Baseball players and fans star in Seattle play

Real-life players and fans are the stars in a
local production of a baseball play called ‘Back Back Back.’

Seattle Public
Theatre presents this thought-provoking
work just in time for opening day of the Major League
season, March 29 – April 22, at the historic Bathhouse
Theatre on Green Lake.

Directed by SPT’s Artistic Associate, Kelly Kitchens, Back
Back Back follows the turbulent careers of three very
different pro-baseball players whose steroid secrets bring
them under federal scrutiny.

Playright Itamar Moses wonders whether we, as fans, cheat
ourselves if we root for a team full of steroid users.
What is the price of victory? Is honesty in sports really
valued in America?

Local actor Trick Danneker told me he became a baseball
fan when he was a kid growing up in Minnesota. He
currently plays in the Puget Sound Senior Baseball League,
which gives him great perspective of the dialogue.

“Moses obviously knows a lot about baseball, and the three
of us in the cast have to be very adept at the baseball
lingo,” said Danneker. “I’m a hitting coach and I say
‘you
gotta get down on it, you’re swinging over the top.'”

Patrick Allcorn and Ray Gonzalez share the stage with
Danneker, who’s also involved with Seattle Children’s
Theatre.

Danneker plays the character Adam, a major league rookie
on a team in the 1988 World Series. He becomes the moral
backbone of the play because he never used steroids and
was always against the idea. Later in life he protects
teammates and the game by denying he knew anyone used
steroids.

Trick understands why many major league players used
foreign substances to build themselves up.

“After the 1994 baseball strike, many fans were
disillusioned about the game. With the emergence of all
these players hitting home run, after home run, the power
sort of saved the game in some ways.”

Danneker’s favorite part of the role is a speech near the
end when Adam shares advice with a rookie, which includes
this line:

“Step back out of the box, knock dirt off your cleats,
spin the bat, and then step back in to your rhythm because
you are only as good as this game. You’re only as
good as this at bat. What you do is right now. Forget
about the last pitch and just step in for the next one,
like it’s the first.”

As a player and a fan, Danneker believes the lesson we
learn is baseball is everlasting. The game will
overcome any obstacle, even the worst of them like the
steroid era.

Tickets may be purchased phone at 206-524-1300 or online
at www.seattlepublictheatre.org.