Stew Sallo, MSBL Veteran Pitcher and Author, Releases ‘The Things We Do for Glove’
By Steve LaMontia-Carlentini, MSBL Director of Communications
Stew Sallo is a multi-dimensional individual. He is an MSBL veteran pitcher extraordinaire, a newspaper publisher in Boulder, Colorado, and the author of two books, ‘The Deadhead Cyclist’ and, recently, ‘The Things We Do for Glove.’ The latter is why we’re here.
I have known Stew for quite a while as a friend and teammate, and was very intrigued by his latest publishing effort, so I wanted to dig in a little. I found out the book is pretty darn good! I also personally took away quite a sense of positive self-examination.
I asked Stew to take a moment to explain his baseball and publishing journey to all of us as an introduction. With apologies for this effort being somewhat lengthy, I didn’t feel it was my place to edit what is most important for Stew to convey. I left our Q&A format completely alone, presenting a blank canvas for Stew to do with as he wished.
Before you begin, here are three important questions to review. Enjoy!
You have described “The Things We Do for Glove” as a sci-fi novel. Without giving anything away, can you describe the sci-fi part of the story? Essentially, the entire story portrays the lead-up to and results of a genetic experiment, the original intention of which is to determine whether the level of athletic performance of senior baseball players could be improved through a form of genome editing.
This is done by extracting genetic material (DNA) from an individual who has a mutated gene related to athletic performance, and imparting that material to other members of the team, and subsequently observing whether it caused an improvement in their performance. That’s the science fiction part of the story. The results of that experiment – both intended and unintended – are revealed over the course of the book.
How can people contact you with questions or to order the book? Anybody wanting a copy of either “The Deadhead Cyclist” or “The Things We Do for Glove” can order a copy on my website (https://www.deadheadcyclist.com) or simply email me at salraben11@gmail.com, and I will reply with ordering options.
The audience for “The Deadhead Cyclist” appears to be fans of the Grateful Dead and cyclists. How do you see the audience for “The Things We Do for Glove?” It’s tempting to say that my two books couldn’t be more different in terms of the audiences they appeal to. But that’s only true on the surface. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that both books reveal a set of principles to live by that are derived from a deep immersion into a passionate life – regardless of whether that passion is for the Grateful Dead or Baseball. In the case of “The Things We Do for Glove,” those principles have to do with honesty, integrity, courage, friendship, and good sportsmanship, among others.
So, while the audience for “Glove” appears to be those who love baseball – and particularly, those who have been part of the senior baseball community – in reality, the book appeals to a broader audience that aspires to the highest standards of human behavior, and finds inspiration in the notion that a win-at-all-costs senior baseball pitcher could be transformed into an individual who places a higher priority on love than glove, which is how I came up with the title.
So, let’s find out a little more about Stew Sallo, the author and ballplayer
How old are you? 71
What is your baseball background? I started in T-ball at age 7 and progressed through Little League, Babe Ruth League, High School, and Senior Babe Ruth League (ages 16-18). At that point, I started playing slow-pitch softball, eventually switching to fast-pitch softball.
In 2013, at age 58, I discovered hardball again, after being invited to join a team that traveled to California to play against the San Quentin Giants and San Quentin A’s – inmate baseball teams that participate in the unique prison baseball program at the notorious San Quentin State Prison. I wrote about this experience in an article published in my newspaper, Boulder Weekly, and that was picked up by the Huffington Post (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/san-quentin-prison-baseball_b_8023216). The article was honored with a First-Place award by the SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists) in the category of Sports Enterprise. This experience rekindled my love for baseball, real baseball, and resulted in my joining a Denver team in 2015, after which I have played close to 1000 games of baseball in the last decade.
I understand you are contemplating retiring as a newspaper publisher. Which publication and how long have you been involved? I moved to Colorado in 1992 to start the Boulder Weekly after living in Santa Cruz, California, where I graduated from UC Santa Cruz and then ran a publishing and advertising agency business, called Santa Cruz Advertising & Design.
I owned the Boulder Weekly for 33 years until retiring last year. It was a tremendous career, but very demanding, and I am now fully ready – anxious would be a better word – to retire after enduring the stress and aggravation that lives alongside the many benefits I have enjoyed over the years.
When did you begin playing organized ball, and when did you begin playing in MSBL leagues or tournaments? My first tournament was the MSBL World Series in 2015. I played in the 45-plus division with the Holland Astros – a team comprised of players from Holland, Texas, and Colorado. I have played in the World Series every year since, in addition to numerous other MSBL tournaments, as well as tournaments sponsored by other organizations in California, South Dakota, North Carolina, Florida, Iowa and, of course, Colorado.
Where do you play currently, and what is included in your annual tournament participation? I am on the roster of three teams in the Denver area, the Rockies in the Over 60 Baseball League, the Pirates in the Colorado Over 50 Baseball League, and the Mudcats in the NABA 53 Division.
I play every year in the Sunshine Classic and the Spring Dinger in Florida, the Coley Memorial in Rapid City, two or three tournaments in the MSBL World Series, and two tournaments in the Roy Hobbs World Series. There are several other tournaments in Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Iowa, and others from time to time that I play in on a less regular basis.
How many games per year do you play? Just over 100 games. 2025 was my 7th consecutive 100-game season (with an asterisk next to 2020, in which I got to only 98, due to the pandemic).
