I have just started a book entitled "Born To Play," by a man named Robert Martinez. It is a book written by a father, about his son. I have met the son and the father and have written about them. Brandon Martinez is the son, and he graduated from Fowler High School in 2009 and he was a seventh-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers. I wrote about Brandon a couple years ago, because he is a talented pitcher, and also because he suffers from Tourette's syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder.
I am intrigued by the book, because I know a lot of what lies ahead in the 214 pages. Here is a quote from the opening page of the introduction:
"... unfortunately, I have to discuss a battle with a school district and its staff for its gross negligence pertaining to civil rights and its special education accommodations. I will have to expose a group of people in this small community with its hands in various aspects of my son's life including sports. This is the part of the story that makes me sick to my stomach. Telling this story will cause me to lose friends, and I accept this."
I cannot tell you how fascinated I am by this. I want to know what the publishers thought when they heard the pitch. Who is the target audience for this book? I know it was meant to help parents of children with disorders because much of the book is dedicated to educating parents on their rights and tools. But there is also a section about the father's athletic history, and also a lot of the small-town politics type stuff.
Was Brandon as OK with the friends he would lose? Did he approve? I've seen a TV interview since the book came out, and Brandon looked pretty comfortable talking about the book, but they didn't really touch on the Fowler controversies.
What about these friends that the author is going to lose? How do they feel? I've already called the principal at Fowler and the baseball coach, and they've promised to talk about it, but only after I've read the book. So, OK, here goes. I'm starting the book and hopefully finishing it today. There are so many questions I already have and I'm curious if the book will answer them, or give me 1,000 more, or more likely, change my questions altogether. I'll leave you with a quote from my original column, from April 23, 2007 ...
Even now, if he accidentally bumps into a desk, he will have to go back and touch it the exact same way or that nervous feeling will not go away. If he exercises at all, he has to shower immediately or the filth is all he can think about.
It's not nausea, it's the uneasy feeling you'd get waiting for a pregnancy test or midterm scores to be posted.
He still counts in his head sometimes, when that urge comes back.
One-two-three-four.
One-two-three-four.
"I don't know why," he says. "It's just this feeling inside I can't explain."
Around the baseball field, though, he just never got that feeling. He used to announce youth games back when his dad, Robert, ran the local Little League, and the stutter would disappear as soon as he grabbed the mic. The kid with all the quirks and twitches off the field, didn't even have superstitions on it. For whatever reason, his mind was comfortable there.
I'll be back here with my thoughts after I've finished the book. Then hopefully find out how comfortable everyone involved with the Brandon Martinez story is now.
The book is a total crock. You can tell it was self-published - full of grammatical errors and libelous statements. Spends more time talking about his own failed athletic attempts that his son's.
Hardly inspirational, the book tells the story of father who uses his own son's "disorder" as an excuse for immaturity and bratty behavior. I'm not a psychologist, but I'm pretty sure he didn't describe OCD, rather, MTS (Meal Ticket Syndrome, aka Stage Mom).
I noticed that he left out the end of the story where Brandon was lit up like a Christmas tree with the AZL Dodgers.
Having been a member of the Fowler community for many years I was elated to learn that a young man from the community had been drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. I was even more excited that a book was being written about him and how he overcame a debilitating disorder. I obtained the publication and two hours later after completing it, I was disappointed, dismayed and shocked at the theme of the work.
Knowing of the individuals that were depicted in the book, I was very sadden by the demeaning, hurtful characterizations, untruths, and partial untruths that the author chose to include. The individuals portrayed in this document are known to be honorable, fairminded men that have devoted their time and energy to Fowler. I was glad to read that you (Matt James) chose not to take the book at face value, but instead chose to investigate these allegations before commenting further. I applaud your journalistic responsibility. I am positive on closer inspection you will find these allegations inaccurate, blatant falsehoods and complete fabrications.
It is sad to see a potential uplifting account of a young man overcoming obstacles to fulfill a life long dream and be saddled with a mean spirited account of his journey by his father.
This book is so fascinating to me as it appears to be so ridiculous. I was thinking about the part in the book that mentions the young man is often late to school because of his OCD. The book also mentions that he often has to shower twice in the morning to feel clean, so he was often late to school and disciplined for it. Wouldn't a reasonable parent teach their child in an attempt to over come this disability by waking the child up earlier, so the child could complete multiple showers in time, to arrive at school on time, not late???
Do you think the LA Dodgers will allow him to be late? I bet he is on time!
I'm wondering if the LA Dodgers are wondering about their seventh round draft pick and his father.
I hope this young man makes it with the Dodgers, because I doubt any other team will be interested in picking him up after this book!
i agree with coco. the book, which i myself have read, does seem like a bit of inaccurate, misguided and libelous statements. i dont see what "discrim" in the 80's have to do with "discrim" now, when the previous people are no longer affliated with the team or school. in my opinion, which everyone is entitled to, seems like a personal vendetta than a 'fight for justice' is what this book is about. and if the schools were so bad in fowler, why did mr martinez elect to take his son out of LATON, not layton unified? i feel that maybe the son, brandon, would suceed and do great things if he puts his mind and only his mind to it. just wanted to point out, this paragraph was a sample of the 'copy and pasted' book. anxious to see what mr james thinks....
During the course of readuing the book it seems like Robert Martinez describes a lot of circumstances involving intimidation of a lot of coaches, schhol people and others. You mentioned about Brandon and did he approve? The father sure seems to be proud of the intimidation he used. Knowing this how much credience could you give to any info his son provides and would it be slanted to support his father. I cannot find one dependable person in Fowler that buys into this book.
I went to the author's website and it said the book is "temporarily no longer available." Whats up with that? You said you would get back here with your thoughts after finishing the book. Must be a pretty long book.