Baseball Magic

It's that magical day each year when America's past time awakens from its winter slumber: Baseball returns.

I'm keeping up with my hometown team, the Detroit Tigers, but also with my new local favorite, the Chicago Cubs. Being a Northsider, I'm not allowed to root for the White Sox, or so they say.

But how could I incorporate baseball with magic? We do have one trick: All-Star Slugger. A playing card is selected and lost in the deck. A small packet of baseball cards are shown to be all different. After mixing the baseball cards the top one is seen to be a baseball player swinging a bat. The spectator inserts the baseball card anywhere in the deck. He is told that the baseball card will find his selection. The cards above and below the baseball card are checked and found not to be the selection. For a startling conclusion the baseball card is turned over to reveal that the player in the picture is now holding the selected card instead of his bat.

Now, there are countless other ways to incorporate baseball into a magic act. There is one young man whose name escapes me: he won either the IBM or SAM (maybe both?) with a baseball-themed act that included a baseball Zombie.

When I was living and performing around Lansing, Mich, I was approached by the local minor league team - the Lansing Lugnuts - to perform strolling magic during the baseball game. I first thought "Wow, aren't people trying to watch the game? Why have a magician?" But it turned out they had a large playground area, a picnic area, and of course, plenty of luxury suites that needed my entertaining prowess. It was a great gig, and a fun place to watch a ballgame.

Here's a little video I found on YouTube of FISM World Champion Jason Latimer performing some baseball magic for the White Sox JumboTron. I have no idea when he did this for them, but I'd say it's time to bring it back, if not to see more Jason Latimer.