Euchner, Charles C. 1960- (Charlie Euchner)

PERSONAL:

Born November 23, 1960, in Chattanooga, TN; son of P.C., Jr. (a mechanical engineer) and Gale (an artist and homemaker) Euchner. Education: Vanderbilt University, B.A., 1982; Johns Hopkins University, M.A., 1987, Ph.D., 1990. Politics: Independent. Religion: Episcopalian. Hobbies and other interests: Baseball, music, reading, sailing.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New Haven, CT. Office—Boston Redevelopment Authority, City Hall, Boston, MA 02201; fax: 617-367-6087; John F. Kennedy School of Government, 79 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge, MA 02138. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, journalist, consultant, public speaker, city planner, political scientist, and educator. Education Week, Washington, DC, staff writer, 1982-84; St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's City, visiting instructor, 1989-90; College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, assistant professor of political science, 1990-97; Boston Redevelopment Authority, Boston, MA, coordinator, 1997—. Also taught political science at the University of Pennsylvania and Northeastern University. Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, founding executive director, 2000-04. Boston Cares, volunteer. Frequent guest on television and radio programs, including the Diane Rehm Show, Front Porch, Nightline, Greater Boston, Quite Frankly, Cold Pizza, Morning Edition, Only a Game, and Talk of the Nation.

WRITINGS:

(With Joe Brinkman; as Charlie Euchner) The Umpire's Handbook, S. Greene Press (Lexington, MA), 1985, revised edition, 1987.

(With John Anthony Maltese) Selecting the President: From Washington to Bush, Congressional Quarterly (Washington, DC), 1992.

Playing the Field: Why Sports Teams Move and Cities Fight to Keep Them, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 1993.

Extraordinary Politics: How Protest and Dissent Are Changing American Democracy, Westview (Boulder, CO), 1996.

(Editor, with Stephen J. McGovern) Urban Policy Reconsidered: Dialogues on the Problems and Prospects of American Cities, Routledge (New York, NY), 2003.

The Last Nine Innings: Inside the Real Game Fans Never See, Sourcebooks (Naperville, IL), 2005.

Little League, Big Dreams: The Hope, the Hype, and the Glory of the Greatest World Series Ever Played, photography by Isabel Chenoweth, Sourcebooks (Naperville, IL), 2006.

Contributor to newspapers and periodicals, including Boston Globe, New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Dallas Morning News, New York Sun, Boston Herald, Miami Herald, and Washington Times.

SIDELIGHTS:

Charles C. Euchner is a writer, speaker, educator, and consultant who served as the first executive director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has worked as a newspaper reporter, a city planner, a research director, and a col- lege professor. A prolific writer, journalist, and political scientist, Euchner's works "span the experience of modern American life—politics, public policy, sports, cities, planning, and the ‘mania’ of modern U.S. culture," noted a biographer on Euchner's home page. "His work provides a close-up view while at the same time placing the issue in a larger community, industry, and political contexts," the biographer continued.

In Extraordinary Politics: How Protest and Dissent Are Changing American Democracy, Euchner takes a careful look at how protest movements and related forms of dissent influence politics in the United States. For Euchner, "conventional politics" such as voting, lobbying, campaigning, and litigation, make up only a portion of the broad category of influences on U.S. policymaking and governance. His interpretation of "extraordinary politics" extends to activities beyond this traditional sphere, encompassing the full range of protest activities and their influence on democracy. "He suggests that extraordinary politics emerges as an alternative for those who have lost faith or access to more conventional political means, and it flourishes when institutional means of democratic deliberation break down," noted David S. Meyer in American Political Science Review. Euchner also includes numerous anecdotes about Czech dissident, and eventual president, Vaclev Havel, who asserted that "protest movements in the United States offered inspiration and a model for democratic dissenters in much more difficult circumstances." Euchner identifies and examines critical elements of protest politics, including cycles of protest, mobilization of protestors and interested parties, political organization, strategy and tactics of protest movements, and expected outcomes of protests. He pinpoints problems that can arise in these areas of protest evolution, and offers resources with suggestions and answers for overcoming those problems. Euchner encourages his readers to consider important questions, such why protest has become an increasingly important form of political activity, and what form the more effective protests take. He also encourages readers to ponder why interest in particular issues rises and falls, sometimes unpredictably, and how individuals who were once activists are expected to fare when they enter conventional, institutional politics.

