster is listed in the book and it includes partners of all stripes. From a podcaster to former pros, Bryan played and shared stories with old friends and complete strangers. His family supported the entire journey and helped warm him up, took pictures, and kept the emotional support going. His road trips included stops at the Field of Dreams, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and other baseball landmarks. The adventure of playing catch and meeting his partners fed his love of baseball.

“How do I tell this story?”

It wasn’t until he was about 70 days into this process when a writing mentor pointed out to him that he was creating a book through this trek. He had not set out with a book in mind but started to see the concept take form. Each partner had a story to share and each catch was a bit of a tale in itself. There were many close calls throughout the year, but the closest he came to missing a day was when a partner canceled and he had to call a buddy while still on the road into town. He ended up arriving after dark and they had to find a local skate park with lights that could be turned on to play catch at 10:30 pm. The half pipes in the skate park turned them into Bo Jackson running up the outfield wall to make the catch. 

Bryan’s first attempt at writing the book was a flop. He sent out a draft manuscript and the feedback was “boring”. That was not what Bryan associated with his journey and so he deleted every word. Like any good Moonlighter, he turned to his dad for advice. And just like in Field of Dreams, the advice was to focus on the relationships. The connections that formed, or that were revealed, through his journey became the focus of his book. After that first failed attempt, Bryan rewrote the entire book in three weeks.

“I want to be a catch playing ambassador for the game of baseball”

The year of playing catch also connected Ethan Bryan the writer with Ethan Bryan the ballplayer. After spending so much time playing catch and seeing some guys who could put a little juice into a throw, Bryan was motivated to improve his own arm and mechanics and get involved with a local wood bat league. 

Playing catch is so much more than throwing a ball. It is a conversation and a connection. It is a simple source of joy and delight. Ethan Bryan rediscovered something so simple and pure and then shared it every day for a year. His book, A Year of Playing Catch, shares that journey with the reader and brings us into the game.

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