Bob Wood (author)

Bob Wood stands before an Electoral College map in his high school classroom. Muskegon, Michigan 2008.

Robert Edward "Bob" Wood (Born Feb. 1957) is an American author, teacher, activist, and potential candidate for congress. As a 28 year-old high-school history teacher from Kalamazoo, Michigan (though teaching in Seattle at the time), he wrote the 1988 best selling book Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks. The story was of an odyssey he undertook in 1985 to visit in one summer each of the 26 Major League Baseball stadiums. He determined that he would grade the sites on eight criteria: layout and upkeep, the ball field, seating, the scoreboard, food, courtesy of employees, facilities and atmosphere. Giving grades from A+ to D (he said no stadium could fail), he concluded that the two best parks in the majors were Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Royals Stadium in Kansas City, although he didn't care much for the food at the former or the ballfield at the latter. The worst, he decided, were Houston's Astrodome and Toronto's Exhibition Stadium.

The book was well known for its humor and Wood's tales from the road. Living on a teacher's salary, Wood sold his old Pinto and bought a 1985 Toyota Tercel for the trip. In order to save money he would often use Kampgrounds of America during the journey and wrote to every Major League team to ask for free tickets.

A story about the 20th anniversary of Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks was published by the popular website Baseball Musings on Monday, June 30, 2008. [1]

Second book

His follow up book in 1989 was Big Ten Country - A Journey Through One Football Season. It focused on the college football stadiums and towns in that conference, but did not reach the critical nor commercial success of Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks.

Present

Bob Wood, a 1980 graduate of Michigan State University, now teaches government, economics, and a course on Africa at Oakridge High School in Muskegon, Michigan. He has earned a reputation as a tough taskmaster and does not hesitate to lay down the law on his beleaguered students. [2] Wood also podcasts and writes a blog, known as "The Buddha Blog", on the school's public web site. In December 2008 he debuted a production called "COLLEGE Talk", which consists of interviews with some of his former students that are now in college. [3] In March 2009 Wood announced he would produce a series called "Selma Stories" about a trip to the "Alabama Civil Rights Triangle" with a group of his students. It was later alleged that activist Al Sharpton stood the group up for a scheduled speech at a Selma church, though Sharpton later told the Montgomery Advertiser that the group "had been misled." [4]

Wood is highly involved with leftist political activism and led a group of students, the Super Dupers [5], in protesting the Democratic Party's use of "super delegates" during the 2008 presidential election. He has also been vocal in efforts to "Save Darfur" and is leading a "Die In" protest for Darfur during an upcoming festival in Muskegon. A staunch proponent of aiding Third World citizens with microfinancing via Kiva Loans, Wood often preaches a mantra of "Action Counts Today!" [6]

Wood has never been married and resides in Grand Haven, Michigan. In his spare time he enjoys refilling his WESCO popcorn bucket and writes travel reviews on-line for places such as the Pig Hill Inn. [7]

Campaign for Congress

Wood is considered by several pundits to be a potential Democratic candidate for congress from Michigan's 2nd congressional district. The seat is being vacated by Republican incumbent Peter Hoekstra and Republican State Rep. Bill Huizenga has already declared his candidacy. To date, a "Draft Mr. Wood for Congress Committee" is in the formative stages and has adopted "Action Counts Today!" as the campaign's slogan.[8]

References

1. The Almanac of American Politics 2008. Barone, Michael. 2. "One Man Awakens Western Michigan" by Craig Eisler. Muskegon Chronicle. May 12, 2008. 3. Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks. Wood, Bob. 1988. 4. Big Ten Country. Wood, Bob. 1989. 5. "Bob Wood's Journey of Self Discovery" by Monica Ruiz. Michigan Progressive Journal. July 2006.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball stadiums
• List of American football stadiums by capacity

External links

• Baseball Musings story about 20th anniversary of "Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks"
• Amazon reviews of "Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks"
• Amazon reviews of "Big Ten Country"