Kurt Dusterberg's favorite stories are the ones sports fans find some common ground with athletes.
A gifted story teller as a writer and TV sportscaster, Dusterberg appreciates athletes who experience the struggles of reaching the major league stage.
"We know all about the ones who become superstars and millionaires, but there are thousands of other players who play a couple months in the major leagues—and that's their claim to fame." Dusterberg says. "These guys don't make millions of dollars, and they leave the game with a few great stories about their time in The Show. Their take on major league sports is completely different from what fans typically see."
Dusterberg, a Cincinnati native, began his sportscasting career at WDTV in Clarksburg, West Virginia, where he covered major league sports in Pittsburgh. After four years at WEVV-TV in Evansville, Indiana, he moved to Greensboro, North Carolina to cover the NFL's Carolina Panthers and the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes for WGHP-TV. Along the way, he encountered plenty of minor league teams, too. What they all had in common were the journeymen players—guys who had to battle every step of the way to reach the majors.
That is the backdrop for Journeymen: 24 Bittersweet Tales of Short Major League Sports Careers. Dusterberg interviewed 24 retired athletes who played major league baseball, football, hockey or basketball. The stories of their careers—and their lives afterwards—are shared in 24 individual chapters. The players offer rare insight into the complex world of professional sports, where every roster move is "just business." At the same time, the young players learn that their futures often hinge on delicate relationships with coaches, front office personnel and other players.
"It's easy to forget that most of these guys turned pro in their early 20s," Dusterberg says. "That's a young age to handle the intricacies of a high-stakes situation like professional sports. The lessons they learn are no different from the ones the rest of us learn in the 9-to-5 world. Performance is only part of the equation. Relationships and personal maturity play a large role in making it to the major leagues."
The idea for the book came from Dusterberg's professional experiences. In 1992, he interviewed minor league pitcher Steve Fireovid, a veteran of 15 professional baseball seasons with just 71 innings in the majors. Fireovid is one of the players profiled in the book.
"I've been fortunate to interview superstars like Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds, Wayne Gretzky," he says. "But their lives and accomplishments are so different from the fans. When I interview a minor leaguer who works another job in the offseason and has to support a family, I have a story that connects the player with the average fan."
In addition to television, Dusterberg has spent the past 20 years writing stories for various newspapers, web sites, and professional sports teams. He has earned a reputation for conducting deeply personal interviews that reveal a broader portrait of today's athletes.
"All 24 athletes in Journeymen are very honest about their own abilities and shortcomings," he says. "Some players had too much pride, some didn't have enough confidence. Others wished they had possessed a little more poise or maturity when it mattered most. Those issues shortened their careers. On the other hand, some of the players reached the major leagues because they knew their own limitations and never got discouraged."
Despite the ups and downs of their careers, all 24 players left the sports stage with stories they are proud to tell.
"That's the part of the book I like most," Dusterberg says. "There are lots of funny stories and encounters with star players. No matter what these guys do the rest of their lives, they will have that vivid impression of a perfect, joyous time in their lives when their dream came true."
You can contact Kurt Dusterberg by emailing him at kurt@journeymenbook.com.
