Bottom of the Ninth (cover) Part 5

Bottom of the Ninth (cover) Part 5

Once I have the uniform details sorted out and the hand drawn line work to my liking, I can start to add color and depth to the piece.

To do this, I create flat shapes of varying shades. When looked at close-up, they don’t look like much:

But when put together, they compliment each other and create the illusion of dimension.

When the facial features and fabric of the uniform are complete, I then add the more intricate details such as the piping and lettering on the jersey. This is where the everything starts to really come together.

After I am happy with the progress on the figure, I move to the background. When I do my baseball illustrations, I try to envision the world in which the character I am drawing would want to inhabit. I think that by creating the right environment the character appears more comfortable and really comes alive.

For this drawing, I wanted to show a small town or minor league park behind Satchel. This would have been the typical venue most fans would have seen him play back in 1939-40.

One of my favorite parts about old ballparks were the advertising. This is where I really get to be creative in my drawings. While many times I will use an actual product from that time period in an ad, other times I make them up to amuse myself. For this illustration I did both.

Over to the right side of the grandstands you’ll see ads for DeSoto, Ford, Glenmore Bourbon, and Lifebuoy Soap – all things that would have been advertised in a ballpark in the late 1930s.

Now when you look at the ads on the left side of the grandstand, you’ll see Ballantine’s Beer. Of course this was an actual brand from the time period, but my reason for including it is because it was my grandfather’s beer of choice. He had cigar boxes full of Ballantine’s bottle caps which featured a riddle inside and he’d take them out and try to get me to solve them. Way over my head as a 9 year-old, but it might be the source of why I enjoy trying to tackle a good mystery like what the traveling Monarchs wore in 1939.

And, it was through conversations with my grandfather and father that I had come to love baseball history long ago. So this Ballantine’s ad was my way of paying silent homage to him.

Likewise the ad next to it. “Gemette” was the name of my father’s garment cutting shop back in Jersey. He and his two friends started the company when I was away at college and they were very successful for a time. The name “Gemette” comes from their three names: Gary & Mike & Tony. Gemette went under many years ago when NAFTA ended the garment industry in this country, and all three friends have passed away by now. But in my little world, they’re back together on the walls of a fictional ballpark somewhere in the Midwest in 1939.

The last little Easter Egg I snuck into this drawing was in the DeSoto ad. While DeSoto was a legit auto maker, “Boyles Service and Sales” was not – it’s the name of one of my dearest friends and the best man at my wedding.

The final step of one of my drawings is to add the shadows and light. This helps ground the character and give more depth and dimension to the environment he inhabits.

The last part of creating the Baseball Research Journal front cover is the addition of the masthead. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the original sketch I submitted and the final cover:

Now I lay out the back cover and spine. I had designed the basic outline for the spine and back cover back in 2020 so this step is pretty easy.

Once I get the final copy from Cecilia, I typeset it and make sure it fits into the areas it’s supposed to. Then Cecilia will send me the UPC code which I drop in and then I send it off to her and Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) CEO Scott Bush for final approval. Once that’s given, I send the file off to the printer.

A few days later a FedEx package arrives with a proof of the cover. This is so I can check the colors and generally make sure nothing is wrong with its appearance.

Once I sign off on the proof, the printer runs the job. Now, l wait, just like every other SABR member, for the final Baseball Research Journal to arrive in my mailbox!

I hope you have enjoyed this series. It’s been fun showing the steps that go into creating a BRJ cover. If you’re interested in learning more about the American Baseball Research (SABR), or the Baseball Research Journal , feel free to drop me a line or visit the SABR website to see the benefits of being a SABR member. Like I said at the start of the series, I’m not a “joiner” by any stretch. But, the exception I happily make is my SABR membership. Being a part of this organization has helped me make friends all over the world, furthered my own interest in baseball and its history, and has kept me a fan of the game despite recent changes that otherwise would have discouraged me from following the modern MLB.

On Monday, I’ll put the cap on this series by showing you the original Satchel Paige story that inspired the cover along with putting the cover illustration into my baseball card format.

If you’ve missed any of the previous posts in this series, here’s some handy links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

My baseball and art website

SABR website