SENECA — Though he has published a wide variety of books throughout his writing career, Seneca native Gene Fehler now focuses on sports — and the love of the game.

For his series “Tales from Baseball’s Golden Age” and “More Tales from Baseball’s Golden Age” Fehler interviewed some of his own heroes from what he considers “Baseball’s Golden Age” — the 1950’s.

The idea for a series of interviews of baseball players was born during a dark time in the game’s history — the baseball strike of the early 1990’s, Fehler said.

“Everyone was getting kind of disgusted with the game,” he said. “A lot of fans were leaving baseball.”

That time sparked an interest in a project that would recount the game’s greatest days, in Fehler’s opinion.

“I wanted to write about baseball the way I remembered it,” he said.

The project began with Fehler contacting players who had played in the major leagues during the 1950’s.

“I didn’t know if any of the players would be willing to talk to me,” he said, adding that he was prepared to give the idea up if he received no response from players.

One day, Fehler received a letter from Andy Carey — who had played with the New York Yankees.

When Don Larsen pitched his perfect game in Game Five of the 1956 World Series, Carey was playing third base behind him, Fehler said.

Carey’s response got the ball rolling, and in the end Fehler interviewed more than 100 players, in a book that spanned more than 30 years of Major League history.

“Those were really fun to write,” Fehler said. “A lot of these players were my idols growing up. Just to be able to talk to them was great fun.”

While many of the players never had huge careers — or took home huge paychecks — that didn’t color their memories of their time in the big leagues.

“None of them seemed bitter about what players make today,” Fehler said. “They had a tremendous love of the game. They remembered these moments from 30 – 40 years ago just like they happened last week.”

Fehler enjoys experimenting with the way he presents his stories to his readers.

His young adult novel “Beanball” is written in free verse poetry.

In the book 28 characters present dramatic monologues that revolve around a central event — the injury of a high school baseball star.

“A high school baseball star who dreams of a career in the majors is hit by a pitched ball and blinded in one eye,” Fehler said.

The story tells of how the injury ripples outward — impacting not just the player’s life, but the lives of those around them.

“Each of these people was affected by what happened to this boy,” Fehler said.

After reading and enjoying many young adult novels written in free verse, Fehler decided to write one himself.

Fehler enjoys reading and writing novels for

middle grade readers, he said.

“I find that most young adult novels are, I think, a better read, than the typical adult novel,” Fehler said.

The reason, he believes, is the need to grab young readers, before something else vies for their time.

“At that age, those young adult readers aren’t going to tolerate something that’s not really good,” Fehler said. “It has to grab them on the first page and hold their interest throughout.”

Fehler’s latest book, the novel “Never Blame the Umpire” tells the story of Kate, a young girl who loves baseball and poetry.

As she begins her summer, Kate’s main goal is helping her team achieve victory on the diamond.

But after her family receives some very bad news, Kate’s life begins to change unexpectedly and she struggles to understand what’s happening to her family.

As the book progresses, and Kate watches what’s happening to a loved one, the young girl struggles to understand why God is allowing her family to suffer.

Through the love of her family and friends, Kate comes to understand that the Lord doesn’t make bad things happen — God helps you overcome the bad times.

Kate finds an outlet for her fears in writing poetry, both for herself and for a summer writing program. Fehler himself taught at the Lakes and Mountains summer arts program in Pickens County.

Fehler said the inspiration to write “Never Blame the Umpire” came from his own life.

His older sister passed away from lung cancer in 2004.

“She seemed perfectly healthy until August (of that year)” Fehler said. “From the time she was diagnosed until she died was about 3 months.”

His sister was an inspiration as she faced her illness, Fehler said.

“She really faced it in a courageous way,” he said.

Fehler said he decided to write the book to “serve as a guidepost for me” if he ever found himself facing what his sister faced.

“I tried to create characters that would deal with it in a way that I hope I would deal with it,” he said.

He hopes readers find their own inspiration in “Never Blame the Umpire.”

“I hope there’ll be something in the book that will speak to them in a positive way,” Fehler said.

“Never Blame the Umpire” can be purchased from area bookstores, Amazon.com, and from Fehler’s publisher, Zonderkids, at zondervan.com.

For more information on Gene Fehler, visit www.genefehler.com.