I understand you recently went through some shoulder or bicep surgery. How will this impact your plans not only for 2026, but down the road? When do you anticipate returning to the diamond? I underwent Proximal Biceps Tenodesis surgery on March 30. The proximal biceps tendon runs from the biceps muscle over the top of the shoulder, and the “Long Head” of that tendon (the portion at the top of the shoulder) was amputated, and the remaining portion attached to the Humerus bone. That portion of my biceps tendon was badly frayed and “very angry,” as my orthopedic surgeon described it.
I am told that this procedure has a better than 90% success rate, and that the rehabilitation period will be 3-4 months. I am hoping to rejoin my local teams in mid-to-late June, and plan to “resume speed” at that time, including playing in the various World Series tournaments, where I have already made commitments to my teams, the Long Island Yankees, the Minnesota Bees, and the Minnesota Bandits.
As far as how this procedure might impact my baseball plans down the road, only time will tell how long I will be able to maintain the pace I have established, but I hope to play at least another five years, if not longer.
What are your long-term baseball goals? My main goal – and this is made clear in “The Things We Do for Glove” – is to enjoy playing the game I have loved my entire life with my many baseball friends and acquaintances, contribute what I can from my unique abilities, and be the best teammate I can possibly be.
What is your favorite baseball moment on the field? In 2020, I pitched both the semifinal and championship games, back-to-back, for the Inland Angels in the MSBL Las Vegas Kickoff Classic, winning both games and the championship in that tournament.
One thing I forgot to ask was the timeline and history of your first book. The why of it all. Where did the book idea come from? In 2019, having reached the age of 64 and taking note of the many experiences I had under my belt, I began to feel the calling to write a book. I have been really fortunate to have aged very well – often to the point of envy and astonishment of my peers – and I wanted to inspire others to adopt the principles I live by, primarily having to do with what I refer to as my “three-legged stool,” diet, exercise, and attitude.
The original title of the book was going to be, “Forever 59.” But one day, while riding my mountain bike in the desert west of Las Vegas (in between games of a baseball tournament), and listening to a concert by my favorite band, the Grateful Dead, the words, “Deadhead Cyclist” came to me from a deeply spiritual and mysterious source. When I reached my usual lookout spot on that ride, I pulled out my phone and dialed up GoDaddy to see if the URL, “DeadheadCyclist.com,” was available. It was, and I immediately adopted the alter-ego of the Deadhead Cyclist.
The Deadhead Cyclist is a guy who rides trails and roads almost every day (I logged more than 200 rides a year for a period of about 10 years), while listening to Grateful Dead concerts, and marveling at the wisdom coming in through my headphones in the form of song lyrics, what I like to refer to as “the poetry of the Grateful Dead.”
After licensing the URL, DeadheadCyclist.com and setting up a blogsite, I began posting articles every week, and maintained that for 52 weeks, thereby accumulating enough material for a 52-chapter book.
In a very real sense, I “tricked” myself into writing a book by committing to a blog post every week, based on what I call “This Week In Grateful Dead History” – my choice of the best concert the band performed during that week in history from among the 2614 live shows from 1965 – 1995. Each week I selected a lyric from a song performed at that concert and taught a life lesson gleaned from that lyric.
When did the book first become available?
I published “The Deadhead Cyclist” in the Spring of 2023, and have sold hundreds of copies so far. The book is available for purchase at https://www.deadheadcyclist.com, where copies of “The Things We Do for Glove” are also available.
When did you begin condensing the story from your mind to the keyboard? After “The Deadhead Cyclist” was published, I took a break from writing to focus on marketing the book, but my creative juices as an author continued to flow and I knew I wanted to write another book. I had two ideas: One was sort of a sequel to “The Deadhead Cyclist,” (which I might still do), and the other was an idea I had for a baseball sci-fi novel. Obviously, I chose the latter.
In a moment of inspiration, I sat down and wrote the first two chapters, but was suddenly and unexpectedly called back into my role as publisher at Boulder Weekly. Consequently, those initial chapters sat in my computer for about a year, waiting for me to resume the story.
How long was the entire process from a budding idea to receiving your first shipment? After I started writing again, the rest of the book was written in about nine months, at which point I had to decide whether to seek an agent and go through the long, arduous (and potentially futile) process of trying to get a book deal through a publishing house, or whether to self-publish, as I had done with “The Deadhead Cyclist.”
I consulted with an author coach, which was helpful but left me feeling torn as to which direction to go. And while that was going on, I was still balancing running a media company and playing 100 games of baseball a year, with frequent traveling. Finally, I decided to self-publish, and then things moved along pretty quickly. To answer your question, the entire process took about two years.
I understand that you have decided to go against the traditional publishing process and publish it yourself. Tell us what is involved with this process and why you took this avenue? I explained some of this in the last question, but I would add that “traditional” publishing involves selling away your rights to a publisher – most likely for a pittance – which is just not my style. Plus, I wanted this book to come out at the beginning of the baseball season this year, and it would have been a year to two years before it was published if I had sought a book deal with a big publishing house. I am, after all, a publisher in my own right, having published thousands of newspapers and magazines literally, so this was a more authentic way for a guy like me to go.
Is there anything you would do differently in the book publishing process? I’m very proud of both of my books, and expect that I will continue writing in the future. I have also decided to offer my skills as a publisher to other authors who wish to self-publish their books, as I can offer editing, graphic design and print brokering services.
This part of my life has been very satisfying – especially given the enormously positive feedback I have received from readers – so, no, there’s nothing I would want to change, except maybe to have started this second career a bit earlier.
How can people contact you with questions or to order the book? Anybody wanting a copy of either “The Deadhead Cyclist” or “The Things We Do for Glove” can order a copy on my website (https://www.deadheadcyclist.com) or simply email me at salraben11@gmail.com, and I will reply with ordering options.