Several of Euchner's works focus on sports, particularly baseball. With The Last Nine Innings: Inside the Real Game Fans Never See, Euchner covers the statistical and mathematical underpinnings of baseball, and introduces "the host of arcane statistics used by today's baseball executives, managers, players, analysts, and fans," noted Jim Burns in Library Journal. As a framework for his discussions, Euchner uses the final game of the 2001 World Series, which saw the New York Yankees pitted against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Euchner asserts that baseball is particularly suited to careful statistical analysis because of the distinct and discrete actions taken by players on the field, from pitching to batting, catching to throwing. He identifies three aspects of modern baseball that he believes have influenced the game most profoundly: the physics of the movements of players, bat, and ball; the ceaseless and increasingly more sophisticated statistical and numerical analysis of the most minute activities on the diamond; and the globalization of recruitment of promising players. Booklist reviewer Mary Frances Wilkens found the book to be "more compelling in the details than the broad scope," while Burns concluded that Euchner's insight and analysis offers something for all fans of the game, from casual enthusiast to dedicated follower of statistics.

Euchner looks further down the scale to the source where lifelong interest is born and nascent skills are developed in Little League, Big Dreams: The Hope, the Hype, and the Glory of the Greatest World Series Ever Played. With the 2005 Little League World Series as a backdrop, Euchner explores both the benefits and detriments that Little League participation offers to young players. In the end, he suggests that the regimentation of Little League, the all-too-real chance of dramatic physical injury to developing bodies, the unhealthy stress placed on winning over the joy of playing the game, all add up to a dysfunctional system that has the potential for inflicting more harm than good. Euchner finds that the Little League system is too focused on adults, since it is parents who bear the greatest portion of the sacrifice of time and resources to ensure that their children get the chance to play. Further, Euchner asserts, it is parents who wish to see their kids in championship games, who push their young players beyond their physical limits, and whose adult sensibilities and preoccupations sap the game of its fun and enjoyable aspects. "This well-written book will inform and entertain," remarked Library Journal reviewer Tim Delaney. A Publishers Weekly critic noted that even those readers "with only a passing interest in baseball will be intrigued by this fascinating look at Little League."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Political Science Review, September, 1997, David S. Meyer, review of Extraordinary Politics:How Protest and Dissent Are Changing American Democracy, p. 738.

Booklist, September 1, 2005, Mary Frances Wilkens, review of The Last Nine Innings: Inside the Real Game Fans Never See, p. 50; July 1, 2006, Mary Frances Wilkens, review of Little League, Big Dreams: The Hope, the Hype, and the Glory of the Greatest World Series Ever Played, p. 20.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2006, review of Little League, Big Dreams, p. S14; June 1, 2006, review of Little League, Big Dreams, p. 555.

Library Journal, March 15, 2006, Jim Burns, review of The Last Nine Innings, p. 77; July 1, 2006, Tim Delaney, review of Little League, Big Dreams, p. 86.

Perspectives on Political Science, fall, 1997, David B. Broyles, review of Extraordinary Politics, p. 217.

Publishers Weekly, June 12, 2006, review of Little League, Big Dreams, p. 45.

ONLINE

Baseball Zealot,http://www.thebaseballzealot.com/ (August 29, 2006), review of Little League, Big Dreams.

Camden Chat—Baltimore Orioles Blog,http://www.camdenchat.com/ (September 5, 2006), review of Little League, Big Dreams.

Charles C. Euchner Home Page,http://www.euchner.us (April 10, 2007).

Madboa.com,http://www.madboa.com/ (March 20, 2006), review of The Last Nine Innings.

Metsquire,http://metsquire.blogspot.com/ (April 20, 2006), review of The Last Nine Innings; (November 25, 3006), Jeff Brohel, review of Little League, Big Dreams.

Mike's Mets,http://www.mikesmets.com/ (October 25, 2006), Mike Steffanos, review of Little League, Big Dreams.

Sawxblog,http://www.sawxblog.com/ (March 22, 2006), review of The Last Nine Innings; (January 24, 2007), review of Little League, Big Dreams.

Talking Baseball,http://talkingbaseball.wordpress.com/ (April 5, 2006), Benjamin Kabak, review of The Last Nine Innings.