Publish a Book About Your
Passion
By Sherry Jackson
When a Major League Baseball player takes his position in the batter’s
box, he usually does it with great focus and determination. His goal as the
hitter is to attack the ball the pitcher delivers and move runners around the
bases to home plate. How well batters hit the ball, doused with the energy of
passionate fans, determines the outcome of the game.
When an inspired, passionate fan takes a position in the batter’s box,
he or she usually does it with great pride, loyalty, enthusiasm, and a whole
lot of heart. The goal of the fan is to convey a deep love, support and connection
with their team. Fans deliver with great vigor and drive the many ways the heart
passionately bleeds the colors of their beloved team.
When Joan Fallon, D.C., is not passionately championing cures and causes for
children in her Yonkers, N.Y., chiropractic practice, she is tracking New York
Yankee stats and attending every home game.
Fallon, a Yankees fan who lives and dies with the team, recently accomplished
a life milestone by writing and publishing “27: The Voice of the Yankee
Fans.” Fallon, who wrote late at night and early in the morning, passionately
explores eight necessary components for the Yankees to win their 27th world
championship. She provides mathematical formulas for counting talent, one of
the most important building blocks for all teams, as well as how collective
charisma is an important part of a team’s makeup.
“I have been a student of the game, playing, managing and collecting baseball
cards since I was five years old,” says Fallon, who was introduced to
baseball and the Yankees by her father. “I like the fact that there are
so many facets to the game. While to some it may appear to be slow, the mental
part of the game is huge and it is most important to be able to anticipate and
understand the game.”
Fallon, who attended her first baseball game at the age of six, provides a unique
perspective in her book—the importance of passion and fan participation
as a part of the winning formula in baseball, America’s favorite pastime.
“Without passion on the part of both the fans and the players, the season
becomes much too long and the effort much too great. Without the emotional engagement
and commitment to the team, the fan is incomplete,” she writes.
Fallon, who “bleeds pinstripes,” noticed that regular sportswriters
overlook key details regarding plays, player acquisition, wins and losses that
fans care deeply about. “I felt the need to write the book to say what
so many others think along with me,” says Fallon. “Yankee fans are
fans regardless of whether the team wins or loses. They are there during the
good and the bad times.”
As a former assistant professor at Yeshiva University and current CEO of CureMark,
a biotechnology company that plans to bring significant help to children with
ADD, ADHD and autism, Fallon has passed on her love for baseball and her beloved
Yankees to over two decades of children in her chiropractic pediatric practice.
“I enjoy going to the games,” says Fallon, a Yankees season ticket
holder for 10 years. “I also enjoy making it possible for some who could
not get tickets or get to a game to go. Often I give my tickets to the children
in my practice who cheer right along with me.”
According to Fallon and other die-hard Yankee fans, Yankee Stadium is recognized
as one of the most electric places on Earth, especially during the playoffs;
161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx, “The House that Ruth Built,”
is one of the world’s most prestigious sports addresses.
“My first World Series was in 1978. It was fantastic!” says Fallon,
who is currently on the committee working on handicapped access and amenities
for the new Yankee Stadium.
She has attended the last four World Series that the Yankees have won. “It
has been such a great ride for any Yankee fan,” says Fallon. “Watching
Jeter’s walk off homerun during the series or Aaron Boone hitting the
ball out to win the series with Boston and being at the stadium and feeling
the entire stadium shake is something one can never forget.”
Fallon, who has a group of “baseball buddies” that she regularly
attends and watches games with, has had the opportunity to meet some of the
players during the last few years. However, a great acknowledgment was bestowed
to her by one of her sports heroes, Mickey Mantle.
“One of the most touching things that has ever happened to me is the inclusion
of a letter that I wrote to Mickey Mantle. He hand-picked my letter for his
book, “Letter to Mickey,” before he died,” describes Fallon.
“It is such a great honor to know that somehow I touched his life in the
same way he touched mine.”
Of course, no passionate sports fan’s life would be complete without a
sacred shrine to the team. Fallon’s office dons a Yankee Hall. “It
is full with signed Yankee pictures and many original paintings and photographs,
signed by Yankees—new and old,” says Fallon. “I don’t
have a place to display all of the memorabilia that I have.”
“I have some fantastic paintings and lithographs done by James Fiorentino,
who is a famous sports artist and is recognized as one of the great illustrators
of the 21st century,” says Fallon. “He did the cover of my book,
and that original painting which is 4 feet by 5 feet, hangs in my office.”
As life goes on, things eventually change. However, Fallon’s love of children,
chiropractic and the Yankees will always remain the same. Her spirit and passion
permeates the very soul of a sports fan and chiropractic. As Yankee great Yogi
Berra said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”
“27: The Voice of the Yankee Fans” is available at your local bookstore
or amazon.com.