The Baseball Gods

by Spencer Huffman

When nine-year-old Jamie met a boy named Sam who taught him how to throw a baseball, he knew he’d found his best friend. Over the next ten years of sleepovers and batting practice, whenever Jamie’s troubled family seemed on the brink of falling apart, Sam would be there to help. But with the State Championship and their high school graduation just days away, Sam reveals that he’s been diagnosed with testicular...

When nine-year-old Jamie met a boy named Sam who taught him how to throw a baseball, he knew he’d found his best friend. Over the next ten years of sleepovers and batting practice, whenever Jamie’s troubled family seemed on the brink of falling apart, Sam would be there to help. But with the State Championship and their high school graduation just days away, Sam reveals that he’s been diagnosed with testicular cancer. Suddenly, Jamie faces an unfamiliar and painful question: How do you take care of someone who has always taken care of you? A dark comedy about two young men who love baseball almost as much as they love each other, The Baseball Gods is an intimate and tender portrait of adolescent masculinity in the midst of untimely tragedy.

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The Baseball Gods

Recommended by

  • L.C. Bernadine: The Baseball Gods by Spencer Huffman
    “

    A beautifully written play about two young friends dealing with hardships they don’t understand or deserve, but who manage grace and goodness through their baseball-fueled connection. So many highly “physical” plays are about violence in one form or another; this one is about love.

    A beautifully written play about two young friends dealing with hardships they don’t understand or deserve, but who manage grace and goodness through their baseball-fueled connection. So many highly “physical” plays are about violence in one form or another; this one is about love.

    ”
  • Eugenie Carabatsos: The Baseball Gods by Spencer Huffman
    “

    I had the opportunity to watch a virtual reading of this play through the Landing Theatre New American Voices Festival 2021. It's a lovely, heartbreaking story of childhood friendship, the pains of growing up, and the losses we face in the process. I found it to be incredibly moving, and the shifts back and forth through time created this wonderful portrait of the friendship. I came away both devastated and hopeful. Can't wait to see it on stage!

    I had the opportunity to watch a virtual reading of this play through the Landing Theatre New American Voices Festival 2021. It's a lovely, heartbreaking story of childhood friendship, the pains of growing up, and the losses we face in the process. I found it to be incredibly moving, and the shifts back and forth through time created this wonderful portrait of the friendship. I came away both devastated and hopeful. Can't wait to see it on stage!

    ”
  • Rachel Bykowski: The Baseball Gods by Spencer Huffman
    “

    A heartbreaking story of friendship as the audience watches two friends grow and bond over the game of baseball. As their pitches get stronger and harder, the life lessons and trauma they face develop as well. They learn to cope with adolescence, family, life while dreaming of making it the Majors.

    A heartbreaking story of friendship as the audience watches two friends grow and bond over the game of baseball. As their pitches get stronger and harder, the life lessons and trauma they face develop as well. They learn to cope with adolescence, family, life while dreaming of making it the Majors.

    ”
View all 5 recommendations

Character Information

The same actor should play both PENNY and CLAIRE.
  • JAMIE
    A pitcher. Athletic.
    8 or 18 years old, played by an actor who looks 18 or so
    Any
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • SAM
    A catcher. Athletic.
    8 or 18 years old, played by an actor who looks 18 or so
    Any
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • PENNY
    Jamie’s mother. Worn-down. Strange. Guilty.
    28 or 38 years old. Played by an actor who looks 38-45
    Any
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s,
      40s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • CLAIRE
    Played by the same actor who plays PENNY. Sam’s mother. Loving. A bit rigid.
    44 years old
    Any
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s,
      40s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female

Development History

  • Reading, The Landing Theatre Company, 2021
  • Residency, The Millay Colony, 2020
  • Residency, The Marble House Project, 2019

Awards

  • New Works Festival
    Garry Marshall Theatre
    Semi-Finalist
    2021
  • National Playwrights Conference
    Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
    Semi-Finalist
    2021
  • New American Voices Playwriting Festival
    Landing Theatre Company
    Winner
    2021